This just in from Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory: A gas oven consumes more electricity to bake a potato than a microwave oven. That’s right, more

electricity. The glow bar ignitor, which draws 350 to 400 watts during oven start-up, continues to draw power the whole time the oven is on. To bake a moderately sized potato, LBL researcher... Read more

I appreciated reading your fairly comprehensive article on environmental impacts of various heating fuel options (“Heating Fuel Choices: Weighing the Alternatives”, EBN,

Vol. 2, No. 6). You uncovered several of the complexities inherent to evaluating the costs and benefits of fuel options as determined by... Read more

Extruded polystyrene (XPS) is the insulation material of choice for many builders when it comes to below-grade applications and is used in many other ways as well. Commonly referred to by Dow Chemical Company’s tradename Styrofoam®, standard XPS insulation is manufactured in the U.S. by four... Read more

Image Industries, Inc., formerly Image Carpets Inc., has become one of the largest recyclers of PET in the U.S. (Image Carpets has been widely promoted as the premier manufacturer of carpets from recycled plastic resin.) Carpet manufacturing may soon be taking a back seat to PET recycling at the company, which ranked 22nd in sales volume among... Read more

for Treating Wastewater

by Gerald Steiner, P. E. and James Watson, P. E.; 42 pages, free. Tennessee Valley Authority, May 1993. TVA, 1101 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. Fax orders: 615/751-7479.

Despite its cumbersome title, this publication will prove invaluable to anyone considering a constructed... Read more

Markets for recycled plastic lumber are surprisingly uneven across North America. While some manufacturers report having trouble keeping up with the demand for their products, others are struggling. Green Tree Plastics Technology Inc. of Victorville, California is shutting down its manufacturing operations for lack of income. “The sales are... Read more

A group of chemicals in the class known as fluoroiodocarbons (FICs) has been identified by researchers as potential replacements for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons in a wide range of industrial uses. Unlike HCFCs—the first group of CFC-alternatives to be identified—FICs’... Read more

Trus Joist MacMillan has broken ground for a second manufacturing facility for its Timberstrand™ laminated strand lumber product (see EBN

Vol. 1, No. 3 for product review). The new plant, scheduled to open late in 1995, is in eastern Kentucky. Locally available yellow poplar will be used instead of the aspen used at TJM’s Minnesota... Read more

The Vinyl Institute’s letter on PVC (EBN

Vol. 2, No. 5) is without substance or merit. The Institute ignores the economic benefits of product substitution and the significant environmental problems of PVC. In truth, PVC is a cheap, chlorinated product that rarely lives up to its claims of durability and threatens... Read more

The Canadian R-2000 energy-efficient homes program is revising and broadening its standards. The Technical Research Committee of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association has made its recommendations to Energy, Mines and Resources Canada (EMR), the government body that administers R-2000. The... Read more

The Cycle II™ line from the Major Paint Company (the manufacturing arm of Standard Brands Paint Co.) contains at least 12% recycled paint collected from consumers and 38% in-house waste from washing machinery. The remaining 50% is virgin material. Cycle II is available in flat, semi-gloss, and primer formulations in about a dozen colors ranging... Read more

by Joseph M. Tibbets. 1989, Southwest Solaradobe School, P.O. Box 153, Bosque, NM 87006. $20.35. Paperback, 196 pages.

The Earthbuilders’ Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive reference we’ve seen on the various construction techniques that fall under the umbrella of earthbuilding, especially adobe and... Read more

•urethane-reinforced... Read more

American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment, 1735 New York Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20006; 800/365-ARCH, 202/626-7300.

Last winter and spring the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment organized a series of three video teleconferences entitled “Building Connections.” The... Read more

Trimax plastic lumber, which was featured in the EBN article “Recycled Plastic Lumber,” (Vol. 2, No. 4) will soon be manufactured in two additional locations. Trimax’s parent company, Polymerix, Inc., has licensed Environmental Recovery Systems of Somerset Inc. to make the fiberglass-reinforced lumber in Massachusetts. In a separate deal, John... Read more

Winter Emissions from Major Sources, State of Washington—1984

Source: “Wood Smoke: Emissions, Impacts, and Reduction Strategies,” Washington State Department of Ecology, December 1986

The National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Green Building Council have jointly announced a Green Building Conference for February 1994 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The conference will cover assessment methodologies and performance criteria for rating buildings, case studies, activities of various government and independent... Read more

I enjoyed your article on cellulose insulation in the September/October ‘93 issue of EBN. In general, I thought the article was very well done, but felt that your recommendations on the health concerns left a bit to be desired. First of all, your recommendation not to eat it is obvious, yet by stating it, you seem to... Read more

Green Seal, a nonprofit environmental labeling organization, certifies products that cause significantly less harm to the environment... Read more

by National Park Service. September 1993. 118 pages. Limited copies available from the Denver Service Center, National Park Service, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225; 303/969-2100. (No charge while initial printing lasts; then copies will be available from the Government Printing Office.)