What are Sustainable Construction Documents?
Wednesday, 09 March 2016
by healthybuilding
What are Sustainable Construction Documents? Everything you’ve always wanted to know about Sustainable Construction Documents, but were afraid to ask. An Architects Explains Sustainable Construction Documents From time to time I find myself explaining the process and make up of sustainable construction documents to various people. So it recently occurred to me that it would
- Published in Green Building Consulting
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Green Cleaning Products
Thursday, 28 January 2016
by healthybuilding
For Our Home, Our Health, and Our Environment: Green Cleaning Products A regular and thorough cleaning regime is important in maintaining a healthy indoor environment. The cleaning products we use, however, can have adverse health effects. Most household cleaners can contain a plethora of chemicals. Overexposure to these chemicals can cause a variety of health
- Published in Healthy Building Inspections & Testing
Lessons Learned Working on LEED Projects
Thursday, 15 October 2015
by healthybuilding
Lessons Learned While Working on LEED Projects I am lucky to have had the opportunity to work on a wide array of LEED projects in 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 LEED delivery process, I
- Published in Green Building Consulting
LEED v4 Changes – What to Expect
Friday, 24 April 2015
by healthybuilding
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 chatting 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
- Published in Green Building Consulting
Lumber Liquidators Formaldehyde Testing
Tuesday, 03 March 2015
by healthybuilding
Lumber Liquidators Formaldehyde Testing Recent investigative journalism exposed a Lumber Liquidators formaldehyde content issue and revealed an unfortunate tale that may affect hundreds of thousands of homes across the US. During active federal investigations for suspicion of using illegally harvested lumber from Russia, it turns out one of the largest flooring distributors in the US
- Published in Environmental Testing
EMF in Schools, CHPS Takes a Stand
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
by healthybuilding
EMF in Schools – Collaboration for High Performance Schools For many years CHPS has been a leader in identifying sustainable and healthy building trends for school buildings. Long before LEED for Schools, there was the Collaboration for High Performance Schools Criterion and scorecard. This rating system has been tested and proven effective, and recently has
- Published in Green Building Consulting
LEED Midrise Certification
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
by healthybuilding
Last year, I petitioned the USGBC Technical Committee on Homes and received the green signal to pursue LEED certification for a 32 story apartment tower in San Francisco’s Transbay neighborhood. Midrise V 2010 allows certification for residential buildings of 4 to 12+ stories with exceptions made for taller buildings on a case-by-case basis. Residential projects
- Published in Green Building Consulting
Understanding LEED IAQ Testing Requirements
Thursday, 24 April 2014
by healthybuilding
Understanding LEED IAQ Testing Requirements LEED 2009 and LEEDv4 both have credits that require building flush-outs or building air quality testing prior to occupancy. The credit requires that after construction ends, the GC must install new filtration media and flush-out the building by supplying a total air volume of 14,000 cubic feet of outdoor air per square
LEED Envelope Commissioning (Enclosure Commissioning)
Wednesday, 15 January 2014
by healthybuilding
What is Envelope Commissioning or Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx)? Most of us have heard of Commissioning (Cx) as it deals with HVAC equipment and digital controls. But what is “Enclosure Commissioning” or “Envelope Commissioning,” and what about LEED Envelope Commissioning? Its scope is vast and skills and knowledge required are pretty intensive as well. LEED v4
- Published in Green Building Consulting
Understanding Materials Transparency in LEEDv4
Friday, 27 December 2013
by healthybuilding
The Materials and Human Health Summit provided a good explanation of the approach that LEED v4 is taking with regard to materials transparency in LEEDv4. (See my previous post, Tension at the Materials and Human Health Summit? for more on the event). In place of the controversial LEED Pilot Credit 54 that ignited some of the animosity between
- Published in Green Building Consulting