The recent release of

Green Guide for Healthcare (GGHC) version 2.2 marks the end of a successful pilot program that included 115 healthcare facilities across the country (see

EBN

Vol. 14, No. 1). Improvements to GGHC, a point-based guide to green building for the healthcare industry, were based on feedback from project teams participating in the pilot program and include a more comprehensive credit checklist for water efficiency, more attention to creating “indoor places of respite” for patients, and an expansion of the guide’s recommendations for mercury elimination. GGHC is available for free download online at www.gghc.org. For more information about GGHC and green healthcare facilities, see EBN

Vol. 14, No. 6.

Ted Turner, the former cable-television magnate and chairman of Turner Enterprises, Inc., has announced he will partner with Dome-Tech Solar in Branchburg, New Jersey, to create DT Solar. Dome-Tech Solar has been involved in several large-scale photovoltaic installations on the East Coast, including projects for the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority and the World Class Pharmaceutical Company in New Jersey. DT Solar will continue to offer design and technical expertise for photovoltaic installations and plans to expand its operations into several U.S. markets, including California. The company is online at www.dtsolar.com.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new rule in December 2006 that raises thresholds for industries reporting chemical releases to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), which provides data to the public on releases of toxic chemicals. Under the new rule, companies can use a simplified reporting form that includes only the names (not amounts) of chemicals treated as waste at their facilities if their chemical releases fall within certain ranges. The rule raises the amount of chemical that can be released before companies are required to use a more detailed reporting form. EPA also considered reducing the frequency of reports from every year to every other year but decided against the change. In May 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to prohibit the change, but the Senate failed to take up the bill, allowing EPA to pass the rule before the 110th Congress took office.

Research conducted at Boston University and published in January 2007 in Environmental Science & Technology confirms a long-suspected link between human polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) levels in humans and PBDEs in household dust. Commonly found as flame retardants in household items like foam mattresses and appliance casings, certain PBDEs are considered persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (see EBN Vol. 13, No. 6). Sampling 11 homes, and breast milk from 46 first-time Boston-area mothers, researchers found statistically significant correlations between the levels of dust and the concentrations of contaminants in the women’s milk. Researchers did not find correlations between household characteristics such as appliance use and concentrations of PBDEs in household dust, possibly due to the small sample size and lack of detailed information. In December 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its draft risk assessment for PBDEs, which suggests that many Americans, and especially children, could be at risk.

 

 

A minor partner in Coldham Architects, LLC, since 1998, Tom Hartman, AIA, has joined Bruce Coldham, AIA, as a full partner to form Coldham & Hartman Architects in Amherst, Massachusetts. Focusing on creating high-performance buildings and communities, the firm is currently working on projects ranging from a cohousing community in Ulster County, New York, to an office building in Freeport, Maine. The firm is online at www.coldhamandhartman.com.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) released two surveys in January 2007, both pointing to growing interest in green building. The first, “Business in Architecture: 2006 Firm Survey,” found that 34% of firms surveyed characterized some of their nonresidential projects as green, adding up to 14% of their projects by dollar value. About a third of those projects were certified in the LEED^® Rating System, less than 5% of projects by dollar value. In addition, 25% of firms surveyed had completed new green residential projects, and 22% had completed green residential remodeling projects. The second report, the quarterly “

Home Design Trends Survey,” did not ask about green building specifically but found that residential architects were seeing a rise in the number of requests for high-density, mixed-use development with easy access to transportation, shopping, and public services. The results of both surveys are available at www.aia.org/aiarchitect (January 5, 2007 and December 15, 2006 issues).

Students at Arizona State University can now enroll in the first courses of the newly formed School of Sustainability. Growing out of the Global Institute of Sustainability, the new school will offer both bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees in sustainability, along with master-level and doctoral degrees. Faculty for the school will come from several departments, including architecture, engineering, life sciences, and public affairs, among others. The school is admitting graduate students for 2007 and will accept undergraduate applications in 2008. More information is available online at schoolofsustainability.asu.edu.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reported that 2006 was the warmest year on record for the 48 contiguous states and the fifth warmest on record globally. The annual average temperature in the U.S. was 55ºF (13ºC), 2.2ºF (1.2ºC) above the 20th century mean and 0.07ºF (0.04ºC) warmer than 1998, the next warmest year on record. According to NOAA, an unusually warm December was partially responsible for the record, with five states reporting the warmest December since recordkeeping began in 1895. Explaining the warming, NOAA pointed to a combination of oceanic and atmospheric disruptions in the tropical Pacific (known as El Niño) and a “long-term warming trend, which has been linked to increases in greenhouse gases.” That attribution of warmer than average temperatures to global warming breaks a trend in recent NOAA reports, which have tended to point solely to El Niño events or other short-term causes of warming. Climate reports from 1998 through 2006 are available online at www.ncdc.noaa.gov (click on “Monitoring” under the heading “Climate Info”).

Originally founded in Seattle in 1999, the Sustainable Building Advisor Program has grown into a national endeavor. Now available in several communities in Washington and Oregon, as well as in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the program is geared toward building professionals who are looking to extend their knowledge of green building practices. Students in the program attend intensive sessions one weekend a month for nine months, learning through classroom instruction and on-site inspections of buildings. At the end of the course, students can take an exam to become certified sustainable building advisors. For more information, visit www.nasbap.org.

A chemical used to make fluoropolymers, found in building products like solar panels and metal roofing (see

EBN

Vol. 15, No. 8), PFOA has been scrutinized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and classified as a “likely carcinogen.” EPA’s effort to determine whether fluoropolymers release PFOA when they degrade, however, took a turn in November 2006. EPA said the research process, which had been conducted jointly by EPA and a group of fluoropolymer manufacturers and with potential for an enforceable agreement, had shifted to independent research. EPA attributed the shift to the number of variables being researched, making the enforcement process unwieldy. According to Kristan Markey, a research analyst at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, the breakdown in the process boils down to a key dispute over how PFOA has ended up in blood samples worldwide and in samples from landfill leachate, among other places. Industry and EPA scientists disagree, said Markey, on whether factory releases, already being addressed by the industry, are responsible, as opposed to degradation of consumer items, which would represent a much wider problem.