The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has released a new Guideline 0-2005, “The Commissioning Process,” which describes how to verify that a facility and its systems meet the owner’s project requirements. The guideline will be used by the National Institute for Building Sciences (NIBS) as its Total Building Commissioning Process Guideline. It is also intended to be the foundation for a series of commissioning guidelines dealing with specific disciplines (HVAC and refrigeration, envelope, lighting, and fire protection) to be issued by ASHRAE and NIBS. ASHRAE Guideline 0-2005 is available for $59 ($49 ASHRAE members) by calling 800-527-4723 or online at www.ashrae.org.

In partnership with Forest Products Solutions, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has released “Designing and Building with FSC,” a guide designed to help building owners and green building professionals specify, build with, and account for the use of FSC-certified products. It includes background information, case studies, and sample specification language, among other resources. The guide can be downloaded at www.fscus.org/green_building.

The latest release of Energy-10™, the leading energy-modeling tool for small commercial buildings, provides improved integration with window data from the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) and includes the ability to model some additional HVAC system types. Developed primarily by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Energy-10 is distributed exclusively by the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, which also provides training and technical support. The new version 1.7 is available for purchase at www.energy-10.com.

During the 2004-2005 winter, the ozone layer reached the thinnest level ever recorded, according to a study by Cambridge University and reported April 27 in the

Guardian newspaper. “We thought things would start to get better because of the phasing out of CFCs and other chemicals because of the Montreal protocol,” says Cambridge Professor John Pyle, “but this has not happened.” The thinning is blamed not on pollution but on climate change, which has increased the number of stratospheric ice clouds in the winter. These clouds foster chemical reactions that destroy ozone. The ozone layer protects Earth’s surface from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. According to the United Nations, skin cancer rates rise 2–3% for every 1% thinning of the ozone layer. Thinning of the ozone layer also reduces the rate of photosynthesis in plants, potentially reducing the yield of crops, and it kills phytoplankton, which store carbon in the ocean, among other ecological consequences.

Two dozen U.S. and European institutional investors managing more than $3.2 trillion have joined with the United Nations in calling on U.S. companies, Wall Street firms, and the Securities and Exchange Commission to analyze and disclose the financial risks posed by climate change. The investors also pledged to invest $1 billion in clean technologies over the next year. The Call for Action was spurred in part by an acknowledgment from the world’s biggest reinsurance companies that 2004 set a new record for insured losses due to natural catastrophes—estimated at $44 billion. For more information, go to www.unfoundation.org and search for “Call for Action.”

Climate researchers have reported a weakening of the mechanism that keeps Great Britain temperate, the

Times of London reported on May 8, 2005. “They have found that one of the ‘engines’ driving the Gulf Stream—the sinking of supercooled water in the Greenland Sea—has weakened to less than a quarter of its former strength,” the article reports. If the slowing continues, “the effect will be to cool the climate of northern Europe,” according to Peter Wadhams, professor of ocean physics at Cambridge University, who reported the findings. The article points out that Britain sits at the same latitude as Siberia and that the Gulf Stream currently “transports 27,000 times more heat to British shores than all the nation’s power supplies could provide, warming Britain by 5–8°C [9–14°F].”

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order in June 2005 committing the state to reduce its greenhouse gases to 2000 levels by 2010. While this short-term goal is only about half as aggressive as compliance with the Kyoto Protocol would be, the governor’s longer-term goals are ambitious. California will reduce its emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, according to the order, and to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. “I say the debate is over,” said Schwarzenegger. “We know the science. We know the time for action is now.”

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change has released “Towards a Climate-Friendly Built Environment,” a report examining the relationship between buildings and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Written by a team from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the report notes that “simply bringing current building practices up to the level of best practices would yield tremendous energy and cost savings,” but that both an integrated approach and a broad view of the building sector are needed. The report also stresses the role of government: “Buildings in the U.S. could become net low-GHG energy exporters [in the next 50 years],” according to the Pew Center, “but government policies are essential to provide clear policy direction in order to drive the massive public and private investments and choices necessary to enable such a future.” The full report can be downloaded from www.pewclimate.org.

Ecotone Publishing has announced plans to publish

Who’s Green?, envisioned as “the preeminent resource book for locating firms, organizations, and institutions that are actively participating in the growth of the sustainable design and construction field,” according to Ecotone. It will include architecture, engineering, interior design, and consulting firms, in addition to green building organizations and architecture schools. For more information, including details on being included or advertising in the directory, visit www.whosgreen.com.

The U.S. Department of Energy has released version 1.2.2 of its EnergyPlus modeling software, compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems. The new version features more weather files and the ability to model more complex ventilation designs, among other enhancements. Details are at www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energyplus/.