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

Lessons learned while working on LEED Projects   I am lucky in that I have had the opportunity to work on such a wide array of LEED projects in so many different LEED rating systems and versions. While most LEED professionals, especially those that work in architectural firms, have seen the design side of the

What is the difference between Sick Building Syndrome and Building Related Illness? Sick Building Syndrome and Building Related Illness are two distinct diagnosis. People often use the term “sick building” when referring to a property, but buildings don’t get sick – people do. I believe if there are numerous people suffering from Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) it’s okay

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.

Building Enclosure Commissioning 101, the why? – Part 1 Building Enclosure Commissioning 101 is still relatively new and many teams don’t yet understand its value. I still remember attending a seminar at the Pacific Energy Center in San Francisco, 18 years ago, on HVAC Commissioning. This was a new and upcoming service at the time

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., are there some basic tips you can follow that will help you take advantage

Building Science Terminology This blog shares some recommended terminology from the US DOE. We are only looking at terminology and frequently used words and phrases in this blog, and not definitions of building science terms. I admit that Building Science Terminology is sophisticated and can be confusing, but I’m not sure that the DOE’s recent efforts

LEED v4 Changes We’ve been using LEED as a tool to assist owners and design-build teams for many years, and helped guide many projects to certification. Now everyone is chattering about LEED v4 changes and many are curious what to expect. We began a pilot LEEDv4 EBOM project for a local hotel, but in the end

Natural Ventilation of Buildings and Spaces Many times when clients desire a “green” space or building that connects its occupants to the outdoors, they envision incorporating lots of daylighting and natural ventilation in the architectural design. Certainly, there can be many benefits to be had including lower energy bills, a connection to the outdoors, improved

Materials Air Quality Testing Since news broke that Lumber Liquidators may have distributed composite wood flooring in California that did not meet California Air Resource Board (CARB) formaldehyde emission standards, we’ve been getting lots of questions about materials air quality testing. Questions are coming from all angles. Some folks are interested in joining the class action