Owens Corning announced on August 11 that its Fiberglas® insulation has been certified by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) as having at least 30% recycled glass content. Tim Grether, Manager of Building Materials Technical Services at the company, gave

EBN a more detailed breakdown of the recycled content: 26% is post-industrial... Read more

by Alex Wilson and John Morrill. ACEEE, Washington, DC, 1996. Paperback, 267 pages. $7.95 in stores ($11.95 postpaid from ACEEE, 2140 Shattuck Avenue, #202, Berkeley, CA 94704; 510/549-9914).

Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings,... Read more

The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) doesn’t write building codes, but some of the group’s standards carry as much weight as codes. That is the case with ASHRAE Standard 62 on ventilation for acceptable indoor air quality. This standard is recognized in legal circles as the “standard-of-care”... Read more

has learned that Sierra Pine, Ltd. of Rocklin, California, is negotiating to purchase the U.S. operations of Medite Corporation, a manufacturer of formaldehyde-free medium-density fiberboard (MDF). It has been rumored for months that Medite was on the block, and

Panel World reported in their November 1996 issue that Medite’s... Read more

I’d like to clarify some of the statements made in your construction detail “Using Air to Build Rammed Earth Walls” (Vol. 5, No. 5).

Building products giant Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (L-P) is purchasing GreenStone Industries, Inc., the top producer of cellulose insulation in the country. GreenStone was virtually unknown in the industry until several years ago, when it went public and began purchasing cellulose manufacturers. GreenStone now operates seven manufacturing... Read more

Mobil Corp. has sold its Composite Products Division to Trex Company, LLC, a corporation formed by four company managers. One of the new owners, Andrew Ferrari, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, told

EBN that the company direction will not change. A fifth production line at the company’s Winchester, Virginia, plant operates around... Read more

Willamette Industries has discontinued the use of “urban wood waste” at its Eugene, Oregon medium-density fiberboard (MDF) plant. The company had pioneered the use of recycled wood from municipal solid waste collection sites starting in 1993 (see EBN Vol. 5, No. 2), when wood fiber prices were extremely high. Urban wood use at the plant peaked... Read more

The United States took a surprisingly strong position on cutting greenhouse gas emissions this summer at the Second Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP2) in Geneva. On 17 July, Undersecretary of State Timothy Wirth announced that the U.S. will seek an amendment to the existing treaty to create “binding”... Read more

You Are

Well, sort of. At least we know more about the demographics and interests of the 13% of

EBN subscribers who made it through our first-ever Reader Survey. Thanks again to those of you who took the time and returned the survey. We’ll try to keep it shorter next time. As promised, here are some highlights... Read more

Access floors (also called

raised floors) are floor systems made of rigid panels supported by short pedestals that create an easily accessed cavity under an entire space. They are expensive and are typically made of materials such as aluminum, steel, high-strength concrete, and formaldehyde-based, medium-density... Read more

The new Georgia Institute of Technology Aquatic Center has 2,800 solar modules generating 344.5 peak kilowatts (kW) of electricity. One section of the array, with an output of 4.5 kW, is comprised of Solarex’s new 240-watt alternating-current (AC)... Read more

First prize in the Van Alen Institute’s competition for a design for reuse of New York Harbor’s Governors Island was awarded to University of Pennsylvania graduate student Peter Hau for his plan to transform the Island into a regenerative garden. Entitled: “Open Narratives: Reconfiguring the Air, Land and Waters,” Hau’s proposal includes plants... Read more

EBN is now cosponsoring an e-mail discussion group on green building. Joining us in this effort is Iris Communications, Inc., publisher of the REDI Guide™ to green building materials. This group should be a uniquely valuable forum for discussing ideas and issues, and getting quick answers to practical questions.... Read more

On-site photovoltaic panels supply much of the electricity, heating loads are met in part with... Read more

The country’s first commuter bike station has opened in Long Beach, California, according to the Urban Land Institute’s June 1996

Land Use Digest. The Bike Station, modeled after similar facilities in Japan and the Netherlands, provides secure parking for 150 bicycles, along with bike rentals, repairs, and accessories. It is located in... Read more

The City of Santa Monica, California, has hired a team of local and international designers, researchers, and engineers to draft Sustainable Development Guidelines for new buildings. This effort grew out of Santa Monica’s Sustainable City Program and out of controversy over the redevelopment of the... Read more

was a finalist in

Utne Reader’s 8th Annual Alternative Press Awards this year. While we were not a winner, we were pleased to be recognized in the “Service” category.