Championing the
Changemakers

Do any of you have experience with Design For Freedom yet? It came to my attention and I'm trying to investigate. I would love to hear feedback and experiences that you may have at this point. It seems like an opportune moment for this issue of forced labor (yikes! so much I don't know...) to come to the forefront, and I'm curious to hear how... Read more

I am thrilled to announce that our own supreme Green Guru has been elevated to the College of Fellows!  Congratulations Pauline!

Announcements are being made today so don't be shy folks - please share the good news here.

Hi: SD Leaders.  It was so nice to see so many of you at Greenbuild in Chicago. By now I'm sure all have seen the announcement of the release of the Fourth National Climate Assessment Report vol 2. (https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/) It's well worth a deep read - so much important and extremely informative material. I want to draw your... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Climate Analysis for Architects (recorded webcast).

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


1. Access climate data.
2. Choose appropriate design energy simulation tools.
3. Know when and how to run analyses with projected weather data... Read more

Hey team,

I'll go look to see who's in the MEP group, but does anyone in this circle have a northern California design engineer for institutional work that they'd particularly recommend? A group of folks we're engaged with is apparently having difficulty identifying a California-based MEP that everyone universally likes for high-... Read more

I was asked to share this with my network...

"For colleagues working with LCA data, during design, construction, or facility management proces, please help us understand how EPDs are useful in your processes by completing the survey below:"

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ashrant-aryal-2354497a_qualtrics-survey-q...

Hi SCL,

I realize that there are already a couple of threads on this topic, but I didn't see anything from the past year.  We have been trying (unsuccessfully) to work with large rental companies to request jobsite trailers that are at a minimum energy efficient, and ideally solar/battery ready and/or built to passive house or similar... Read more

I'm sure we'll learn more soon, but several people have asked on various platforms about how Betsy del Monte is doing (she lives in Asheville, NC, which was hard hit by Hurricane Helene). 

I had a brief text exchange with her on Saturday 28 September, and I feel sure that she would be OK with my sharing it with you all: 

We’re... Read more

We just heard from one of our more progressive clients that they are pulling Mohawk from their shelves and are no longer allowing it on their projects. Apparently there are some chemical ingredients they objected to, but more importantly the manufacturer "lied" to the client about the content. Does anyone have an idea what this might be about?... Read more

Hello All,
Checking in on experience with Armstrong's Tectum E-N with NEOPOR Graphite polysytrene GPS rigid foam insulation core in roof panels for exposed structure?
BASF says that NEOPOR uses up to 30% less material than other rigid foam; it is greenguard gold cerified. 

Interesting that the NEOPOR increases in R-value as... Read more

Hi! Over the last 10 years, the firm where I work in Boston has predominately designed housing & senior living projects in the the Boston Metro region, with the occassional project in NH, CT, RI, and NY. We have built projects as far south at DC, but never designed anything to my knowledge in California in our 55 years of operation. A... Read more

Products & Materials Specialist and LEED AP BD+C Brent Ehrlich excels at deep, unbiased, and nuanced technical research on the health and environmental impacts of green building products and materials. Some areas of focus include:

product and material constituents, including their risks

product certifications

... Read more

For those of you who are close to CLT and mass timber, has the jump in US wood price also impacted the pricing of CLT on your projects, or viability of CLT compared to the cost of steel or concrete frame buildings?  

If anyone has price data comparing CLT today to pre-Covid pricing or any metric that would describe the percentage change... 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

Does anyone have any research studies they could share on the effect of construction/renovation noise and activity on employee productivity?  I'm trying to make a case for the measurable negative impacts of having ongoing renovation construction activity in an office environment.  Thanks!