Championing the
Changemakers

There seems to be a slight glitch in that it was posting Seonhee's picture (love Snoopy!) for the post that Duane sent in - is that correctable?

**Just noticed that you can click on the "Edit" tab on the post and correct (e.g. mis-spelled names (Sorry, Seonhee!).**

As we begin to look into Scope 3 emissions reduction strategies, it's important to understand ways to reduce tranportation emissions to project sites. Is anyone aware of best practices or programs for contractor carpooling to jobsites? I know many of my colleagues travel to work together in one vehicle because of parking limitations, however,... Read more

Hi all,

Thanks again to those who presented at the AIA Show & Tell! Here are the slides for some of the fascinating presentations we saw. Please do not share the slides outside of the networks unless they are marked “PUBLIC.”

There may be more to come; if you presented but did not yet provide permission for your slides to be... Read more

Using energy for cooling during peak hours places a large demand on utilities, is expensive, and can be less efficient than off-peak energy production.

BuildingGreen-Approved Thermal Energy Storage

BuildingGreen lists a variety of  thermal energy storage systems.

About

Off-peak cooling, or thermal energy storage (TES... Read more

Hi gurus,

Do any of you have preferred portable devices for indoor air quality monitoring? I know it's hard to find apples to apples, but ideally temperature, CO2, VOC, PM2.5, PM5 would be on the list. Mid-level accuracy - better than consumer, not as $ as IAQ professional level. Thanks!

Hello! 

We have several projects that are either pending ILFI Zero Carbon certification or the owner is planning to purchase offsets to cover construction emissions. Thus far, I have not considered this in our corporate footprint reporting. However, we are including A5 emissions whenever feasible and multiplying that performance over the... Read more

For those at Islandwood for the Summer Summit this week, we have this post-Summit meeting opportunity with James Connelly and Kathleen Smith from ILFI. This is one in a series of "Living Building Leaders" meetings, at which architects who support LBC get to collaborate with ILFI on how scale up LBC adoption.

Here's the agenda for this... Read more

I am looking for anyone that specializes in this area, see the principles below.

http://universaldesign.ie/What-is-Universal-Design/

We have looked at HOK's Neurodiveristy document which is great. Are there other resources like this, or other designers/consultants you have worked with?

TIA

Kristen

Kristen... Read more

Has anyone found/used a non-PVC peel-and-stick countertop film?  Working with a client on a corporate renovation, and while we've been able to find a non-PVC product for the kitchen cabinets, I can't seem to find one that works for horizontal surfaces.  And they're looking for a cost-effective and quick-turnaround solution so don't want to... Read more

Hi All,

How are folks funding training for your employees? Would it help to have free training opportunities besides lunch and learns or ones you do yourself?

For those of you outside of Massachusetts you may have employees or friends in MA that this could be relevant to.  I'm hoping my friends in MA have already heard this.

Hi all,

We are looking to study Passive House on a couple small multifamily projects. Our understanding is that WUFI Passive only integrates with SketchUp at this time. Our BIM manager has been trying to find an example of a firm that works in Revit and uses WUFI Passive, to point him in the right direction on workflow. I offered to ask... Read more

Hi Small Firm Sustainable Design Leaders!

Our call today at 1pm Eastern will focus on the ways in which your firm is impacted differently than larger firms on the variety of topics and issues that are reflected in the 2020 SD Leaders Winter Summit REPORT. Take a look at this report and especially at slides 14-33. Bring your observations... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Go with the Flows: The Promise and Peril of Hygrothermal Modeling

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


1. Describe the true role of hygrothermal modeling in design.
2. Name four instances in which to consider using hygrothermal modeling... Read more

Hello all, 

Wondering if anyone has experience with lead limits in electrical cable and wiring? 

LEED for Healthcare allows a limit of 300 ppm of lead in electrical wire and cabling - my search for compliant products has been all dead ends. (MRc PBT Source Reduction - lead, cadmium, and copper)

Acceptable regulations for... Read more

We just had a planning call for the tour, and I’m more convinced than before that: a) we picked a great location for this year’s Winter Summit and b) you won’t want to miss this tour!

Alabama’s Gulf State Park got a big infusion of funds from the BP Oil Spill (that’s an interesting story in itself), and now has some amazing new... Read more

The BuildingGreen/GreenStep exam prep materials are... Read more

Folks, it is with a heavy heart that I write this: Lance Hosey passed away unexpectedly on Friday. 

Many of you know him from the early days of the SDL group, or as an outsized presence at any of the many conferences where we overlap. He's been a list-maker, poll-taker and all around troublemaker in my life for over 20 years; I know I am... Read more