Urban Green Council, the New York affiliate of the U.S. Green Building Council, has announced finalists from around the country for the EBie Awards. The winners of the nationwide competition will be announced in New York on June 22.
Hygro refers to water, and thermal refers to heat. In buildings, you really can’t manage heat without also managing moisture. For example, if you increase how much insulation is in a wall, you may also be increasing the risk of moisture and mold problems.
There are four ways that buildings can get wet:
As architects and other design professionals from around the nation gather in Atlanta this week, they will find that the gap between design and sustainable design is narrower than ever. But if you are looking for the greenest talks of them all, look no further!
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is accepting public comments on what will become the first LEED rating system for existing multifamily projects with 20-plus units.
I’m about to start teaching another round of my online course, Resilient Design, at Boston Architectural College (BAC), and this provides an opportunity to reflect on teaching at BAC and, more broadly, the online instruction in sustainable design offered through this program.
Our recent webcast, Deep Material Vetting That Won’t Chew Through Your Design Budget, included a “homework” assignment: Chris and Scott of Re:Vision Architecture asked everyone to vet three to five materials they’re considering using in a current project.
From Dec. 28, 2014 till Jan. 5, 2015 both LEED Online v3 (used by LEED 2009 projects) and the new LEED Online (used by LEED v4, Homes, and Campuses) will be down for maintenance.
Then, on Jan. 5, 2015, LEED 2009 projects using BD+C, ID+C and EB:O+M rating systems will be find themselves on the new LEED Online platform, and new LEED 2009 projects will register and use it going forward.
USGBC has more detail and is offering several Webex events to answer questions.
Which LEED credits stimulate the most questions? These LEEDuser forums are the most active—if you have questions, chances are they may have been discussed before. Click below to visit the forum and check it out.
Don't see the credit you're looking for? See all our rating systems and credits here.
The official title of our repository of templates, tools, calculators, spreadsheets, and samples that you can use on your LEED projects is our Documentation Toolkit.
But I call it The Jackpot. When my colleague Nadav Malin showed his then-12-year-old daughter an earlier version of LEEDuser.com, she thought the forum, the guidance, the FAQs, the checklists, the credit language was all great. But her remark, "Oh—there's the jackpot," immediately summed up the value of the Doc Toolkit.
When USGBC announced in late October 2014 (see LEED 2009 Registration Extended to October 2016) that LEED version 2009 would continue to be available for an additional 16 months—to October 2016—on top of its already unprecedented 15-month phase-out period, I was not a happy camper.
Editor's note: Need tips on the v4 LEED AP exam? Click to learn about our BD+C Exam Prep guide, which includes a 45-page companion workbook and a 50-question online sample exam.
In less than an hour, I’ll be driving to Worcester, Massachusetts—through "wintry mix," no less—to take the LEED AP, BD+C exam.
I’m probably going to fail, and here’s why.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has decided that requiring new LEED projects to register for LEED v4 as of June 2015 was too soon and has shifted that date back to October 31, 2016. In an announcement released this morning, USGBC said that it was giving the market more time to get ready for LEED v4 based on feedback it received during last week's annual Greenbuild conference.
According to USGBC, 61% of respondents to a survey said they are “not ready” or “unsure” if they are ready for LEED v4 and require additional time to prepare.
Following is the group being recognized this week at Greenbuild 2014 by USGBC for their volunteer hours, mentoring, organizational leadership, and innovation. I'm blown away by the contributions of everyone listed to the green building movement.
Congratulations!
For those who never felt that a static LEED plaque adequately captured the performance of a building in all its complexity, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has an answer: the LEED Dynamic Plaque. The flatscreen hardware, bolstered by a back end that crunches data, loads up occupancy surveys, and reports back to USGBC, is the result of years of work by USGBC staff on a tool that could engage buildings after their initial LEED certification, and orient all buildings toward measured performance.