An Austrian court has overturned a lower court's ruling and allowed billboards describing PVC as “an environmental poison” to stand. The industry is appealing the case to the Austrian supreme court.

The Plastic Lumber Trade Association, announced in EBN

Vol. 2, No. 5, was formally established at a March 24 meeting in Montreal, Quebec. Charter member status is available to those who join by June 30. Contact the Association at 216/762-8989, 216/762-1613 (fax).

Newsbriefs

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is offering research funding for projects that improve the energy efficiency or environmental performance of buildings. A total of $750,000 is expected to be awarded under the program for such technologies as building products manufactured with recycled materials, recovery of usable material from C & D waste, and innovative building products such as honeycomb core panels. Proposals should be directed toward manufacturing a product in New York State and are due July 1, 1994. For information, contact Bob Carver at 518/465-6251, ext. 242, or to receive a Program Opportunity Notice, contact Gina Wilder at 518/465-6251, ext. 232.

Lever Bros. Co. of New York, a long-time promoter of recycled plastic lumber as an end-use for the plastic packaging of its products, has announced a donation to buy plastic lumber for use in national parks. Up to $100,000 will be used to purchase park benches, picnic tables, and boardwalks for 10 national parks, according to a report in

Plastics News.

Foamed insulation from coal fly-ash, being developed by Henry Sperber of Abiff Manufacturing, recently got a boost in the form of a DOE grant. Sperber is the inventor of the Blow-in-Blanket and Fiberiffic insulation systems. The product has interesting possibilities as a low-cost, foamed-in-place insulation made from industrial waste. It is still two years or more from commercialization, however, and independent testing has not yet begun.

Preliminary results of side-by-side energy testing of a foam-core panel house and a conventional stick-built house are in. The foam-core panel house won, according to the Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA). The foam-core house was found to have 40% less heat loss than the conventional house, and its effective leakage area (a measure of air tightness) was 17 in² vs. 50 in² for the conventional house. For information on the ongoing testing, contact SIPA, 1511 K Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005; 202/347-7800; 202/393-5043 (fax).

The National Appropriate Technology Assistance Service (NATAS), operated by the National Center for Appropriate Technology since 1984, has ceased operations. NATAS had offered toll-free technical assistance on issues relating to renewable energy and energy efficiency. Most information services provided by NATAS will now be available from CARIERS (800/523-2929).

Adobe/Solar Associates, purveyor of top-notch workshops on passive solar and adobe construction since 1991, has just introduced a free newsletter,

The Mudslinger. ASA’s three-day 1994 workshops are scheduled for May and October in Santa Fe, and April and October in Phoenix. For information, contact Adobe/Solar Associates, 847 E. Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501; 505/984-0077. The workshop team of Bill Yanda, Quentin Wilson, and Mark Chalom offers a good time for all—take it from one who knows these characters!

–A.W.

The City of New York has created an Inter-Agency Environmentally Sound Building Task Force to develop, encourage, and coordinate ideas for introducing environmentally sound building into the municipal building program. The City is currently soliciting information from other municipalities, private industry, and other countries on applied building ecology and green building. Contact Amy Peterson, The City of New York, Office of the Mayor, Office of Construction, 52 Chambers Street, Room 205, New York, New York 10007.

Dow Plastics has just introduced three new plastic resins, one of which is being offered as an alternative to flexible PVC. The Affinity SM 1250 resin is reportedly a response to pressure to eliminate PVC from medical applications in Europe, and may also be used to make wire and cable sheathing for construction.