A pilot study by Yale and Columbia universities ranked the U.S. 28th in environmental performance. The 2006 Environmental Performance Index ranked countries based on sixteen indicators related to environmental health, air quality, water resources, productive natural resources, biodiversity and habitat, and sustainable energy. New Zealand scored first among all countries, earning 88 out of 100 possible points. Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, the U.K., and Austria also scored 85 points or higher. The U.S. scored 78.5 points, coming in behind most of Western Europe, Canada, Malaysia, Japan, Costa Rica, Colombia, Australia, Taiwan, and Chile. The full report is online at www.yale.edu/epi/.

2005 was among the hottest years on record, according to several organizations and government agencies. Two analysis systems used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) place 2005 warmest ever recorded and second only to 1998, during which a strong El Niño episode contributed to warming. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) found 2005 to be the warmest on record. The World Meteorological Organization, whose data is not yet final, believes 2005 is likely to have been among the warmest four years on record. The year also set records in several other climate-related areas, including several related to hurricanes. “The observed rapid warming,” according to NASA, “gives urgency to discussions about how to slow greenhouse gas emissions.”

2005 set a new record, according to estimates from the Munich Re Foundation, with more than $200 billion in economic losses due to weather-related disasters. Of that total, more than $75 billion was covered by insurance companies. Hurricane Katrina caused much of that loss, with damages estimated at $125 billion, of which about $45 billion was insured, according to the Foundation. “There is a powerful indication from these figures that we are moving from predictions of the likely impacts of climate change to proof that it is already fully underway,” says the Foundation’s director, Thomas Loster. “Above all, these are humanitarian tragedies that show us that, as a result of our impacts on the climate, we are making people and communities everywhere more vulnerable to weather-related natural disaster.” The previous record of $145 billion was set in 2004.

Ed Mazria, AIA, author of

The Passive Solar Energy Book and a leading advocate for energy efficiency in buildings, has created an organization to amplify his call to action. Architecture 2030 aims to “conduct research and provide information and innovative solutions in the fields of architecture and planning, in an effort to address global climate change,” according to its website. Mazria has identified architects as potential drivers of a solution to global warming: “We control what goes into the construction of a building . . . we can change the industrial sector at the stroke of a pen,” he says. Architecture 2030 was created by Mazria Inc. Odems Dzurec, an architecture and planning firm, and sponsored by the nonprofit New Energy Economy. The organization is online at www.architecture2030.org.

The Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers has initiated a committee on sustain-ability to advance the understanding of sustainability in the structural engineering community and incorporate sustainability into relevant standards and practices. “This is an exciting development for the structural engineering community, since we will now have a body dedicated to sustainability as it relates specifically to our profession,” says Mark Webster, P.E., SECB, senior staff engineer at Simpson Gumpertz and Heger, Inc., and secretary of the committee. To apply for membership, visit www.seinstitute.org/committees/tadjoin.cfm.

ASTM International has accepted four new standards addressing green roofs:

Standard Test Method for Saturated Water Permeability of Granular Drainage Media [Falling-Head Method] for Green Roof Systems, Standard Practice for Determination of Dead and Live Loads Associated with Green Roof Systems, Standard Test Method for Water Capture and Media Retention Geocomposite Drain Layers for Green Roof Systems, and Standard Test Method for Maximum Media Density for Dead Load Analysis of Green Roof Systems. “While these four standards do not a green roof make, they are the first important steps toward building a stable of documents that can be used by all interested parties when specifying a green roof system,” wrote Ralph Velasquez, president of Integrated Building Technologies, LLC, and member of the ASTM green roof task force, in his column at www.greenroofs.com. The standards are available at www.astm.org.

The historic Van de Kamp Bakery building, in the Los Angeles Community College District’s Glassell Park, has become the first project in the U.S. to achieve a rating in the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), which was developed in the U.K. The building, set to begin renovations in summer 2006, is also seeking a Certified rating in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED^® Rating System, placing it on track to become the first building in the world to achieve both BREEAM and LEED ratings. More information is online at www.propositiona.org.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has teamed with Turner Construction to launch an interactive, online training course called “Essentials of LEED Professional Accreditation,” for those preparing to become LEED^® accredited professionals or wanting to expand their knowledge of green design. The course, which costs $150 for members or $200 for nonmembers, is accessible for 60 days following purchase. Microsoft Windows^® is required. Details are online at www.usgbc.org.

After four years serving as the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) vice president and chief technical officer, Nigel Howard is moving on. Howard joined the Council in 2001, following the launch of LEED^® v2.0, and for most of his tenure has overseen the dramatic growth and expansion of the LEED program, including the complex committee structure and consensus process that serve as the underpinning of the LEED Rating System. Building from his own extensive experience in the international arena (Howard is British and, prior to joining the Council staff, served as director of the BREEAM Rating System in the U.K.), he also was the Council’s point person for international activities.

The U.S. Green Building Council is now accepting feedback on its LEED^® rating system for core and shell development (LEED-CS). The public comment period closes on January 16, 2006. To view the draft or submit comments, visit www.usgbc.org/LEED/Drafts/drafts_main.asp.