Championing the
Changemakers

Hi! I’m working on two reports about equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the building industry, and I’m looking for contributions from you or others in your firm. See below for what I’m looking for, and please reply directly to me at paula@buildinggreen.com.

NOTE: Ideally, I’m hoping people will want to provide names and firm names... Read more

We have several projects that are small enough that we don't hire consultants to run energy models. I just received permission to do some training so that I can run these models myself. I am looking at doing this training on eQuest:

https://www.udemy.com/course/equest-energy-modelling-detailedtraining/?c...

I am thinking it would... Read more

Hi all,

As follow-up to the summit, I’m attaching a draft letter on MEP embodied carbon written by our group (Luke, Kristy, Adam).  The goal is to start a dialogue with manufacturers to include embodied carbon info for major equipment.  Will explain more on the call.  Please read in advance if you get the chance!

Thanks!

I'm hoping for some help answering the question of whether buildings/communities should pursue net-zero energy on site versus investing in new renewable energy (i.e. through the electric utility) that can be built at a more efficient scale elsewhere in the state. Our utility is asking us this question as we are working through how to get the... Read more

Related to some recent questions on site-specific sun/wind analysis and early energy modeling tools, are there any tools that account for nearby topography (like bluffs) or large buildings/vegetation in energy calculations? Or favorite methods to estimate its impact particularly during early massing studies?

Thanks,

Rachel

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By providing the information in this survey you will enable us to automatically report these CEUs to the appropriate organizations. Everyone attending and seeking CEUs must... Read more

Metal windows are used in commercial building because of their durability, low maintenance, and ability to handle wind loads.

BuildingGreen-Approved Windows

Metal windows must achieve an NFRC-certified unit U-factor of 0.20 or lower to be approved by BuildingGreen.

Manufacturers also must demonstrate that their highest-... Read more

ASHRAE posted this year's list of honors and right there at the top of the list is our SMEPL colleague, Cindy Cogil - now able to add FASHRAE to her signature block!  Well done, Cindy and congratulations to ASHRAE for recognizing your accomplishments.

For my first test post I'm going to be completely boring and ask about logistics.

If we know of someone that should be part of this forum, how do we invite them? There were a couple of people that I thought were on the Wiggio who I recently found out were not. There may also be folks from our regional groups who may not have been part... Read more

Hi SDL Group - 

Our firm has been presented with a potential opportunity to share with USGBC National Representatives details about a few of our voiced concerns in the context of specific project administration efforts.

For us, these relate to two specific factors:

Emma's role at BuildingGreen includes coordinating social media activity, setting up and scheduling weekly emails, and completing various marketing projects. She is also responsible for ensuring that members receive continuing education credits.

Thank you for your interest in BuildingGreen

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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

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

All--

A few months ago, I sent around a note about an article I was writing about the state of post-occupancy studies. It finally came out, in the latest issue of Metropolis. Great quotes and work from Payette, EDR, KieranTimberlake, HKS, and others. Thanks to all for helping with this.

I don't believe it's available online yet,... Read more

Does adding solar panels reduce a building's EUI?

Existing operational use of a building is 80 kBtu/sf/year. When we add solar, it will change the source of energy but does not change the usage.

My understanding is that the EUI does not change, but it would be good to hear from others.

It's energy consumption at the point... Read more

This is specifically to Chris but also to anybody who is interested in the topic - which Chris raised on our SAL call today, regarding how to influence change:

From this article, which i thought was good but had a great paragraph pulled below.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/business/Steve-Mollenkopf-Qualcomm-corner-office.html... Read more