BuildingGreen Report

Op-Ed

March 1, 1995
Awaiting the Pendulum Swing

It’s no secret that interest in the environment is at a low ebb these days. Our new leaders in Congress are fanning the flames of an anti-regulatory movement that could bring environmental regulation to a virtual standstill. Earth Day 95—the 25th anniversary of the first Earth Day— seems to be attracting scarcely a... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 1995

The Center for Resourceful Building Technology (CRBT), which built the ReCRAFT 90 house in Missoula, Montana, is planning to build a second demonstration house in 1995: the Timber-Tech House. This will be a small, 925 ft2 (86 m2), resource-efficient, urban in-fill house in downtown Missoula that is designed for affordability and easy... Read more

News Analysis

March 1, 1995
Termite-proof OSB

Recent testing at the University of Toronto has shown borate treatment to be effective in preventing termite damage to aspen waferboard. The tests were conducted by Timothy G. Myles of the Urban Entomology program and were sponsored by Forintek Canada Corp. The results, published in the September 1994 issue of

Forest... Read more

Feature

Separating graywater from sewage and using it for landscape irrigation makes a lot of sense.

March 1, 1995

Separating graywater from sewage and using it for landscape irrigation makes a lot of sense. The practice conserves potable water, allows irrigation during droughts, and increases the life of in-ground septic systems. Unfortunately, use of untreated graywater for irrigation has long been illegal in most of the U.S. Finally, that is beginning to... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 1995
Two Great Newsletters

on Eco-Cities

The Urban Ecologist: The Journal of Urban EcologyStephen Wheeler, Editor, Urban Ecology, 405 14th Street, Suite 701, Oakland, CA 94612; 510/251-6330; urbanecology@igc.apc.org. Quarterly subscription with Urban Ecology membership, $30/year.

EcoCity Cleveland: Ideas and Tools and a Sustainable... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 1995
Ozone Measurements Support Theories

On December 19 NASA provided the most conclusive evidence yet that chlorine molecules from CFCs are responsible for ozone destruction in the stratosphere. Mark Schoeberl, project scientist with NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, was quoted in the 23 December 1994

Global Environmental Change... Read more

Product Review

January 1, 1995
The White Panther

Strikes Back

Update: (October 24, 2005)

To the best of our knowledge, this product is no longer available.

Owens Corning, long famous for its pink fiberglass, has just introduced a new fiberglass. And it’s white. The company calls their revolutionary Miraflex™ fiber “the first new form of glass fiber in... Read more

Op-Ed

January 1, 1995
Carpets Can Be Toxic

I would like to offer some comments about your recent Carpeting article (EBN, November/December 1994). First of all, there seems to be a movement afoot in some circles to discredit the work of Dr. Anderson. She and her work have been well respected since she founded her laboratory in 1987. Suddenly, rumors are circulating... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 1995

The Harmony resort on Maho Bay in the U.S. Virgin Islands National Park won the 1994 Grand Award for Environmental Technology from

Popular Science magazine. The resort’s cabins are fully solar-powered and energy-independent, and were built with a minimum of disturbance to the site using many recycled materials. An interactive computer... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 1995
Green Builder Programs Proliferating

A number of home rating and home certification programs for environmentally sound construction are now in place across the country. The City of Austin’s Green Builder Program and the Good Cents Environmental Homes program were described in previous issues of EBN. New to the field are the E Seal program from... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 1995
A Portfolio of Green Architecture in America

by Michael J. Crosbie. The American Institute of Architects Press, Washington, D.C., 1994. Hardcover, 192 pages, $39.95.

Contrary to its subtitle,

Green Architecture is more a gallery of environmentally sensitive design than a guide. This elegant, large-format book contains photos and... Read more

Product Review

January 1, 1995
Second Zero-VOC Paint Emerges

Benjamin Moore & Co. is about to introduce nationally the Pristine™ line of interior paints, becoming the second major brand to sell a zero-VOC interior paint line.

Glidden’s Spred 2000 and Lifemaster 2000 lines, introduced in 1993, were the first such paints from a mainstream paint company (see EBN... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 1995
Audubon Video Promotes Green Building

Produced and directed by Claude Beller, running time 28 minutes. Available from the National Audubon Society, 700 Broadway, NY, NY 10003; 212/979-3000.

This high-quality, fast-moving video is clearly aimed at the general public. The video succinctly spells out the problems with conventional buildings... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 1995
Cellulose Expands Despite High Material Costs

According to a market study of cellulose insulation in the November issue of

Resource Recycling, manufacturers have been struggling to keep up with the demand for cellulose insulation over the past year, even as the price of recycled newspaper has skyrocketed. Because of price increases,... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 1995

Environmental issues are not considered a significant factor for 1995 by carpet industry analysts, according to an extensive collection of industry trends and predictions published in

Carpet & Rug Industry, November 1994. Of the fourteen featured consultants and executives from all segments of the carpet industry, only Mac Bridger,... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 1995
Mainstream Architects Going Green

Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, Inc. (HOK), the nation’s largest architecture/engineering firm, has some initiatives underway that suggest a growing commitment to environmentally sensitive design.

The company has retained Christine Hammer of Sustainable Design Resources on a half-time basis to serve as... Read more

Product Review

January 1, 1995
Vacuum Insulation a Reality

Update: (September 26, 2006)

To the best of our knowledge, this product is no longer available.

Considered just a futuristic technological curiosity a few short years ago, vacuum panel insulation is now a reality.

Owens Corning (OC) began manufacturing its new AURA™ vacuum insulation panels at a brand... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 1995

A personal note: The people perhaps most responsible for the recent resurgence of interest in straw-bale construction, Matts Myhrman and Judy Knox, are facing a severe medical situation. Due to this problem and our country’s unresolved health-care needs, they also have a financial crisis to contend with. A group of their friends have organized... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 1995
Northern Forests Report Issued

The Northern Forest Lands Council released its final report,

Finding Common Ground: Conserving the Northern Forest, in September 1994. Following the sale of timberlands in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York to land speculators and developers in the 1980s, Congress appropriated funding to study... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 1995
The Ultimate Green Building Checklist

Environmental Code of Practice for Buildings and Their Services by S. P. Halliday. Published May, 1994 by The Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA), Old Bracknell Lane West, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 7AH, United Kingdom; 44-344-426511, 44-344-487575 (fax). Cost is £45 (about $70)... Read more