The Science of Biomimicry
Wednesday, 17 February 2016
The Science of Biomimicry: How to Use Nature’s Teachings to Thrive The science of Biomimicry recognizes that we have strayed too far from the wildlife that we’ve coevolved with and asks for a return to the source. Those who practice it observe what other life forms have done to survive and then apply the underlying
- Published in Green Building Consulting
Indoor Air Quality and Brain Performance
Wednesday, 23 December 2015
Indoor Air Quality and Brain Performance The Harvard School of Public Health recently released results of a small study that supports what green building enthusiasts have known for years – Indoor Air Quality and Brain Performance are directly connected. While small (24 real people), the double-blind study appears to have been well crafted and executed under exacting controls. The researchers
Building Enclosure Commissioning Overview, Part 2
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Why Commission the Enclosure? Building Enclosure Commissioning Overview, Part 2 In the ideal world, all components of the building enclosure providing waterproofing and air leakage mitigation – air and water resistive barriers, flashings, primary and secondary membranes, sealants, coatings etc., would be thoroughly analyzed for compatibility and detailed with great care to maintain integrity at
- Published in Green Building Consulting
Piping for New Construction – Plastic vs. Copper
Friday, 30 October 2015
Piping for New Construction: Plastic vs. Copper What Do We Know – What Should We Do? Water, it has been revered since the beginning of time. It sustains and nourishes us; we couldn’t live more than three days without it. Fortunately, in the Western World, it is readily available. It is so seamlessly intertwined with
- Published in Green Building Consulting
Healthy Building Material Research
Wednesday, 02 September 2015
Healthy Building Material Research Let’s Prove that the Good Guys Don’t Finish Last! Building material manufacturers are trying to clean up their act. Leading companies are disclosing more chemical ingredients than the laggards, and if your healthy building material research relies solely on an MSDS you may be fooled into choosing a less healthy building material.
- Published in Green Building Consulting
Building Enclosure Commissioning 101 – Part 1
Thursday, 06 August 2015
Building Enclosure Commissioning 101, the Why? – Part 1 Building Enclosure Commissioning 101 is relatively new and many teams don’t yet understand its value. I remember attending a seminar on HVAC commissioning at the Pacific Energy Center in San Francisco 18 years ago. This was a new, upcoming service at the time and commissioning agents
- Published in Green Building Consulting
Daylighting Tips
Friday, 10 July 2015
Daylighting Tips If you wish to optimize daylighting for your building design but don’t wish (or have the time) to do a variety of simulations for different purposes such as illumination levels in the space, shading analyses, sizing windows/ skylights etc., there some basic tips to follow that will help you take advantage of this
- Published in Green Building Consulting
Building Science Terminology
Friday, 12 June 2015
Building Science Terminology This blog shares recommended terminology from the US DOE. We are considering terminology and frequently used words and phrases in this blog, not definitions of building science terms. Building science terminology is sophisticated and can be confusing, but I’m not sure that the DOE’s recent efforts will help the industry. According to
- Published in Green Building Consulting