Championing the
Changemakers

Hello All,

A group of us (three architects and a builder- sounds like there should be a joke here) were debating this and we  are stumped.

Application: Residential exterior trim.

50 year warrantied composite product of agricultural byproduct with PVC (EPD not published yet) vs 100 year (if primed on all sides and painted or... Read more

Are you getting questions, advice, and dubious sales pitches from all comers about how to design and run an HVAC system to combat infectious disease? You’re not alone. Engineers, facility managers, architects, and other building professionals are all... Read more

Embodied carbon in products and existing buildings. What does LCA tell us about renovation vs. new construction and material choices?

Guiding Questions: 

With the increasing need to support design with techncial expertise, I am curious to hear how others are meeting this challenge.  Do you build energy models in-house?  Do you have a team of experts whose sole responsibility is to support design teams with tasks such as energy modeling and LCA, or is that expertise distributed throughout the... Read more

Hi SCL, 

Just thought I would share an interesting piece from Construction Dive about a lack of guidance on when to halt work due to bad air quality--from wildfires or otherwise. A few SCL companies are mentioned here as having their own policies, but I was pretty shocked to learn that this isn't required by OSHA. 

https://www.... Read more

Hi all,

We are about to start a affordable housing passive house project in Boston and in a few presentations I've seen great signs that builders use to try to get the point across to subs as to how important air sealing is. Some are even quite funny! The builder we are working with does not have a sign like this, but is open to ideas.... Read more

What better way to follow up the magic of a live presentation from Peter Yost than with 30 free days of BuildingGreen Premium?

Plastic windows come in both ABS and vinyl (PVC). Even though PVC is particularly loathed by environmentalists, energy performance is BuildingGreen's primary green consideration for windows, and some vinyl windows offer exceptionally strong energy performance, often with competitive pricing.

BuildingGreen-Approved Plastic Windows

... Read more

Hi Green Gurus,

We have recently had a beloved member of the HKS DesignGreen team relocate to Toronto due to work visa challenges in the US. Our loss could be your gain if you have an office in Toronto! We are hoping to collect a list of leads for him once the dust settles on his move and he begins his job hunt. If you have any... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Why Post-Occupancy Review Is the Future of Design (And How It Can Serve You Now).

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


1. Explain the importance of post-occupancy evaluation (POE) for occupants and the opportunities in POE for architects.... Read more

Seems to be a trend! We're looking to fill a Sustainability Specialist position at Perkins Eastman: 

http://perkinseastman.hrmdirect.com/employment/job-opening.php?req=89745...

Please let me know if you have any potential candidates who might be a good fit! 

Apologies if some of you are seeing this for the second time - on behalf of Frances Yang, Mike Gryniuk and the Carbon Leadership Forum, consider signing on in support of the SE 2050 Challenge for structural engineers. (Yes, there is an option to sign on as a non-structural engineer, in support of the program.)

http://... Read more

Hive mind,

We recently learned that 3M has discontinued the production of their 3M Daylight Redirecting Film (https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/building-window-solutions-us/solutions/dayli...). This product was selected by an architecture client last year as the optimal daylight/glare control strategy for a school project, and we're assisting... Read more

I was wondering if any design or contractor friend here can kindly share the carbon emission factor of excavation during construction. 

I found a paper that provides energy use rate per cubic meter and associated carbon emission in kgCO2 for different phase of construction such as excavation earth work, pouring and lifting concrete,... Read more