The e-mail discussion group on green building, cosponsored by

EBN, Iris Communications, and CREST, has been going strong since September 1996. The number of participants has been surprisingly stable at just over 500, including subscribers to the digest version, which compiles all the day’s posts into one long... Read more

Those of us who were promoting solar in the late ’70s just knew that by the turn of the century solar would be a standard component of building design and a significant fraction of our national energy mix. The solar water heating industry would be burgeoning. Vast arrays of concentrating collectors in the desert Southwest would be generating... Read more

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Texas bill on electric utility restructuring, signed into law by Governor George W. Bush on June 18, mandates the development of renewable electric power generation. The law requires a total of 2,000 megawatts (MW) of new power production from renewables by 2009, with incremental levels specified by 2003, 2005, and 2007.... Read more

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the technology, science, and art of solar power. The... Read more

Lots of little glitches keep popping up during

testing for Y2K preparedness. One recent glitch was not so little. In the San Fernando Valley of California, 4 million gallons (15 million l) of raw sewage were spilled onto a 10-acre (4 ha) section of the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area when a gate controlling sewage transfer from a main... Read more

In a merger approved at a combined board meeting on June 4, the

Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (CREST) was folded into the Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP). REPP Executive Director Roby Roberts will run the combined organization. The two entities complement each other well, as REPP develops high-quality... Read more

Atmospheric Alliance and the

Energy Outreach Center, both of Olympia, Washington, have joined forces. Paul Horton and Rhys Roth are co-directors of the new (as yet unnamed) organization. Call 360/352-1763 or e-mail atmosphere@olywa.net or eoc@olywa.net for additional details.

Edited by Charles Kibert, foreword by EBN’s Alex Wilson. Island Press, Washington, D.C., 1999. 350 pages, paperback $27.50, hardcover $45

Reshaping the Built Environment is a sustainable design lecture series in book form. Dr. Charles Kibert invited an impressive slate of speakers to the University of... Read more

According to the 22 May 1999 issue of the

Global Environmental Change Report,

AlliedSignal is seeking EPA approval for a new hydrofluorocarbon used in foam insulation production.

HFC-245fa has been in development since 1994 as a blowing agent for polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foam. This non-ozone-depleting foaming... Read more

On June 3, President Clinton released an Executive Order on “Greening the Government Through Efficient Energy Management.” Recognizing that with more than 500,000 buildings the Federal Government is the nation’s largest energy consumer—roughly $8 billion per year—the Executive Order calls for... Read more

Video, 28 minutes. Produced by the Environmental Fund of Pennsylvania for the “GreenWorks for Pennsylvania” television show. Available on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Web site.

This new video tells the story of creating the new South Central Office Building in Pennsylvania, a privately owned, 73,000-square-... Read more

On April 6, the Canadian government announced that it is extending its

Commercial Buildings Incentive Program (CBIP) to multi-unit residential buildings. This program offers owners or developers a one-time incentive payment equal to two years’ projected energy savings for buildings that exceed the Model National Energy Code... Read more

The

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has announced yet another grant that may be of interest to

EBN readers who work in New York State. This time, $500,000 is available in awards of up to $200,000 for projects that develop, evaluate, demonstrate, or introduce green technologies for residential,... Read more

The Green Development Services arm of the Rocky Mountain Institute received a

National Award for Sustainability from Renew America and the President’s Council on Sustainable Development at the National Town Meeting for a Sustainable America in Detroit, Michigan in early May. The award announcement cites the organization’s far-reaching... Read more