On May 9, 2000 the

NextGen factory-built house developed through the U.S. government’s

Partnership for Advanced Technology in Housing (PATH) will be unveiled in Danbury, Connecticut. NextGen was designed with support from Steven Winter Associates, Inc. of Norwalk, Connecticut, and built by New Era of Strattanville, Pennsylvania. The factory-built house is manufactured in two long, narrow sections and joined on-site to form a 28’ by 48’ (8.5 m by 14.5 m), 1,300 ft² (120 m²) Cape Cod-style home. Energy-efficiency features such as ducts inside the heated envelope; low-e, argon-filled windows; and extra insulation result in a home that exceeds the requirements for an Energy Star rating by 20%. Other features include efficient appliances, compact fluorescent lighting, a programmable ventilation system, and a Kosmo water heater that provides space heating via a fan coil. The finished house cost $90,000 including land (much less than a typical site-built home in the region) and will save an estimated $180 per year in energy costs.

On April 4, 2000 the San Jose, California City Council approved a series of recommendations aimed at

promoting green building practices in the city. With an estimated $1.4 billion in total value of building permits issued during fiscal year 1997/98, this new program could affect a lot of construction. The recommendations approved by the Council include the establishment of green building guidelines, an awards program, incentives such as streamlined permitting for green projects, educational resources, pilot projects, and construction and demolition debris recycling. The City’s Environmental Services Department is working closely with Local 332 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) to make their new Union Hall the first showcase project. A 1,400 ft² (130 m²) space in the new Hall will house the City’s Green Building Resource Center. Details of how the remaining recommendations will be implemented are to be worked out over the next year. For details, contact Mary Tucker at 408/277-5533, mary.tucker@ci.sj.ca.us.

Initial efforts to repeal portions of the 1992 Energy Policy and Conservation Act that mandate

low-flow toilets and other water-conserving plumbing fixtures have failed. A House subcommittee voted 13-12 on April 12 to keep the water conservation standards. Joining the 11 Democrats on the vote were two Republican lawmakers from quickly growing states with limited fresh water: Reps. Heather Wilson of New Mexico and Michael Bilirakis of Florida. Bill sponsor Joe Knollenberg (R-Michigan) plans to resurrect his effort to repeal the standards later this year, according to an

Infobeat news story. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) was quoted in the article as saying: “I would suggest that there is one thing more asinine than federal regulation of plumbing supplies, and that’s 50 different state standards. Such an outcome could have a severe constipating effect on interstate commerce.” For more background, see

EBN

Vol. 8, No. 9.

Washington state is following the lead of Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and others in moving toward

certification of state-owned forestland. The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced in late March that it would like to have up to 1.1 million acres (445,000 ha) of state land certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) guidelines. Home Depot has approached the DNR seeking certified wood, according to a March 23 article in the

Olympian.

The first quarter of 2000 was the

warmest first quarter ever recorded in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The average temperature for this period, 41.7°F (5.4°C), exceeds the previous record (1990) by a full degree Fahrenheit.

A new

Gallup poll on the environment shows continued broad support for the goals of the environmental movement—but not as a top priority. Of the 1,004 adults polled during April 3-9, 83% agree with the goals of the environmental movement, including 43% who “strongly agree.” Among those surveyed, 55% describe current environmental problems as serious, including 17% who describe them as “extremely serious.” Environmental concern is higher today than it was both during the first Earth Day in 1970 and in 1980, according to Dr. Riley Dunlap of The Gallup Organization, but not as high as it was in 1989 when concern about the environment was at an all-time high because of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and other highly visible environmental problems. While general concern about the environment may have dropped somewhat since 1989, concern has risen in two key areas: loss of tropical rainforests (42% in 1989 to 51% today) and global warming (35% in 1989 to 40% today). As for issues of importance in the upcoming presidential elections, 66% rank environmental protection as very important or extremely important—above such issues as tax reductions (63%), abortion (53%), and campaign finance reform (40%), but below education (89%), health care (82%), crime (81%), and gun control (69%). For details, visit

www.gallup.com and click on “Poll Surveys.”

In what is believed to be a first, a municipal government in the United States is joining with an international alliance of island nations to combat global warming. The Monroe Board of County Commissioners in the Florida Keys passed a resolution in mid-March acknowledging the likelihood of significant impacts from global warming and agreeing to work with the

Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), which is comprised of 42 countries at high risk from sea-level rise with global warming. Monroe County includes communities in the 90-mile (150 km) string of islands off the southern tip of Florida known as the Florida Keys. According to Kara Saul Rinaldi, of the World Wildlife Fund–U.S., (quoted in

BBC News Online, March 16) the resolution “is sending an important message to policymakers in Washington, who appear not to see that there could be dramatic impacts if climate change is not stemmed.”

On March 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new regulations designed to reduce

pollution from small power equipment, such as lawnmowers, chainsaws, and weed trimmers. The regulations, to be phased in over seven years, are expected to reduce the emission of smog-causing pollutants by 350,000 tons (320,000 tonnes) annually by the time they are fully implemented, as well as improving fuel efficiency of that equipment by 30%. The 20 million small-engine-powered devices bought each year by Americans rank as the single largest “non-road” source of emissions, according to EPA.

Liverpool High School, near Syracuse, New York, has become the first high school to install a fuel cell. The school’s ONSI PC25 fuel cell will be used both as a power source and a teaching tool. Funding was provided, in part, from the state of New York and the U.S. Department of Defense.

In February, the Virginia legislature rejected a bill that would have allowed local officials to

control development through restrictions on home building and infrastructure fees for developers. The measure was supported by a coalition of communities in high-growth parts of the state but strongly opposed by the development and real estate community, as well as business and utility groups.