Championing the
Changemakers

Returning to work: for many, it’s unthinkable without some kind of reassurance that leadership and the facilities team have taken all possible precautions. Lots of organizations are weighing in on what we should pay attention to, but how do we know if it’s working?

The free Re-entry program from Arc is a tracking and measurement... Read more

Our Sustainable Construction Leaders peer network famously developed the Contractor's Commitment.

Famous because it is the industry's only agreed-upon framework for systematically addressing the environmental and social impacts of construction activity.

Famous because it now has 27 signatories, collectively accounting for $49... Read more

Hello Green Gurus!

Thank you to all who joined the cross-networks adventure that was the Sustainability Leaders Week: 2021 Summit-Palooza, all of us at BuildingGreen were so glad to share that time and space with you all.

We have been receiving a few questions about next steps, here are a couple details we wanted to share with you... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of The Four Core Issues to Tackle for Resilient Design (And the Programs That Can Help).

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


1. Use site-specific hazard analysis to evaluate a project’s resiliency demands.
2. Use climate change data to... Read more

We are working on a large healthcare project in Minnesota.  We're setting sustainability goals a bit late - no certification, but targets with accountability.  I'm working to determine recycled steel content (for structural steel and rebar), and I've gotten a bit of push-back on recycled content based on being in the region of the Iron Range... Read more

We had so much fun at our Contractor coffee talk that I reached out to our MEP friends to see if they would set up something similar.  And they have agreed to host a talk on Thursday December 2, at 1-2pm EST.  They will talk about decarbonizing buildings, on a schedule that keeps us under the 1.5° C limit and will also address strategies for... Read more

CEUs are available for reading all the building-envelope product guides and primer. Click here to learn more and take the quiz.

Water and air that penetrate building assemblies can damage materials, cause energy loss, and lead to mold, mildew, or other problems. The products used to address these may contain materials that are... Read more

Is your team working on a LEED v4 or WELL project? 

Finding products for these projects is daunting, and even when you find products you believe will meet the requirements, you have to know exactly... Read more

Does anyone have an opinion of Autocase?    https://autocase.com/

I had not heard of this platform before.  Their website says that some firms in the group are customers / users.   Website does not do a great job of describing exactly what they do.  Is there value?

Thanks,

Allen

Hello, 

I am struggling with understanding if I should be using Annual Marginal Emission Factors (MEF) or Annual Average Emission Factors (AEF) for evaluating different building design decisions.

Everything I know is from this document. So as I understand it ... an individual building or retrofit is going to change the marginal... Read more

EDITED LINK

Hello, below is a link to our newly uploaded research report, Embodied Carbon in Commercial Furniture. This new research report introduces a case study and some new baselines for measuring the carbon footprint of commercial furniture, to add to a growing body of work on this topic among our peers:
Embodied Carbon in... Read more

Https://www.metropolismag.com/architecture/yale-un-environment-eco-living-module/pic/44437/

Many of you will be passing through NYC on your way to the SDL Summit in Garrsion this week. I encourage you to make a pit stop at the United Nations. You’ve heard me talk about the next generation, tech transfer building systems... Read more

Dear SDLers,

I wanted to share that Canadian Architectural Professionals declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency and Committed to Urgent and Sustained Action. The declaration was launched last Friday as part of a week of events surrounding the UN Climate Action Summit in New York. Like others around the world, the week of global... Read more

Hi All,

I wanted to pass on a few cool things we have going on at Built Environment Plus (formerly USGBC MA)  I really am conscious of not spamming you often and reserve posts for some of our most exciting happenings.

August 5, Building Tech Forum/MaterialsCAN: Getting to Zero with Embodied Carbon. Featuring 13 5-minute... Read more

Does anyone have an idea when the AIA Materials Pledge Reporting Framework will be available? Or is there a draft of what it looks like? 

BWBR is on a push to refine our approach towards materials. As AIA Material's Pledge signatory, we were hoping to incorporate the reporting framework into our efforts. Trying to get a sense of the... Read more