Championing the
Changemakers

Preservative treatments extend the service life of wood, but many such treatments are highly toxic, especially to aquatic life.

BuildingGreen-Approved Preserved Wood

Products approved by BuildingGreen use chemicals (commonly borates) that are relatively low in toxicity and have low VOC emissions.

Health and Environmental... Read more

There has been some great press in the last couple of days related to Healthy Building Network's (HBN) newly released report "Chlorine & Building Materials Project".  That report is over 200 pages long, but there is some great commentary available that makes the top issues much quicker to grasp.

Chlorine is used to make PVC and PVC... 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!

Friends, I reviewed the firm's 2019 AIA 2030 data with a Principal, having organized the data in such a way that we could manipulate it. I included the average EUI and weighted EUI, since the latter gives a truer picture of where we are as a studio. In the past, the assumption was we would raise all boats with efforts to improve our practice in... Read more

I'm looking for precedents of retail centers (think outdoor centers with multiple buildings or converted indoor malls) that have incorporated any of these strategies. Also, any research studies on the health, social, and other benefits of incorporating these strategies. 

a. Preserve/restore natural ecology, green infrastructure... Read more

I've got exciting news to share! Ayers Saint Gross' JUST disclosure went live on Monday. See our blog post about it here: https://asg-architects.com/ideas/blog/. That has a link out to our actual disclosure as well. It's been a bananas week with our internal communications campaign on it in full swing. I know a number of your firms, based on... Read more

Kristen Fritsch, in the thread about ipe wood, asked about resources comparing the carbon footprint of transporting building materials vs the transport mode.  There are people who spend their lives on this topic that I won't presume to speak for, but I'll share a few observations:

Even though freight transport is something like 7% of... Read more

Hello friends,

Here’s another upcoming event that BuildingGreen has been hiding up our sleeve: a San Francisco Bay Area Mini-Summit! A summary is below, see the registration page for more details or to sign up. This event is intended for SF locals, so folks who work farther afield can join, with the knowledge that Bay Area-specific... 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

Hi all,

I'm wondering if you all have had a meetup at NESEA's Building Energy Boston conference before? Is anyone interested in meeting up this year? I'm open to ideas! If you give me your email address I can attempt to organize an informal meet up on one of the conference days.

For those of you not in the NE part of the country,... Read more

Hello Green Gurus,

I am starting some research on municipal incentives offered to developers seeking to achieve sustainability targets and am wondering what you may have come across in your work, including but not limited to achieving Passive House. In my limited research, here are few I have come across to get us started:

My firm didn't have representation at the winter summit, but I've just read the report (thank you, RoseAnn!), and was really glad to see there was conversation around mass timber. I'd love to talk with anyone who was involved in that roundtable to get a deeper download about the discussion. We've been doing a lot of mass timber buildings and... Read more

Rise above the competition in sustainability, and meet your colleagues where they are.

Our affordable firm-wide pricing offers resources that your whole firm can take advantage of, with trusted, ad-free... Read more

A site license allows your entire organization to access and share the guide, and to keep a copy in your library.  

We’re excited to be releasing the 2020 edition of Spec This, Not That. 

... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Deep Material Vetting (That Won't Chew Through Your Design Budget).

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


1. Align product vetting with goals that aim to mitigate occupant exposure and environmental toxicity.
2. Foster partnerships with... Read more

Plug loads—the energy consumed by plugged-in devices—can use a substantial amount of the total energy in both residential and commercial buildings.

BuildingGreen-Approved Controls

BuildingGreen approves products that monitor and reduce electricity use for plugged-in electrical devices.

Plug Loads and Energy Conservation... Read more

Hello SCL,

We are getting back to our usual schedule of a pre-Greenbuild SCL Summit. We will be opening registration and announcing topics shortly. In the meantime, please pencil us into your calendar.

Date: September 25, 2023

Location: ZGF Architecture 600 14th St NW #800, Washington, DC 20005

Time: Soft start at... Read more

Greg Calnago