Championing the
Changemakers

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.

Within the confines of the BuildingGreen safe space, I wanted to share the Forced Labor in the Building Material Supply Chain Mitigation Framework I shared at the 3/1 First Friday Fika. The intent is for this document to become public, but we are working through some permissions and final editing logistics. The project was collaborative... Read more

Katherine keeps BuildingGreen’s physical and digital spaces running smoothly. A graduate with honors from the University of Iowa, Katherine has a background in filmmaking and administration. She lives in southeastern Vermont with her partner and enjoys hiking, board games, writing, and cats.

On Thursday, September 27 at 2PM Eastern Time you can join the first BuildingGreen Communities webinar where we will share key takeaways from the 11th annual Summer Sustainable Design Leaders Summit (@ the Garrison Institute in upstate New York). Our new webinar format using Zoom will allow for interactive questions and comments throughout. If... Read more

Dear SDL'ers

After many months of soul searching about my role as a sustainability leader and how to have the most positive environmental impact, I have decided to take a leave from practice to pursue further studies this September. I will be undertaking a two year Master’s degree at the Institute for Resources, Environment and... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Raze or Retrofit? Six Extraordinary Answers to an Everyday Question.

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


1. Understand how the embodied impacts of renovation compare to those for new construction.
2. Provide three reasons why building... Read more

Hi all, 

The San Francisco Department of the Environment is hoping to gather info from designers and specifiers about construction surplus materials. Their survey is 8 questions total and not limited to those in the SF area. 

Pasting info below if you have a chance to participate! 

Calling Designers and Specifiers:

... Read more

Hi, I've been following the copper piping discussion and am wondering if copper piping has been a problem in greywater systems.    We've used Aquatherm to some extent in greywater treatment.

All,

A bit of a short notice, but the Tally team is hosting a webinar tomorrow (1/16) from 1-1:30 EST on the Tally to EC3 integration. It's an incredibly powerful workflow for generating real reductions in embodied carbon and has us pretty excited. We expect a lively group of attendees and will be answering any questions from the... Read more

Healthcare Design, one of the most respected and widely recognized trade journals in the health care AEC space has released the names of its 2022 HCD 10 winners.  The mission of The HCD 10 is to recognize and celebrate the broad spectrum of outstanding professionals in that industry and the influence they have on healthcare design.

One... Read more

Has anyone come across any (embodied) carbon emissions calculator for water?  Perhaps per region/state?  

Thanks in advance!

Hi all, 

Thank you again to those of you who attended the Summer 2024 SDL Summit! We had an unforgettable few days of learning from one another, including from our presenters.

The slides for the 5-minute presentations are below, as well as the BuildingGreen slides from the Summit. Please be aware that we have permission from all... Read more

Hello friends,

We are looking for recommendations for solar photovoltaic consultants to support one of our projects. We have used SEI in the past, but would like to develop a deeper bench and approach it from another angle. We aren’t too concerned about the consultant’s location, but are looking for someone that is on top of the current... Read more

Hello Green Gurus,

Thank you for your patience while we pulled together the summer summit reports and getting them posted, sorry it took so long!

You can see the most recent summit reports for SDL, SCL, and MEP near the top-left of the Resources page in the Peer Networks Hub.

A friendly reminder, these reports are sharable... Read more

Hello all,

I have a quick question for you. While Energy Star appliances are a no-brainer for projects, I don't see a hard requirement to select Energy Star appliances in the energy prereq/credit. There are references in the water section for water using appliances like ice machines, dishwashers, clothes washers, etc., but no related... Read more

Hi all,

We’re thrilled to share that registration is now open for our All-Networks Workshop on Integrated Design + Delivery from the Inside Out! The workshop will be held on July 15th at Miller Hull’s Seattle office, right before the Summer 2024 SDL Summit. Register now before it fills up, and please feel free to email me with any... Read more