Championing the
Changemakers

Hi SDL'ers, as promised I am sending information about how to support getting flame retardants out of foam insulation. I am attaching a draft letter to Foam Manufacturers, an intro to that letter giving some background and a list of From manufacturers.   Thanks, please contact if you have any questions.   Larry Strain, Siegel & Strain... Read more

Hello, 

All my experience with sustainability has been at the building-level. We are currently being asked within an RFP to list our firm's ESG score and certifying organization. Our firm is about 300-employees and is owned soley by the employees. 

When do A/E firms obtain an ESG score?

is it based on company size? or... Read more

The sheer number of building product certifications and labels is overwhelming, and even those experienced with green labels can get exhausted trying to figure out which are relevant and which aren’t.

The confusion in the market over green labels can complicate efforts of both manufacturers and design professionals... Read more

Allison Mears at Parsons asked me to share this.  Several folks on this list participated in these recordings.  The courses are comprehensive.

Parsons Healthy Materials Lab has created a series of online learning courses specifically designed for professionals like you, dedicated to making the built environment the best (and healthiest... Read more

Hello Green Gurus,

We have an exciting cross-network opportunity coming up next week! Members of the SDL (Design Leaders) and SCL (Construction Leaders) networks will share about their experience at the recent SDL/SCL Summits. We will also preview the Reports for each Summit, and share some news about other events coming up this year.... Read more

Hi Friends - I'm sure you've started to see news and posts from personal contacts about the shortage of masks, gloves and other PPE for hospital workers. Our company GCI General Contractors is pulling what we can to donate locally. Please urge your leadership to do the same! I just talked with a dear friend who is an infectious disease... Read more

Sign up now to roll up your sleeves and have fun solving real problems! April 28 from 3-5pm ET

DESIGNING FOR DECONSTRUCTION

Building deconstruction, or disassembly, is a critical strategy for carbon reduction, minimizing waste & contributing to a circular economy, yet remains a serious challenge for many reasons.

Many... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Choosing Insulation: High-Performance Wall Assemblies – Unit 3.

Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:


1. Describe key environmental and performance factors for insulation materials.
2. Recount bottom-line insulation material... Read more

The Winter Summit participants have had this for a few weeks now, and no one has screamed about anything being inaccurate, misleading, or too revealing, so it's time to share the latest Summit report more widely. 

Per our long-standing policy, this report can be shared outside our "safe space"--it's a great way to share the wealth of... Read more

Hello friends. For the past two years, we at EHDD have been building a low-carbon design tool to support carbon neutral design at the earliest phases of building projects. Today, the Early Phase Integrated Carbon Assessment (EPIC) is ready for public launch! Many of you have been part of our closed beta test, and today we’re happy to open the... Read more

Hello, folks! We recently had contact with Northeastern University about sand. I know it sounds ... dry. But sand shortages are a serious issue globally and are leading to criminal activity everywhere and even "sand mafias" in poorer nations without resources to enforce mining laws.

The ask from Northeastern is that BuildingGreen amplify... Read more

Hi everyone, I'm sure that some of you already received the message below from Kira Gould (and/or others), but assuming that it didn't get to all of you, I'm forwarding it here. I believe that Lindsay is in common cause with all of us here on this forum, and will provide meaningful built-environment contributions to COP.
Thanks for... Read more

Have any of you come across aqueous ozone product for hand sanitation?  https://www.3oescientific.com/

This company is selling to hospitals/schools.  May indeed be awesome, but so many "totally safe" products are proven not to be. Curious if this group has seen it or have looked at it's claims.

I looked through the forums and was surprised to see that from what I can tell this 2018 article from Yale I'm going to share here has not been discussed previously.  It basically says that FSC is not trustworthy, ineffective, and greenwashed, as critiqued by the likes of Greenpeace and others.

I would like to hear from someone in the... Read more

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

Be aware of key dates in the history of the LEED rating system.

Have a clear understanding of the new impact areas present in the updated rating system.

Ascertain which types of new credits belong to which impact areas in the LEED v5 rating system.

Greetings, green gurus:

Is anyone in this group attending the AIA Annual Business Meeting on Wednesday, June 5 at AIA Conference on Architecture in Las Vegas? If you are, and you're a voting delegate from your AIA Chapter, could you support a floor Resolution recommending that the AIA Board take urgent and sustained climate action? My... Read more

Hi All,
We have a project in design with a large AV display for updating data. Anyone know of an AV team that thinks through both visual /acoustic performance in conjunction with energy use and environmental impact of the display? Replies on the peer networks hub or directly to me at alk@dskap.com work. 

Thank you!