Championing the
Changemakers

We had a small group tour the Dell Seton Medical Center campus today, and a much larger group tour the new Austin Public Library. 

My favorite quote from the Medical Center tour, was about this project being the first private development on U of Texas property. "It took 58 separate legal agreements. We won a ULI award for making the... Read more

You’ve probably heard that wood products are carbon neutral. You might also have heard that timber harvesting causes immense carbon emissions.

Which is it?

Could it be both?

Wondering if we can have a dialog on HVAC load calculation software... we are currently still using Trane Trace 700, but with the future migration to Trace 3D+ coming are looking into other options. Never used HAP but I haven't heard great things, and we dabbled in IES VE for a while, but went back to Trace since at that time there was no... Read more

Hello all,

We are having a mini office debate on fiberglass vs aluminum windows for use in schools (k-12) in Massachusetts. In the past we have always used aluminum windows on our schools, for durability. However, their performance is not as great as other products that are up and coming on the market. There is some hesitation to switch... Read more

Hi all,

The Healthy Building Network, now Habitable, was kind enough to develop printable versions of their Informed Product Guidance for us. I think these are a really great resource for design teams looking to select better product options. While the web version is great, we are using the printable version to hang select sheets around... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Integrated Design Meets the Real World.

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


1. Define the integrated design process and describe what makes it different from the conventional design process.
2. Describe the charrette process and list... Read more

Chillers are part of larger systems that provide cooling in large commercial buildings.

BuildingGreen-Approved Water Chillers

Because there isn't a single relevant efficiency standard for chillers, approved products use innovations such as magnetic bearings, variable frequency drives, or other technologies that significantly... Read more

Curious on stories when IAQ testing for LEED or WELL didn't come back with "all clear, everything's good" results we all hope for. 

I have a project right now where we are tracking down suspicious sources and look forward to telling the full story when it's done being written. 

Thought maybe this would be a good safe space to talk... Read more

Hi all,

I had a position listed for a Sustainable Design Coordinator which we have down for the moment as we've taken on a fall intern instead. In the interim, however, I did have a couple of great candidates that I'd like to help find good matches. One of those candidates is Marissa Lantieri, see her resume and portolio attached.

Hi Green Gurus!

We’ve gotten GREAT feedback and input from many of you via the survey about our planned fall events. You expressed a lot of interest in all the events we proposed: a series of in-depth Integrative Design Jams, separate Summits for SDL and SCL, and regional all-network workshops, starting with one in Boston—so we’re moving... Read more

Typically made from petrochemicals, carpet and its adhesives can offgas. It is also a challenge to recycle them, increasing the chances that it will be incinerated or disposed of in a landfill. Because carpet has a limited lifespan, its life-cycle performance is key.

BuildingGreen recommends modular carpet that demonstrates lower life-... Read more

Hello, All, Is anyone familiar with One Click LCA software and resources?  Similarities/differences from a Tally or Athena approach?  Many thanks!

Team,

You probably know on July 9th, WHO issued a document and agreed aerosol route of COVID-19 transmission is possible, but fell short of saying we need to make provisions in our buildings for it per the "Do no harm" principle.  Mary Ann Lazarus, Pauline Souza, Kay Sargent, Joyce Lee, and I (SDL members from architecture and... Read more

Thought I'd share this interesting research about something I hadn't considered as another pandemic impact - the use of video in Zoom etc calls vs. audio only. Maybe an excuse to keep your camera off some of the time?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210114134033.htm

MAL

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