Championing the
Changemakers

Hi folks! I had a blast at the Show + Tell Tuesday night of Greenbuild. Thanks to Payette for hosting, and to Arrowstreet for joining Payette and BuildingGreen as sponsors. What a great way to get a "tasting-menu" Greenbuild experience!

I also caught a couple of great sessions on Friday morning. Polling others, it seems that the... Read more

Happy Friday, SDL!

We're running a Tally WBLCA for an environmental education center, which has a very small floor area but a fairly robust concrete/steel structure. Still, I was surprised to find an intensity of over 1,000 kgCO2/m2 for the building.

This is way higher than the general benchmarks I've found in the CLF's database,... Read more

Is there a list of which number corresponds with each Best Practice? E.g. "03 Energy Audit & Planning."

What is the lag time for historical embodied carbon data catching up with real-time information as manufacturers source renewable energy? Is our professional time best spent calculating with out-of-date information or more simply calling for manufacturers' elimination of fossil fuel combustion in their production and transportation of materials... Read more

Does anyone have experience pursing SITES certification on an essentially a zero-lot line project?

We are required to achieve silver certification, but the project scope/phasing recently changed and the entire site/parking area was eliminated and we no longer have a green roof. It still appears we can meet silver certification as so few... Read more

Hi folks,

We will be having a call for the Sustainable MEP Leaders group on Monday, April 8 at 3pm Eastern time. Hope you can join us! We'll be talking about our first in-person Summit, as well as diving into discussion about some top-of-mind topics related to being a sustainability point person within an MEP commercial practice. Here’s... Read more

I'm guessing this is the most impactful thing any of us could do over the next couple of years. Energy Codes are far and away the biggest lever that our industry has in fighting climate change. I'm up to my eyeballs in commitments at the moment but heartily encourage you (yes, YOU!) to sign up.

...

Hi all – if any of you are... Read more

Hi folks! Our AIA Seattle Committee on the Environment is hosting a series of decarbonization talks that might be of interest to this group. The next one is coming up next Thursday with the University of Washington. 

Details and free registration here: https://aiaseattle.org/event/cote-university-of-washingtons-pathway-to-d...

Hi all,

The Healthy Building Network, now Habitable, was kind enough to develop printable versions of their Informed Product Guidance for us. I think these are a really great resource for design teams looking to select better product options. While the web version is great, we are using the printable version to hang select sheets around... Read more

Hi All - as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) becomes increasingly prevalent, I'm trying to learn more about what types of requests for ESG-related information folks are actually receiving and what types of trainings on ESG would be most helpful.  Drilling down a bit, I'm curious as to how ESG data points are moving down the supply... Read more

Following up something I mentioned at the summit - the EPA is hosting public comment webinars related to the IRA and construction. The first one seems particularly relevant, 3/2/23 from 2-3.30pm EST “Reducing Embodied GHG Emissions: Construction Materials Prioritization and Environmental Data Improvement”. Good opportunity to have our voices... Read more

Have you been perusing the recently launched Contractor's Commitment and thought to yourself, 'Companies are going to need more guidance/templates/resources if they're actually going to implement this thing'? Good--now's your chance to help develop those resources.

The Contractor's Commitment Working Group is meeting December 1, 1pm ET.... Read more

Hi all,

I'm sure many (most? all?) of us have heard the changes to LEEDv4's energy standard are coming. If this is news to you, info on the balloted measures that have passed is available online here: https://www.usgbc.org/articles/leed-v4-energy-update-approved-member-ballot.

My question to MEP friends in the Green Commons: In... Read more

The opportunity for water savings from installing efficient toilets, and from toilet replacement, is significant. In addition to improvements to the traditional gravity system, pressure- and vacuum-assisted flushing systems are available that offer superior performance—albeit often with some increase in flushing noise.

Hi SDL: Please see attached letter to USGBC about the urgent need to address climate change in the next iteration of LEED v4. It's based on the realization that in the last few years it has become clear that climate change has become the dominant global threat to humans and our fellow species. And it has also become clear that the steep... Read more

Hello Gurus,

I’m writing to share with you an effort a small group of lighting designers from the Boston area started which is now rolling into a large scale effort.  We’ve put together a Lighting Advocacy Letter to accelerate the sustainability of lighting products. Inspired by the AIA Materials Pledge, the letter is intended to... Read more