Championing the
Changemakers

Good morning all!

We're working on a higher ed project, and the university PM recently read an article about eco-friendly drywall and is interested in using it on the project.  We're currently using the USG EcoSmart drywall on another project and mentioned it as an option, but the article she forwarded also mentioned ExtremeGreen's MgO... Read more

Hello Sustainability Leaders,

I am writing with some news from the Peer Networks team. 

I recently accepted a job with a local college I have long admired in their advancement office. Therefore, my last day at BuildingGreen will be Fri. Feb. 11th. 

Working with you all these past four and a half years has been such an... Read more

Hi folks, 

For those who have already been involved, this is a friendly reminder that our next Sustainable MEP Leaders call is Monday the 29th at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. Here is the Zoom link to join, and here is the agenda for the call.

We have also had a couple of new people join the network – welcome to Cindy Cogil and Sergio... Read more

Hello everyone!

My role at Sundt Construction is both a Preconstruction Project Manager, and Chairman of the company's sustainability committee. I've been involved in green building since 2001 and have been in leadership roles in both the Arizona and Minnesota USGBC Chapters. I look forward to being an active member of this group.... Read more

Our high performance consulting team is frustrated by project teams that regularly fall back on outdated rules of thumb in their system and equipment sizing. 

What challenges do you face in your work flow to limit oversizing and promote right-sizing?

By the way, Roger Chang, our literature search on the subject turned up an eleven... Read more

Hello SCL, 

If you didn't attend last week's SCL Summit, then I'll sum up one of the major takeaways: SCL members NEED TO COMMENT ON LEEDV5. The stakes are high, particularly around waste. 

Luckily, Amanda Kaminsky is making it easy for us. She has drafted a sample comment based on our discussion at the Summit. 

If you have... Read more

Using energy for cooling during peak hours places a large demand on utilities, is expensive, and can be less efficient than off-peak energy production.

BuildingGreen-Approved Thermal Energy Storage

BuildingGreen lists a variety of  thermal energy storage systems.

About

Off-peak cooling, or thermal energy storage (TES... Read more

Hello, 

We have recently been introduced to the Innovation Design Consurtium and are considering becoming members. Wondering what others have experienced with this recently created group. Any feedback / experience is most appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi everyone! LMN is embarking on a 17-part series to explore a more comprehensive carbon metric via summaries of various topics with lots of link. This dovetails with many other efforts in the industry and will reference all the best stuff that we are aware of...such as MEP 2040, SE 2050, CLF stuff, Epic tool, CARE tool, Arch 2030 publications... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of BuildingGreen’s Top 10 Green Building Products for 2018.

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


1.  Explain the transparency and optimization criteria in the LEED v4 (applicable to  Building Product Disclosure and Optimization credits in LEED v4 BD+C and... Read more

Friends,

We put a lot of effort into air tightness design, detailing, and construction administration, often including 6-sided mockup and parital or whole-building blower-door testing.  For commercial buildings, these tests measure air leakage in cfm/sf at 1.57 psf (75pa).  

I came across this research paper several years ago, but... Read more

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

Has anyone worked on a WELL project? I have heard that you can expect about 1.5 to twice the effort of LEED coordination but wasn't sure how accurate that was. Any suggestions for determining the possible time commitment of WELL coordination?

Thanks in advance!

Here’s a nice NYTimes op ed on urban density that directly addresses the concern Gwen raised on out call today: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/upshot/coronavirus-urban-density-risks.html?referringSource=articleShare

Team,

As you all probably saw, Boston is discussing using both CEI (carbon emission intensity) and EUI as basic scope of work.  Maybe the more surprising thing is China announced a new building code next year to include carbon emission analysis as a basic scope of work for all buildings.   New buildings in 2022, among other things,... Read more