Championing the
Changemakers

(posting here for Kira)

Sustainable Design Leaders:

Is your firm using the AIA COTE Top Ten Toolkit in some fashion? COTE would like to hear from you, especially if you are willing to share your story. 

Specifically, we'd like to share best practices and lessons about how it is working (with certain types of projects, at... Read more

Hello Sustainable Design Leaders!

I have an exciting announcement today, fall Peer Network events are now open for registration! You can see all the event details and register here!

Based on feedback we received from past events and the most recent surveys, we decided against doing one long week of events for this fall and instead... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of The Problem with Net-Zero Buildings (and the Case for Net-Zero Neighborhoods).

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


1. Describe several unintended consequences of focusing on net-zero-energy buildings.
2. List at least three advantages... Read more

Hi all, 

I'm looking for critical mass here. Do any of you have or know of clients who are requiring Just labeling for their consultants? I've heard that Google is asking this, and wondering who else might be on that course. Thanks! 

As announced in last week's SDL/SCL Winter Summit, I have been working with a group of regional AEC professionals, industry stakeholders, and the New Buildings Institute on two code proposals to the 2021 Seattle Building Code that limit the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of concrete & steel in buildings over 50,000 sf (see attached).  We ... Read more

Please use this thread for you're actions / ideas for creating more sustainable job site construction office trailers.

I know that Pepper Construction led the way with a Net Zero Construction Jobsite Trailer. (Thanks Susan Heinking!)  Is this a one off?  Any lessons learned? Any one else pursing this?  Is pepper the first and only doing... Read more

It was great to see everyone who was able to join in the peer networks webinar and to be able to share a brief update on what the Defining and Measuring Resilient Outcomes working group has accomplished over the last year... and what we are looking forward to tackling in the coming year. 

I've both attached a copy of the deck here and... Read more

Greetings to the Green Commons!

Those of you who attended Greenbuild may remember that during one of the keynotes, Ali Zaidi - White House National Climate Advisor, announced that the White House was developing a definition for "Zero Emissions Buildings" (here’s a [LINK] to a related Washington Post article). The draft language for the... Read more

Dear Colleagues,

I proposed CarbonCure for a project and the structural engineer in the meeting was opposed to it. He later sent me detailed reasoning by email. I have not used this technology and would like to hear other more experienced opinions on the technology. The project we are working on is well integrated with climate, 99% sDA,... Read more

Dear SDL: I'm writing to urge you to promote project submittals in your firm and region to the 2018 AIA COTE Top Ten  (TT) Award. The submittal deadline is 5PM EST  January 17, 2018 - coming right up!  The TT awards are one of the most recognized design awards for the general public and receive wide circulation through mainstream media.   AIA... Read more

What sorts of boilerplate and legalese will we need on the BIT User site? For example:

I'm not saying you need any or all of those, but I'm just giving a heads-up in case you need to check with your legal advisor.

I can link to those documents from the site footer.

Untreated rainwater leaving a developed site is effectively a chemical spill, laden with pollutants that include oil, sediment, heavy metals, nitrogen, and phosphorous. The heat carried by stormwater is also harmful to fish and other aquatic organisms.

BuildingGreen-Approved Systems

We approve systems that:

I took a first pass at content for the Energy Audit best practice, see the uploaded file. 

Happy Friday Everyone!

Hoping to add a bit of excitement to the end of your week: 

Here is the Sustainable Design Leaders 2020 Summer Summit Report. 

Enjoy!

RoseAnn for Nadav, Candace, and the BuildingGreen team

Hi all - Can you help me with a list of states with pending electrification/fossil fuel free ordinances? I am providing some technical aasistance for an article that is going to press soon. The author has listed WA, CO, and MA but I'm unsure how far each of these go and if it's technically correct to call them electrification ordinances.

Hello,

We're trying to budget Fitwel Certification consulting fees for a non-profit client for whom we're designing an early childcare center in Louisville, KY. It would be for a single tenant new building Fitwel certification and include a Fitwel introduction workshop, working with design team, and coordinating/submitting documentation... Read more