Another recent study funded by CMHC examined

wood use in straw-bale homes. In the study, wood use in the envelope of a load-bearing straw-bale home in southern Ontario was carefully tracked by the builder and compared with modeled wood use for the exterior envelope of a comparably sized wood-frame home with 2x6 walls. Wood for interior partition walls and interior finish was not included because those usages would be comparable for both straw-bale and conventional houses. The study found that the load-bearing straw-bale home used 32% less total wood. Exterior walls in the straw-bale house used 57% less framing lumber, while the roof system required 11% more framing lumber. (In the straw-bale home, 60% of all lumber use was for the roof system.) The savings in dimensional lumber use totaled 22%, and savings in engineered wood products (OSB and I-joists) 60%. If wood use for interior partition walls and interior finish were included in the comparison, the percentage savings in the straw-bale home would be lower. For information, visit

www.cmhc.ca (search for “Wood Usage in Straw Bale House Construction”), or contact CMHC at 613/748-2000.

Following the example of Denmark, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands, the

United Kingdom recently enacted a tax on commercial use of aggregate. The tax affects U.K.-extracted as well as imported sand, gravel, and rock, with some exceptions. To ensure international competitiveness, exported aggregate is exempt from the tax. The U.K. Customs and Excise Department introduced the tax to address societal costs of impacts such as noise, dust, and habitat destruction resulting from aggregate extraction. Shy of the environmental cost of £1.80/tonne ($2.75/ton) of primary aggregate extracted estimated by the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the tax is set at £1.60/tonne ($2.45/ton). Revenues will go toward a reduction in corporate National Insurance contributions and the formation of a £35 million ($53.5 million) Sustainability Fund, making the policy revenue-neutral for the government and beneficial to businesses not involved with the extraction of aggregate. The tax should encourage more efficient use of aggregate, including recycling and will, in effect, lower the cost of wood structures, which in the U.K. are considered better environmentally, relative to conventional construction practices. Visit the Customs and Excise Web site at

www.hmce.gov.uk for further information.

The Portland, Oregon Office of Sustainable Development announced in July the release ofPortland LEED, the first locally tailored version of the LEED™ Rating System to be approved by the U.S. Green Building Council. The new version incorporates Portland’s stringent Stormwater Management and Erosion Control Manuals as well as the State of Oregon’s Energy Code, allowing developers to achieve LEED credit for meeting or exceeding local standards. Portland LEED also reserves innovation credits for projects that recognize the city’s land-use and transportation goals through mixed-use development, reduced automobile use, stormwater management, and construction and demolition waste management. Both the City of Portland and the Portland Development Commission require city-financed development to achieve Portland LEED certification. The Portland LEED supplement guidance document is online at www.green-rated.org.

Urban Ecology magazine, beginning with the Summer 2002 issue. The organization will focus its resources on strengthening its Community Design Program and land-use planning policy advocacy work. More information is available online at

www.urbanecology.org.

According to a California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) Charitable Trust report,

energy produced from renewable sources is cheaper over the long term and creates far more jobs than energy from natural gas power plants. The report

, Renewables Work: Job Growth from Renewable Energy Development in California, combines the results of economic studies with the findings of operating renewable-energy facilities. According to the report, building 5,900 MW of renewable energy capacity (including wind, geothermal, solar PV, solar thermal, and landfill/digester gas facilities) would generate 120,000 person-years of employment over 30 years of operation. Building the same capacity of natural gas power plants, by comparison, would create only one-fourth as much employment and require $10.3 billion in gas purchases. Additionally, because renewable power sources do not require continual fuel purchases, a higher percentage of their generating costs stays in the local economy as wages. For the complete report, including a breakdown of employment rates by type of renewable energy, visit

www.calpirg.org/reports/renewableswork.pdf.

In an effort to convince employees to

carpool, walk, bike, or take public transit to work, Berger/Abam Engineers, a 120-person Seattle consulting firm, provides a car that employees who don’t drive to work can use during the day. According to the July 22 edition of

The Seattle Times, the hybrid Toyota Prius can be signed out at no cost and used for errands, doctor’s appointments, and lunch engagements. A nonprofit organization in Seattle, Commuter Challenge, has been working with King County companies to reduce solo commuting, and the group has been successful in convincing a number of firms to provide a vehicle for daytime use. (The need for a car for occasional daytime trips has been cited as a major obstacle to leaving the car at home.) Other incentives being used to encourage alternatives to solo commuting include subsidized bus passes, showers for bicyclists, more convenient parking for car pools, and higher charges for parking. One impetus for such efforts is Washington State’s Commute Trip Reduction law, enacted in 1991, requiring companies and other organizations with at least 100 day-shift employees to adopt plans to achieve 35% reductions in solo commuting by 2005. For further details, visit

www.commuterchallenge.org.

On July 23, Governor Jane Swift of Massachusetts signed Executive Order 438 creating a multi-agency

State Sustainability Council. The initiative is aimed at ensuring that state agencies consider environmental consequences of their actions and establishing sound environmental practices for state agencies. “We in state government must lead by example,” said Governor Swift in announcing the initiative. The measure builds on the Clean State Initiative (Executive Order 350), which was signed by Governor Weld in 1993. The State Sustainability Council, established through the executive order, will establish sustainability goals, recommend to relevant state offices sustainability priorities, and assist 16 state agencies in the development of sustainability guidance documents. The state sustainability goals will address such issues as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, minimization of solid waste and mercury emissions, and environmentally responsible design and construction of state facilities.

The province of Quebec announced in early July that it will ban the use of most

nonfarm pesticides by 2005. In a phased introduction of restrictions, Quebec will quickly ban the use of 30 specific pesticides on public lands, including parks, schools, day-care centers, and hospitals. By the beginning of 2005, the ban will extend to private and commercial properties. In announcing the policy, Quebec Environment Minister André Boisclair said that “people’s health is more important than a perfect lawn; I enjoin Quebecers to no longer use pesticides.” This policy follows a June 2001 Canadian Supreme Court ruling that allows cities to ban the use of pesticides in residential areas. Fines for violations will range from C$500 to $3,000 (US$325 to $1,960).

conferences to advance the effective integration of building design, construction, and operation. The conference will include over two dozen topics, ranging from specifics such as illumination, design for the aging, and the LEED™ Rating System to broader topics such as ethics and mitigation of terrorism. The conference will be held September 17-20, 2003 in Austin, Texas. The submission deadline for abstracts is October 1. Full details are available at

www.aeinstitute.org.

Natureplus label for building materials. Products displaying the Natureplus seal are guaranteed to be “manufactured in an environmentally friendly manner, harmless to health, and of a high functional standard,” according to WWF. The seal, representing products from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, incorporates numerous existing labels, thus avoids consumer confusion. Insulation, timber materials, and roof tiles already display the seal; WWF plans to include linoleum, wood flooring, paint, lacquer, mortar, and putty soon. WWF International is online at

www.panda.org.