Championing the
Changemakers

Does anyone have experience pursing SITES certification on an essentially a zero-lot line project?

We are required to achieve silver certification, but the project scope/phasing recently changed and the entire site/parking area was eliminated and we no longer have a green roof. It still appears we can meet silver certification as so few... Read more

I was sitting in on the USGBC's monthly Advocacy call this afternoon and heard about a state-local policy proposal to use property tax incentive for GHG reductions.  Through a state-local partnership, owners of existing residential and commercial buildings who invest in qualifying outcome-based improvements would receive a property tax... Read more

In looking for ways to reduce jobsite waste and lower our carbon emissions, I'm working on a business plan for centralized procurement, in lieu of individual project purchasing their own tools, PPE, & consumables.  I'm curious as to how many other GC's on here use (or have used) a central purchasing process and if you have any pros/cons... Read more

Happy 2021 Green Gurus,

BuildingGreen has some New Years news to share with you all!

Announcing an addition to the Peer Networks family, we are excited to be launching the Sustainable Community Design Leaders (SCDL) Peer Network!

The SCLD peers are planners, architects, landscape architects, and other professionals at... Read more

Hello Sustainable Construction Leaders!

Here at BuildingGreen we are excited and looking forward to creating a valuable and engaging online summit with you all for 2020! In addition to going online, this year we have shifted the dates so that the SCL Summit will occur within weeks of all other Peer Network Summits. This allows us to host... Read more

Hello,

We are having a discussion / a bit of a debate in our office about the merits and sustainability of different roofing materials. Our current standard is to use a PVC membrane, which we all know is highly toxic. TPO is an obvious alternative that is less toxic, but it has some performance concerns and can often lead to leaking (not... Read more

Hi folks, I was asking around during Greenbuild and getting a variety of answers on this, and since our Contractor Commitments make a distinction between "GC's" mobile equipment as scope 1 and "Sub's" mobile equipment as scope 3. I know that many of us acting as "CM" claim full "operational control" of a jobsite and consider all fuel using on... Read more

Short notice – apologies in advance.

Please review the new Guide following the instructions on the first page of the attached draft and using the attached spreadsheet. Comments will be accepted until February 16th at noon EST

Use the Excel spreadsheet to compile your comments if you have any, and return them to me by Feb 15th COB... Read more

Hello all, 

Our firm recently signed onto the Material Pledge and while there is no reporting requirements at this time we are wondering how other architectural firms are, or plan to, report projects. 

Thanks for any insight that can be shared!

-Dave

Welcome to the quiz portion of The PVC Debate: A Fresh Look

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


1. Catalog the history of PVC in the building industry.
2. Recount the connections between PVC and chlorine, dioxins, mercury, and vinyl chloride.
3. Explain the... Read more

Dear SD Leaders,

As some of you may have heard, EHDD has been working for the last year in developing a data model to support early phase goal setting for holistic low carbon design. This data model is at the heart of our Early Phase Integrated Carbon (EPIC) assessment tool. EPIC is a data-driven goal-setting tool for use in the earliest... Read more

Hi - we're working with the University of California Office of the President to put together low-carbon case studies. The two types we are looking for now include 1) a low-carbon TI (not a full building gut/renovation), and 2) any that involve the circular economy (in this case not just building reuse but product reuse) which could include... Read more

SmithGroup is hosting Metropolis Magazine for a “Think Tank Event on Waterfront Redevelopment and Urban Resilience”.   While the event is in our office, if you're not in DC, it will also be broadcast live on Facebook Live (https://www.facebook.com/events/1299577320146259/) Feel free to share this invitation with others.  Information about the... Read more

Hi folks,

We're kicking off a new way for us to collaborate as a network: monthly web-based conference calls. The first one will be on Friday, Nov 15 at 1:00 eastern time. The topic will be "Sustainability and the Small Firm: Practices in Transition" -- which is the name of the proposal James has submitted (and gotten first-round... Read more

THIS WEBINAR PURCHASE AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED.

Katrina Amaral
Timberdoodle Farm

Jacob Dunn
ZGF

Steve Rigdon
Yakama Forest Products

Jennifer Shakun
New England Forestry... Read more

Sometimes referred to as “the dark side”, the construction industry isn’t actually so bad.  We are mostly good people.  And, we need good people. 

Consigli is hiring a Sustainability Manager to work in Massachusetts, and we could use your help to fill the role.  If you or someone you know is brimming with the sustainability force, please... Read more