Newsbriefs

1999 energy consumption in the United States increased 1.6% over 1998, according to the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy (EIA). Total consumption was 92.72 quads (97.9 x 10¹⁸ J). At the same time, domestic energy production dropped 0.86% and net imports increased 2.59%. Dependence on petroleum imports dropped slightly during 1999 to 49.6% from 51.6% in 1998, while dependence on imports from the Persian Gulf increased to 23.0% in 1999 from 19.9% in 1998.

After several years of sporadic publication, the newsletter Building with Nature: Placemaking that Supports Life has seen its last issue. Editor Carol Venolia was an original

EBN Advisory Board member, and her newsletter was an excellent complement to

EBN, addressing more of the spiritual and intuitive aspects of environmentally conscious design and construction. While we are sorry to see

Building with Nature go, we are encouraged by Venolia’s promise that she will continue her outreach and educational activities, including a follow-up to her 1993 book

Healing Environments. She can be reached at cvenolia@compuserve.com.

Two Wisconsin state agencies, the Department of Consumer Protection and the Department of Health and Family Services, have issued a warning about the use of ozone generators. The February 29 press release singles out Alpine Industries for violating a Federal Trade Commission order and using unsubstantiated health benefits to market ozone generators (see

EBN

Vol. 7, No. 2 for details on the federal lawsuit).

On March 3, 2000 Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson announced $133 million in support for state weatherization programs to improve the energy efficiency of low-income households. Services that might be provided or subsidized under the various state and tribal programs include insulation, sealing ducts, adding weatherstripping, installing ventilation fans, insulating water heating systems, and preventing carbon monoxide leaks from appliances. A new “Weatherization Plus” initiative will encourage service providers to adopt a comprehensive, whole-house approach to energy conservation services for optimum savings and cost-effectiveness.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) has approved a standard for electrical inverters used to connect photovoltaic (PV) generators to the utility grid. John Stevens, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, chaired the working group, which included about 25 members representing the utility industry, the PV industry, PV inverter manufacturers, and PV researchers. The new IEEE Standard 929-2000 provides a standard to which PV interconnection hardware can be designed, thus removing the requirement for specialized hardware for different utility jurisdictions. It is complemented by the new Underwriters Laboratory testing procedure UL 1741 that is design to verify compliance with the Standard. For more information contact John Stevens at 505/844-3698, jwsteve@sandia.gov.

Steelcase, the office furniture manufacturer, is set to break ground on a new wood furniture plant in Gaines Township, Michigan. The new facility, designed by William McDonough + Partners, will be the first manufacturing building of its size rated by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program. Projected emissions reductions of 70% as compared to the company’s existing wood furniture facility in Kentwood, Michigan will be achieved, in part, by switching to a water-based finishing system. Steelcase has also chosen to retire the Kentwood facility’s unused emission credits (valued in excess of $5 million over five years).

On March 8, 2000 Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell (BNIM) Architects of Kansas City created a new division focusing exclusively on green design and consulting. The new “Elements” division will be directed by Jason F. McLennan, who is currently project manager on several green demonstration projects. Elements offers services in programming and goal setting, site evaluation and selection, design charrettes, daylighting and lighting studies, energy studies, human health/productivity studies, material selection, community planning, full architectural services, design guidelines, plan reviews, and technology transfer. For more information, contact John Gasaway at 816/474-6910, jgasaway@bnim.com.

The Loudoun County, Virginia Board of Supervisors is serious about stemming sprawl. They have set up a $1 million legal defense fund to protect the county against court challenges by home builders, according to an article in the January 5

Washington Post. Loudoun County is the third fastest growing county in the nation, and it gained national attention last November when a slate of smart-growth candidates swept the county elections. For information, visit the Sustainable Loudoun Network at www.sustain-loudoun.com.

Despite the

cooling expected from the weather phenomenon La Niña, 1999 was still the fifth hottest year on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In related news, NOAA scientists suggest in an article in the March 1 issue of

Geophysical Research Letters that the string of record temperatures beginning in 1997 may be the start of a new and faster global warming trend—a “change point” in the rate of global warming. Observed temperature rises since 1976 indicate that “the average rate of global temperature increase since 1976 would have to be 3°C (5°F) per century,” according to a NOAA press release, compared with the 1.0°C to 3.5°C temperature rise projected for the 21st Century in the 1995

Second Assessment Report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Although they represent just 1% of U.S. land cover (an area the size of South Carolina), roads and highways directly affect the ecology of nearly 20% of U.S. land. That is the key finding of research by Richard Foreman at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, reported in the February issue of the journal

Conservation Biology. Foreman based his estimate on the assumption that a “road-effect zone” extends several hundred feet on each side of roads in rural areas and half a mile in heavily traveled developed areas. These distances are based on his own research in Massachusetts and on studies in The Netherlands. Ecological impacts of roads include blocking the migration of animals (salamanders to moose), channeling or drainage of waterways, and reduction of bird nesting due to road noise. Impacts can be mitigated in various ways, including the construction of wildlife underpasses and planting of roadsides with native vegetation.