Building Green has published the " BPDO Cheat Sheet," a handy reference for manufacturers and project teams to understand what's involved with the various options for the Building Product Disclosure and Optimization (BPDO) credits in LEED v4. "The three Building Product Disclosure and Optimization (BPDO) credits in LEED v4 are pushing the industry into new territory. USGBC has done a great job defining and spurring manufacturers to support some options, but others are not yet (as of mid-2017) achievable, for a range of reasons. So go after the easy ones, and don't waste time on others until they're within reach."  

Even with a standardized PCR creation process, EPDs from different manufacturers are not be comparable. Further, there is no standard process for creating industry average EPDs or instructions for how a manufacturer should compare its product-specific EPD, interpret the results and explain the relative environmental performance, as compared to the benchmark. This new benchmarking guidance is designed to address these challenges. This webinar, on Tuesday, July 18, 2017, from 2 to 3 p.m. ET, will kick off the comment period and all are welcome to review. Details will be provided. It also serves as an invitation to industry associations to understand the benefits for your members - and your industry - and to consider getting started. 

Committee E60 on Sustainability is sponsoring a symposium on Balancing Resiliency, Safety, and Sustainability to be held October 13, 2017 in New Orleans. The symposium is intended to address topics related to resiliency, safety, and sustainability and the built environment including hurricane, earthquake, flood/moisture, tornado, and fire resistance; design, material and system contributions to resiliency; life-cycle and public policy considerations. For more information click here.

To be held October 21, 2018 in Washington, DC, this symposium will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas on current research, both nationally and internationally, regarding building science and the physics of building enclosure performance, with an emphasis on testing and assessment of heat/air/moisture transfer, energy use, and the environment. It will also explore the growing influence of building science on material selection and detailing in both new construction and the adaptive re-use of existing buildings. For more information on the objectives and abstract submission please visit: http://www.astm.org/E06_D08CFP1018