Championing the
Changemakers

Our firm has had some clients that object to the term "Master Plan." We have removed "Master Planning" from our letterhead, where we list our capabilities and have replaced it with "Planning." Although we still find ourselves using it, old habits die hard, especially when we receive an RFP from a client asking for "Master Planning." Once we get... Read more

Conventional asphalt and concrete contribute to excessive stormwater runoff and pollution.

BuildingGreen-Approved Pavements and Pavers

We look for products that improve on the environmental characteristics of asphalt as well as permeable alternatives to concrete. These include:

Huge congratulations to everyone involved with a Top Ten winner this year! 

In a rare feat--Leddy Maytum Stacy got two!

Also P+W, Lake|Flato with Cooper Cary, WRNS, SOM, Olsen Kundig, KieranTimberlake, DLR--nice work! (And who is Studio27?)

Here's James Wilson's take on what's special about each winning project.

... Read more

Hi everyone! I saw that BuildingGreen won't be faciliating a meet-up in Atlanta but are there any other peers attending Living Future next week and want to self-organize? If we can find a venue - i wonder if there are any locals on this list with a recommendation? Could do Wednesday 7-8:30 between the two scheduled reception and after-hours... Read more

HGA is collaborating with the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) to research how the AE industry is currently using climate projection data, and what they need in order to grow their use of data. MCAP is currently producing a set of dynamical downscaled climate projections for the state of Minnesota and unlike other... Read more

Do you have the authority to start using only EVs in your renderings?  Let’s normalize and accelerate this change!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_production_battery_electric_vehicles

Why are we showing gas cars in renderings of our green buildings?

Welcome to the quiz portion of Cool Products from the Latest Greenbuild Expo.

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


1. Describe innovative products for HVAC and the building envelope.
2. Describe innovative products for saving water and managing stormwater.
3.... Read more

The Sustainable Design Leaders group has had awesome, inspiring Summits for ten years now—and there is so much more we can do can to make it a thriving, essential year-round community. To do that we have to extend the trusted “safe space” of the Summits into our online conversations.

And other groups are just getting started on a... Read more

Happy Earth Day! I'm sharing the results of our office Earth Day Mind Map, a collaborative event lead by our Green Team with office-wide participation. https://mm.tt/1471242441?t=4c76rJLKXz 

We are celebrating with a virtual happy hour later today and will use the Mind Map to generate conversation and sharing.

I would love to hear... 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

Hi folks, 

We all need some more fun and now that we are all breathing better - let's do it!

WHAT is the "Lighter Side of Green" (LSG) ?

You all are rockstars in the Green world, but what about your other talents? LSG is a show where we will highlight the artistic and comedic talents of our Green Building community!... Read more

We've been doing some work gathering actual energy data on our recent projects. (In January we actually issued a report on 21 public buildings ). 

One of the biggest issues is getting access to the actual data - many clients don't want to share. 

Has anyone crafted proposal or contract language allowing/requiring design team... Read more

Hi SD Leaders: As you may know, The National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB) is currently drafting their proposed 2020 Conditions for Architectural Accreditation.  AIA COTE has prepared a response and believe it is critical that the NAAB accreditation process address the role of the architect in climate action and the projected impacts... Read more