“Advanced” seems to be popular in the new-name department: The Brownsville, Oregon, company formerly known as Oregon Strand Board is now Advanced Wood Resources, Inc. Still a division of Jeld-Wen, Inc., the company no longer makes exterior sheathing or siding products. Its only remaining product is COMPLY Sturd-I-Floor subfloor/underlayment material, which is still made with the company’s unique design, layering plywood veneers with a particleboard core. For details, call 800/533-3374.

The Alternative Energy Corporation, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, has a new name: Advanced Energy. The nonprofit AEC was established in 1980 by the North Carolina Utilities Commission and has been a valuable resource for technical support and training related to energy efficiency in buildings, among other areas. Advanced Energy can be reached at: 919/857-9000, 919/932-2696 (fax), moreinfo@aec.ncsu.edu (e-mail), www.aec.ncsu.edu.

Industry targets for the recycling of packaging waste in Germany were met in 1996, the first full year that specific quotas had to be met, according to the June 2 issue of Plastics News. Under the German Packaging Ordinance of 1991, the manufacturers and distributors are required to take back used packaging. The industry’s Green Dot program achieved a total household and small business collection rate for all packaging of 84% in 1996, and the collection rate for plastic packaging reached 68%.

Newsbriefs

Interface president and CEO

Ray Anderson has been named co-chair of the

President’s Council on Sustainable Development. He replaces David Buzzelli, executive vice-president of Dow Chemical Company, and joins co-chair Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute. Along with naming Anderson to the Council, the Clinton Administration set an agenda for the Council through 1998 that includes development of policy options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A pilot project is underway to assess the possibilities for salvage and reuse of wood-framed structures at the former

Fort Ord Army Base on the central California coast. The three to eight buildings to be disassembled are representative of the 1,200 hundred structures on the site. A $200,000 grant from the

Packard Foundation is funding the project. Contact Stan Cook, Fort Ord Reuse Authority, 408/883-3687, www.fora.org.

According to the May issue of

Builder magazine,

American consumers want to support companies that do the right thing. A consumer survey by Roper/Starch Worldwide and Cone Communications found that 76% of consumers would likely switch to companies that are associated with good causes. According to the article, Carol Cone of Cone Communications suggests that builders should build environmentally sensitive homes and get involved with worthwhile community projects. Cone’s firm specializes in cause-related marketing.

Newsbriefs

The

Renewable Energy Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives has grown to 103 members according to the Sustain- able Energy Coalition. It is now one of the largest officially recognized Congressional Member Organizations, with surprisingly bipartisan membership: 53 Republicans; 49 Democrats, and 1 Independent. The Caucus is a non-legislative organization that promotes greater awareness of the status and potential of renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and biomass among members of Congress. For information, contact Ken Bossong of the Sustainable

Energy Coalition at 301/270-2258.

U.S. Energy consumption in 1996 reached an all-time high of 89.9 quads or 94.8 x 10¹⁸ J, according to the DOE Energy Information Administration. This is an increase of 3.1% over consumption in 1995, which had also set a record. Since the 1973 energy crisis, U.S. energy consumption has increased 21%. Energy production from coal in 1996 was 22.6 quads (23.8 x 10¹⁸ J), also a record, which does not bode well for efforts to meet targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Newsbriefs

Canadian expertise on ventilation system design and equipment installation is becoming available in the United States. The Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI) has begun offering residential ventilation training workshops for contractors, builders, and engineers in the northeastern U.S. Upcoming workshops are scheduled for Morris County, NJ (May 9-10), Bangor, ME (May 19-20), Portland, ME (May 21-22), and Man-chester, NH (May 27-28). If well received, HRAI will expand the offerings. For information, contact Joanne Spurrell at HRAI, 800/267-2231 or hrai@web.net. The 500-page HRAI

Residential Mechanical Ventilation training manual appears both comprehensive and clear.

Visionary developer Jim Chaffin, a leading advocate of environmentally responsible development within the Urban Land Institute, will be the organization’s new president. Chaffin takes the helm for a two-year term beginning on July 1, 1997. The Urban Land Institute is the leading association of real estate developers in the United States with a membership of about 13,000. In developing Spring Island in South Carolina, Chaffin downscaled the project from the permitted 5,500 homes to just 500, established a 1,000-acre wildlife preserve and put in place a variety of provisions to minimize environmental impact.