The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) plans to air a new television series called Building Green, beginning in spring 2006. Billed as a “home improvement program about building gorgeous homes that are healthier, more energy efficient, and better for the environment,” the show’s first season documents the creation of a 4,500 ft2 (420 m2)... Read more

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signed an executive order in January 2006 requiring all executive branch state agencies, including the Higher Education Department, to adopt the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® Rating System. New buildings 15,000 ft2 (1,400 m2) or larger and those with over 50 kW of peak electricity demand are required to... Read more

New York City’s Skyscraper Museum will be showing the exhibit “Green Towers for New York: From Visionary to Vernacular,” featuring the city’s existing green high-rises as well as some in design and construction, through May 2006. The Museum is online at www.skyscraper.org.

In little more than a decade, bamboo flooring has become a serious contender in the hardwood flooring market, and some believe that bamboo plywood is next. Lauded in environmental circles for its quick growth and the fact that it can be harvested without harming the plant, bamboo seems almost too good to be true. In fact, like any product, it... Read more

The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved the California Solar Initiative, the largest solar energy program in the history of the U.S., in January 2006. The initiative will provide $2.9 billion in incentives through 2017 for solar systems in the state. The result is expected to be 3,000 MW of solar power spread across one... Read more

The Swedish government has set the aggressive goal of eliminating its dependence on fossil fuels by 2020, according to Mona Sahlin, minister for sustainable development. Sweden plans to harness tax credits, research, and large-scale investment in district heating, among other strategies, to wean the country off fossil fuels. Transportation,... Read more

A Report for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative by Gregory Kats, Capital E. Available free at www.cap-e.com. December 2005, 66 pages.

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Vol. 12, No. 11), Greg Kats and his team at Capital E... Read more

The American Institute of Architects Committees on Design and the Environment (COD and COTE) are cosponsoring a conference called “The Architecture of Sustainability” and a design competition called “A House for an Ecologist” (formerly known as eco:dwell) to explore sustainability as an architectural agenda. Judges for the competition are Peter... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has set tougher standards for clothes washers to qualify for the Energy Star® label, beginning January 1, 2007. The new standards increase the modified energy factor (MEF), the capacity of the clothes container divided by the total energy consumption per cycle, from 1.42 to 1.72 ft3/kWh per cycle. The new... Read more

Are you an experienced writer/editor with green building knowledge and excellent research skills? Do you have a knack for distinguishing meaningful information from hype? If so, you might consider joining the editorial team at BuildingGreen, Inc. We need to add a writer to our staff to keep up with our publishing schedule and commitments. The... Read more

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Vol. 11, No. 1), the only downside we found was that the noise might be a little . . . much. The sound of the Xlerator’s 16,000-ft/minute (5,000- m/minute) airstream being deflected off hands can reach 90 decibels. Since that sound level can be a problem in some... Read more

Environmental Building News (EBN) reported on the first building codes for strawbale construction (see

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Vol. 5, No. 1). The State of Nevada had recently passed a mandate requiring local jurisdictions to permit strawbale buildings, and California had approved voluntary guidelines that could be adopted at the... Read more

The New York State Education Department and the State University of New York (SUNY) have approved a new four-year undergraduate program in renewable and alternative energy applications, including wind, solar, geothermal, fuel cell, biofuel, and other emerging technologies. SUNY Canton will offer the program beginning with the fall 2006 semester... Read more

To help its 77,000 members meet their green design information needs, The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has signed an agreement with BuildingGreen, Inc. The agreement will bring

Environmental Building News (EBN) articles to AIA members through AIA Knowledge Community publications, including

AIArchitect, and through AIA’... Read more

2005 set a new record, according to estimates from the Munich Re Foundation, with more than $200 billion in economic losses due to weather-related disasters. Of that total, more than $75 billion was covered by insurance companies. Hurricane Katrina caused much of that loss, with damages estimated at $125 billion, of which about $45 billion was... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the winners of its annual EnergyValue Housing Awards, designed to promote and improve the energy efficiency of new homes in the U.S. The program is funded by DOE’s Building America Program and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with support from several private sponsors, including... Read more

Greenpeace International unveiled the Music Wood Initiative at the January 2006 trade show of NAMM, the International Music Products Association. The Music Wood Initiative was created to limit the environmental and social degradation caused in the making of musical instruments. “If you walk through a music store, the instruments are comprised... Read more

Vol. 13, No. 1), quite a bit has happened in the area of standardized testing of toilet performance. The Maximum Performance (MaP™) testing that we reported on has been progressing at a rapid pace. Veritec Consulting, Inc., has now tested well over 200 toilet models, and the... Read more