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Panelized Wood Roof Systems Speed Commercial Framing and Cut Carbon
As developers seek rapid decarbonization in large-footprint logistics and light-industrial facilities, panelized wood roof systems offer a proven structural alternative to traditional steel bar joists and metal decking, combining ground-level pre-assembly safety with installation rates that can exceed 100,000 square feet per week.
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National Lab Funds Four Pilots Linking Building Retrofits to Grid Capacity
The National Laboratory of the Rockies and the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator have selected four organizations to pilot high-efficiency building envelopes, multi-family demand flexibility, cooling center storage, and automated grid interconnection. The initiative deploys federal research tools directly into operational real estate and utility portfolios.
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Civil Planning Framework Targets Upfront Carbon Before Buildings Rise
Architecture 2030 and Climate Positive Design have introduced an upstream decarbonization framework targeting civil infrastructure, earthwork, and landscape architecture. By establishing material benchmarks and sequestration modeling during early master planning, the initiative tackles embodied carbon before vertical building design begins.
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ASHRAE Pivots Decarbonization Focus Toward Deep Building Retrofits
ASHRAE has unveiled the technical curriculum for its sixth Building Decarbonization Conference, focusing directly on the engineering mechanics of retrofitting existing commercial facilities. The program addresses pressing challenges including electrical panel capacity limits, heat pump conversions, and binding municipal performance caps.
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Routine Maintenance Cuts Toxic Finishes in Aging Pennsylvania Schools
A pilot cohort across four Pennsylvania public school systems shows that aging educational facilities can eliminate toxic building chemicals incrementally. By embedding transparency tools into cyclic maintenance and standard bidding documents, districts bypass capital funding bottlenecks to secure non-toxic interiors.
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ILFI Opens Timber Specifications to Indigenous and Community Forests
A practice guide from the International Living Future Institute broadens wood procurement under the Living Building Challenge beyond conventional third-party labels. The framework establishes verifiable ecological benchmarks that let design teams specify timber from Tribal nations and community forests without sacrificing chain-of-custody rigor or facing compliance penalties.
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Inaugural ESG & Decarbonizing Real Estate Forum
Editor’s Foreword: How can we do our part in keeping the commitment to achieve the 1.5°C Paris Agreement target? The real estate and investment markets play a key role in this commitment as the buildings they build, manage and invest in, account for nearly 40% of annual global CO2 emissions. While the concept of Environmental,…
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Ecocity World Summit 2022 is Virtual
Now in its 14th edition, the Ecocity World Summit, the longest running conference on sustainable cities, has come a long way since the first Summit held in Berkeley, California in 1990, making its way throughout the world, from Australia to China, from Turkey to the UAE. Looking back, I have had the opportunity to volunteer…
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1.5°C COP26 Side Event
The Architecture 2030 and ASHRAE official COP26 Side Event took place at COP (UN Climate Change Conference) in Glasgow on November 10th, featuring the 1.5°C COP26 Communiqué and select signatory organizations. The event set the tone for the Cities, Regions & Built Environment Day at COP26 on November 11th, demonstrating that the leading building industry professionals and…
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Webinars: Electrification Training Series
The What: BayREN provides free engineering technical assistance to help local governments in the San Francisco Bay Area save energy and money while reducing their carbon footprints. The Municipal ZNE/ZNC Assistance program helps municipalities retrofit or construct buildings to meet zero net energy (ZNE) or zero net carbon (ZNC) goals by providing engineering analysis and…
