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

by Fred A. Stitt. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1999. Hardcover, 465 pages, $79.95

’s pending purchase of the Canadian forest products company

MacMillan Bloedel (MB), announced on June 21, has raised concerns among environmentalists that the company may not honor MB’s plan to phase out clearcutting of old-growth coastal Douglas fir trees in British Columbia (see

EBN

Vol. 7, No. 7). The... Read more

Two new reports on common plasticizers used in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products offer very different conclusions about the safety of these chemicals. A panel of scientists and physicians convened by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) and led by former U.S. Surgeon General C.... Read more

On March 1,

Jamison Ervin left her position as coordinator of the U.S. Initiative of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Jamie began work with FSC in 1992, even before the association was formally founded, and she helped to shepherd FSC through this complex formative process. Jamie plans to complete a doctorate in natural resource... Read more

A

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

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

Michael Totten, a Senior Researcher at the World Resources Institute and

EBN Advisory Board member, has received the

1999 Lewis Mumford Award for Environment from Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR). Totten was honored for his work in pioneering the use of digital tools for... Read more

Santa Monica has become the first city in the U.S. to be powered by green power. Through California’s competitive electricity market, the city decided to purchase power exclusively from geothermal sources.

Semiannual magazine edited by Lynne Elizabeth. New Village/ADPSR, 2000 Center Street, Suite 120, Berkeley, CA 94704. Annual (2-issue) subscription is $15 for individuals, $24 for institutions.

An outgrowth of the disarmament movement of the 1970s, Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility has been a diffuse... 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

On June 10, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Fannie Mae, the nation’s largest source of financing for home mortgages, announced a partnership to develop and test a menu of mortgage products based on “green building” criteria. Fannie Mae is providing $100 million for... 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

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

Source: Isobord Enterprises