Championing the
Changemakers

Thank you to everyone who signed on to the Materials Pledge letter.  It was officially released on April 15th with 56 signatory firms.  The Materials Pledge will soon have a new home online and a way to continuously add more signatory firms.  I'm keeping a list for now and there are already four more firms who want to join.  I will let everyone... Read more

Hi folks,

I’m sorry to be so last minute with this. LEED v5’s second public comment period ends TOMORROW (Monday, Oct 28). As it currently stands, LEED has eliminated its preferential support for FSC over other forest certification programs and is silent on climate-smart forestry.

I’m hoping that the Climate Smart folks in this... Read more

Metal roofs can also provide high solar reflectance, minimizing a building’s contribution to the urban heat island effect. 

BuildingGreen-approved

Materials and finishes recognized by Energy Star maintain solar reflectance levels after three years of use of 50% for low-slope and 15% for steep-slope. Some unpainted metals and many... Read more

Hi amazing people!

Most of our projects are now going with some form of gender neutral/all-gender/inclusive toilet rooms or those that can easily be converted to such. With no urinals, we lose 3 LEED points because urinals are very water-efficient. With urinals, it's not as pure a solution. Do you all just take a hit on the LEED points,... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of What Makes a Product Green?.

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


1. List and describe at least three attributes that address each of the following categories: "efficient use of materials"; "responsible sourcing"; "energy and water... Read more

Hi Gurus!

I'm desperately seeking any case studies (past/currently on the boards) of labs that have been designed without natural gas infrastructure (the topic I have to debate is about commercial spec labs but any lab case study, wet or dry, is welcomed). This is for a development authority that will be setting guidelines for new... Read more

Pumpy Nullifidian

Hi, this is a somewhat niche/specific question - we are working on an all-electric school (middle and high school) that includes a chemistry lab. The lab was going to have portable sources for flame experiments, but there is concern that the portable sources would be unsafe for middle school students, so they are asking for a hard-pipe natural... Read more

I wanted to make sure that you didn’t miss this fun event.  We can all use some fun right now.

Built Environment Plus is celebrating the arrival of spring with a fun competition to get people out and about safely. A digital Scavenger Hunt will allow teams of 4 (or larger families) to complete a series of photo, video, and text missions... Read more

I'm hoping someone knows the anser to this question. For the LEED ND certification the minimum requirement is "The LEED project should contain at least two habitable buildings and be no larger than 1500 acres." Does habitable mean buildings with dwelling units?

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

Is anyone aware of research or guidance that has looked at VOC’s from roofing products and ventilation intakes? I’ve done some searching, and focus is mainly on managing the construction process to reduce installer exposure. 

Thanks for any help!

Tate

I opened IE11 (Internet Explorer 11) today, and saw a message indicating IE11 will be retired June 15th, 2022. While I have no personal attachment to IE11, it was the only internet browser I could consistantly get to open LEED Online credit templates on the actual website. 

Has anyone found another way to be able to fill out LEED credit... Read more

If you don’t spend your “day-to-day” in the healthy materials space, it’s hard to create strategy and align your company to meet your customers' (what seems to be) ever-changing asks and project goals. This... Read more

I wanted to alert you to this opportunity to help develop a new ASHRAE Standard. They are especially looking for people who have not served with ASHRAE previously (aka the usual suspects)

ASHRAE Standard 242P, Standard Method for Calculation of Building Operational Greenhouse Gas Emissions

1 Purpose: This standard provides a... Read more