Championing the
Changemakers

Dear SD Leaders: The comment period closes January 31st on  NCA Volume II Climate Change Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States.

It's important to have the design communities perspective on these critical issues. I hope you can take a look and submit your comments before the deadline.

Details here: https://www.... Read more

Hello everyone, Happy New Year! 

I wanted to send a quick note that we have an awesome group registered for the Sustainable Design Leaders Winter Summit 2020 and we still have a few open seats! This is taking place Jan. 29th - 31st, 2020 at The Lodge, Gulf Shores, AL with an exciting Pre-Summit Workshop happening that Wednesday. If you... Read more

Please help share the latest COTE news, with reports from the AIA Conference, a letter from chair Lori Ferriss, Michelle Amt's review of the 2023 Top Ten winners, and more.

**Be sure to make a note**
The COTE Top Ten Awards cycle has changed. The adjusted timeline is already upon us: The 2024 awards call opens on August 8, and... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Choosing Insulation: High-Performance Wall Assemblies – Unit 3.

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


1. Describe key environmental and performance factors for insulation materials.
2. Recount bottom-line insulation material... Read more

We're now mid-way through Summer Summit season! One of the “good problem to have” challenges we’ve had at recent SDL Summits has been too many great five-minute presentations. It’s hard to find time for them all. This year, since we’ll be online anyway, we can get a jump on that by starting the five-minute presentations early in addition to... Read more

We are working on a Core & Shell project with a developer that we work with frequently. I'm looking for advice on best approaches to achieving the Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment credit- we haven't used TALLY and done this type of analysis before. What are some approaches to achieving this credit that others have found successful? I... Read more

Greetings from the CARE Tool Team,

We are thrilled to update you on the successful soft launch of the CARE Tool last week at Greenbuild! The online beta was unveiled at a reception hosted by EHDD, AIA COTE, and Architecture 2030 to 300+ people, where attendees got the chance to learn about and explore the tool in a demo room. We... Read more

I'm working on convincing my firm to hire a director of sustainability. I'm gaining some traction with the discussion thanks to the fantastic feedback and input from the summer summit "Role of the Sustainable Design Leader" breakout session. Thanks everyone! Does anyone have job descriptions for sustainable design leaders that they'd be willing... Read more

Hi All,

After this long winter, who is up for some fierce creativity and friendly competition in your own offices or between your companies?  What do you think of a location agnostic, virtual, Sustainability Scavenger Hunt from Earth Day to Mother's (earth) Day?

We've done the hard work for you. Join in on the fun and save your... Read more

This is deep nerdy stuff, so don't say you haven't been warned.  ASHRAE has opened the first public review to its net zero standard (228).  Here's the blurb:

Standard Method for Evaluating Zero Net Energy and Zero Net Carbon Building Performance ASHRAE Standard 228-202x sets requirements for evaluating whether a building or group of... Read more

Hello Sustainable Advising members,

Nadav and I have created a spreadsheet based on the matrix you all created at the Summit Palooza. The idea of filling this in with your services and activities is to get to know one another better, be able to support each other and build camaraderie. 

Please take the time to enter the necessary... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Rethinking the All-Glass Building.

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


1. Describe eight reasons all-glass buildings are so popular in architecture today.
2. List the four elements Arup examined in their modeling of the effect of... Read more

Hello- If you use Procore....

Are your jobs using a template to conduct and create "reports" of their IAQ inspections? Did you set it up in forms or inspections? Would you mind sharing an example template with me? I know Green Badger has a great app to do this, which we use. We would use inspections in Procore for jobs that are not using... Read more

A brief non-technical rant about OneClick LCA - from someone who is not actually USING the tool, but lobbying for its access.  Wondering if you all have better intel, or if it is just me.

We are working on a number of projects for which te teams are using OneClick LCA - for some cases it has a better international data set than others. ... Read more

Does anyone have a spreadsheet or chart that compares the new Fitwel v2.1 with Fitwel v2.0 ?

I can't seem to find such a thing on the Fitwel website.

I am trying to determine which version-route to take on our "Workplace" project.

Or do you have experience in this that you can relay?

Thanks.

Hello Folks,
What is your experience with successes and failures in the design process? As a starting point I have listed my Top 5 for success, and my Top 5 for failure. We'd love to see your reactions and look forward to the discussion when we all meet next week at our monthly check-in.

Top 5 reasons for when integrative design... Read more