Championing the
Changemakers

Nice brief article on how to talk to clients about materials transparency. It was the right level of information to send out to the office at large. Kudos to Lona and Ralph for your contribution.

https://www.aia.org/articles/210821-how-to-talk-to-clients-about-materials-tran

Welcome to the quiz portion of Affordable Housing and Sustainable Design: The Goals are Aligned

IMPORTANT: This quiz covers all related articles within this topic. Scroll to the bottom of the article page to find links to all the articles covered by this quiz.

Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants... Read more

Hi: Is anyone individually or at a firm level offsetting their travel through Certified Emissions Reduction (CER) or Verified Emissions Reduction (VER) credits? I'm trying to research a valid approach to doing this and running into a few different options - some even with apps. I'd appreciate any wisdom from this great group.

Thanks.... Read more

Hello all,

I need future weather files for a project. We are looking at three years, 2050, 2075, and 2095 using two climate change scenarios, low emissions, and high emissions. I have seen ARUP's Weathershift site that uses RCP 8.5 and RCP 4.5. Are we assuming that 2.6 is not achievable? I would have used this as a low emissions scenario... Read more

Hi all,

We know preparations for Greenbuild are well underway for many of you. We also know that there will be many things competing for your time while you're there. Here's one more to consider! We don't have all the details solidified yet, but wanted you to know sooner rather than later for planning purposes.

We hope you’ll... Read more

Here is a fundamental question regarding measuring operational carbon emissions that I'm sure many of you can clarify for me:  Let's say you are considering design options and you want to know the relative contribution of GWP of adding an additional inch of continuous insulation to the building envelope.  The GWP from embodied carbon will... Read more

Green Gurus –

Clark Brockman brought to our attention an important and impactful opportunity to advance building decarbonization through the US Department of Energy’s proposed rulemaking around water heater efficiency, advancing adoption of heat pumps, while still providing exceptions (and efficiency targets) for electric or natural gas... Read more

Looking for the Top 10 on the 10th! webinar?  Click here.

IRA NUTS & BOLTS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers us a once-in-a-generation chance to equitably decarbonize the built... Read more

Hi All,
We have a date and time for the next SCL Carbon Working Group Meeting, "see" you there:

Topic: SCL Carbon Working Group Mtg #2
Time: Mar 31, 2020 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://sellen.zoom.us/j/595221970

Meeting ID: 595 221 970

Dial in info:
        +1... Read more

You can download the guide here:
https://www.collaborativedesign.org/

And I would ask that any/all of you who find this interesting and useful to please share with your networks. We want it to get distributed far and wide!

- Clark

Preservative treatments extend the service life of wood, but many such treatments are highly toxic, especially to aquatic life.

BuildingGreen-Approved Preserved Wood

Products approved by BuildingGreen use chemicals (commonly borates) that are relatively low in toxicity and have low VOC emissions.

Health and Environmental... Read more

Hi folks,

USGBC has commissioned this survey of the building industry about Federal tax incentives for building efficiency. They will be sharing results with congressional staff, so this might be a good opportunity to give them feedback from the field!

And it's just 10 minutes.

And, after you do the survey if you want to... Read more

Following up on conversation from the Fika today, Kim said the IRS is supposed to be issuing rules for tax-based (even for orgs that don't pay tax) credits by the end of first quarter.  Sounds like we all just need to be on the look out still.

Hi Green Gurus,

A "fun" take-away from the sustainable MEP Leaders Summit (just ended today):

Inspired by Passive House, we are embarking on a campaign: "Low Load Buildings Are SEXY".

One idea we have is:  what if the AIA design awards set limits on metrics like heating loads to meet basic eligibility?

If you have... Read more

Hey Everyone!

We are delighted to share a major milestone in our commitment to sustainable design. After two+ years of intensive research, refining, and internal application, NBBJ is thrilled to announce the external launch of ZeroGuide, an innovative tool for early-phase carbon estimation, now available to the entire AEC community!... Read more

Hi All,

I wanted to share an exciting opportinity with this esteemed group: Placetailor is seeking out a Mechanical Engineer to add to their growing team. They are located in Boston, MA and focus on Passive House, Low-energy Design, and they have for two years running meet the tenets of the AIA 2030 Commitment! This is an exciting place... Read more

Kelly provides administrative support to BuildingGreen projects, including major contracts as well as event planning, and logistics coordination for BuildingGreen’s network of sustainable design leaders. Among her projects, Kelly coordinated a large tri-state regional economic development project focused on the green goods and services industry... Read more