Championing the
Changemakers

Do any of you have experience with Design For Freedom yet? It came to my attention and I'm trying to investigate. I would love to hear feedback and experiences that you may have at this point. It seems like an opportune moment for this issue of forced labor (yikes! so much I don't know...) to come to the forefront, and I'm curious to hear how... Read more

If your HVAC designers are addicted to the crack that is Trace 700, and knowing that Trane is giving up on that product in the coming year, what loads program are you weaning* them onto?

Asking for a friend:  Have any of you had success in using the Revit plug-in for loads?

*When told that they should use IESVE for loads, our HVAC... Read more

Hello Sustainable Advising Leaders,

Here are the notes from the last Zoom call. We had a great turnout! Looking ahead, now that things are rolling along we’d like to get into the rhythm of a regularly scheduled monthly call. Since Tuesdays seem to work well for most people, I am proposing the 4th Tuesday of the month from 3-4pm ET. That... Read more

Virgin materials can come with major environmental impacts from mining, petroleum extraction, or irresponsible logging practices.

BuildingGreen-Approved Site Furnishings

All approved products contain some post-consumer recycled content, with several boasting 90%–100% overall recycled material. Wood products are responsibly sourced... Read more

I am wanting to take the pulse of this group on behalf of a manufacturer who has asked us a similar question.

The company in question makes wood products and has had FSC CoC for over a decade. Recently, they are encountering issues with sourcing FSC for about 50% of the wood species they offer. There just aren't FSC sources available.... Read more

All--

I haven't been part of this group in a while, but I'm excited to have rejoined recently. Some of you know that I joined HMC last year as Chief Impact Officer. I oversee design, sustainability, research, and communications for the firm, which has 300 people in 6 offices in California. We were founded in 1940 with a mission to serve... Read more

Some of you saw my 5-minute presentation about the Rich Earth Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont and how it is inventing new ways to keep excess nutrients from urine out of surface waters and use them instead as fertilizer. Now you can also hear about it on Planet Money: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/01/26/581156723/episode-820-p-is... Read more

I was asked to share this with my network...

"For colleagues working with LCA data, during design, construction, or facility management proces, please help us understand how EPDs are useful in your processes by completing the survey below:"

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ashrant-aryal-2354497a_qualtrics-survey-q...

Greetings!

Ayers Saint Gross is in search of a Sustainable Design Coordinator to join our team. This person is anticipated to sit in any one of our offices - Baltimore; Washington, DC; Tempe, Arizona; or Austin, Texas. Fit and skillset are more important than geography. The position is anticipated as full-time, but if the right candidate... Read more

Hi! Over the last 10 years, the firm where I work in Boston has predominately designed housing & senior living projects in the the Boston Metro region, with the occassional project in NH, CT, RI, and NY. We have built projects as far south at DC, but never designed anything to my knowledge in California in our 55 years of operation. A... Read more

Welcome to the quiz portion of Energy Modeling for Early Design Decisions (recorded webcast)

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


1. Explain how energy codes and standards are pushing commercial projects beyond what they can do without modeling.
2. Describe the key... Read more

I am thrilled to announce that our own supreme Green Guru has been elevated to the College of Fellows!  Congratulations Pauline!

Announcements are being made today so don't be shy folks - please share the good news here.

Hi Everyone! 

I am building our internal/firm resources around sustainable design, and creating our post-occupancy evaluations is one of those resources. Does anyone have references or resources they'd recommend me to look into for post-occupancy evaluations? So far I am considering a few evalutation types: building user input, building... Read more

Hi all - we have several projects where money from the IRA may be able to get projects farther. I've seen the AIA/USGBC webinar and done some other research as well. Does anyone know if there's a Higher Ed group that is chasing down how and when the money is available and for what exact purposes? Are you planning on using consultants to help... Read more

Hello friends. On a current school project, an abuse resistant wall covering has been proposed as an alternative to our typical MDF wainscot. The proposed product has been used successfully in healthcare, and switching to it will save the project almost $1million, which is no small amount when the project is over budget and 7-figure cost... Read more