Integrative Process
In the building sector, the integrative process is ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration that begins during early design.
Depending on the project, the team could include the owner, future occupants, neighborhood residents, facilities personnel, mechanical and structural engineers, the contractor, trades, or even key product suppliers. These people all work together to find efficiencies, potential cost savings, and unique solutions and opportunities that would not otherwise be discovered.
Integrative Process
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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How to Use EPDs in Your Practice: Advice from Designers
Feature Short
Sure, you can just check a box for LEED v4. But the data can also inform your project, if you use it wisely.
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2030 Culture: Six Selfish Reasons to Commit
Feature Short
2030 Commitment signatories are making progress on climate goals. Along the way, they’re also finding new ways to save time and money.
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The Secret Math Behind RMI’s New Headquarters
Feature Short
Designing for net-zero energy and carbon in the nation’s coldest climate is not just a physics problem. There’s also the chemistry.
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Owners, This RFP Hack Enables Lasting Building Performance
Feature Short
A request for proposals is not just about selecting the right team; it’s the first chance to create buy-in for your new building’s goals.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Putting the “Pre” in Post-Occupancy Evaluations
Infographic
Don’t just take a survey and walk away. There’s a better way to do POEs that can dovetail with the integrative process, improve project outcomes, and save clients money.
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Who's Invited to the Green Building Table?
Infographic
Design-bid-build, design-build, and integrated project delivery explained.
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How "Smart" Vapor Retarders Work
Explainer
Vapor retarders are supposed to keep our buildings dry, but they sometimes keep them wet instead. Enter the "smart" vapor retarder.
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Owner’s Project Requirements: What It Is, What It Could Be
Explainer
Clients, designers, and commissioning agents don’t always get what they need out of the OPR. Some teams are trying to change that.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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LED Systems Provide Huge Energy Savings for Jobsite Lighting
Product Review
New LED technology is revolutionizing lighting on construction sites, but investing in the high-performing fixtures is a challenge for contractors who are used to disposable strings of light bulbs.
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MicroBlend: A Green Revolution in Paint Distribution
Product Review
MicroBlend Technologies' low-VOC latex paints are made onsite, reducing the environmental impacts caused by the paint supply chain.
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Unmilled Timber Frames Go High Tech, Replacing Steel
Product Review
Keep the beauty of round logs, and get more strength from an engineered wood structure, promises Wisconsin-based company WholeTrees.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Green Globes Announces Life-Cycle Assessment Tool for Rating Systems
News Analysis
A new software tool from the Green Building Initiative promises to help designers make smarter environmental choices based on life-cycle assessment.
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Updated Guide Shows the Way to Cost-Effective Energy Optimization
News Analysis
The Core Performance Guide offers strategies for achieving 20%30% energy savings in buildings, updating a previous guide which led to energy optimization points in LEED.
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Integrated Design Process Standard Approved
News Analysis
An ANSI-approved standard provides guidelines for the integrated design process.
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Healthcare May Take LEED in New Directions
News Analysis
The draft of the LEED for Healthcare covers new ground for a LEED rating sytem, including requiring integrated design and offering a credit for avoiding certain chemicals. If approved by the members of the U.S. Green Building Council, these concepts may find their way into other LEED rating systems.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Opinion: Seven Things Manufacturers Wish You Understood About EPDs
Op-Ed
Some manufacturers say creating EPDs has improved their products. But they also have important messages for the design community.
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Our Economy is Broken (and We Can Fix It)
Op-Ed
Green building practitioners must take on the challenge of our broken economy, in our work and in our lives.
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Field Notes from BuildingGreen’s Integrative Process Facilitators
Op-Ed
As integrative process consultants, we can help owners become better clients.
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Why We Let Ourselves Do Mediocre Work
Blog Post
Architects and designers want to do exceptional, challenging sustainability work. Why are we waiting for the unicorn client?
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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Integrative Process: Pathways to Performance and Regeneration
Feature Article
An integrative process can streamline workflows and drive higher performance. But if you do it well, it’s so much more.
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Integrative Process: Pathways to Performance and Regeneration
Spotlight Report
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On-demand Webinar- The Integrative Process: A Virtual Roundtable
Webcast
This intermediate-level webinar is for people who know something about the integrative process and are ready to deepen and broaden their knowledge and practice—and perhaps even change their firm's culture.
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Everyday ESG: Real People Share How It’s Done
Webcast
Four experts in ESG representing design, construction, and consulting firms will come together during this virtual roundtable to share their field notes and lessons learned.
