Championing the
Changemakers

Hello all,

I have a quick question for you. While Energy Star appliances are a no-brainer for projects, I don't see a hard requirement to select Energy Star appliances in the energy prereq/credit. There are references in the water section for water using appliances like ice machines, dishwashers, clothes washers, etc., but no related... Read more

Dear SDL'ers

After many months of soul searching about my role as a sustainability leader and how to have the most positive environmental impact, I have decided to take a leave from practice to pursue further studies this September. I will be undertaking a two year Master’s degree at the Institute for Resources, Environment and... Read more

Hi all,

Thanks for your patience as we've finally compressed this video file enough to upload it onto the forum. You can watch the recording of "Are We There Yet? A Sampling and Exploration of Project Process Diagrams" here.

Enjoy!

-Amanda & the BuildingGreen team

Hi all, 

Thank you again to those of you who attended the Summer 2024 SDL Summit! We had an unforgettable few days of learning from one another, including from our presenters.

The slides for the 5-minute presentations are below, as well as the BuildingGreen slides from the Summit. Please be aware that we have permission from all... Read more

Hi all,

I have asked a few of you in this list, but thought I might expand the question to the wide group.

To ensure that your firm will be able to collect post-occupancy energy data from your completed projects, have any of you included language about sharing energy data during operations in an owner agreement/contract? We have... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Innovative Products and Technology from the Greenbuild Expo

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


 

1. Direct attention to green building products and technologies that show exceptional potential, from a whole-systems perspective, to bring the... Read more

Hi, folks! Posting on behalf of an individual outside of the networks. Are you seeking a sustainability and materials specialist in-house? This candidate great qualifications, including:

LBC Materials Petal vetting experience – check! tallyCAT – check! Experience training teams on rating systems and internal organziation goals – check!... Read more

Concrete and other cementitious materials have both environmental advantages and disadvantages. As builders and designers, should we be looking for alternatives or embracing concrete over competing materials?

This special report takes a look at how these materials are made, presents the key environmental considerations relating to their... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of The Building Envelope: Primers from Environmental Building News.

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


 

1. Explain how thermal mass helps maintain indoor thermal comfort in buildings.
2. Describe the differences between closed-cell and... Read more

Hi SDLers-

Like many of you, I have found myself involved in our firm’s nascent Social & Racial Justice working group. Our group is laser focused on advancing BIPOC and is seeking to understand more about approaches our firm can take on advocacy, transparency, and training. They are interested in hearing about specific approaches... Read more

We talked about products in Eastern region and Western region groups. 

Guiding questions:

Better Product Choices On Every Project: How To Get There?

How do firms organize and communicate information on materials? Is it office wide or on select projects?

What do designers and project managers need to know? How... Read more

Colleagues

It has been my great pleasure to serve the AIA's COTE Top Ten review process, both as a main juror and, most recently, as one of the technical review team.  I have specifically reviewed the Discovery and Energy measures for the past few years.  I will be serving again on the 2021 team.  The AIA has already received many more... Read more

Hello,

We have a mass timber purpose-built rental project specifying flooring at the moment and are trying to find a healthy flooring option while managing acoustics with CLT floorslabs. We don't typically spec vinyl flooring due to the health concerns around PVC, but the project is budget-conscious, and our flooring supplier is... Read more

We have temporarily suspended the sale of the WELL Study Guide and Practice exams due to the WELL AP v1 exam being retired on September 19th, 2021. The WELL AP v2 exam is scheduled to be released, in beta form, by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) on September 20th.

The BuildingGreen/GreenStep exam prep materials are... Read more

For those who work for companies that track and offset their carbon each year, how do you do it? Looking for best practices and how you vetted where to send your money. Don't need insight on quantifying carbon footprint, just offsetting.  Thanks!