BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

October 1, 2000

Researchers at the University of Florida have demonstrated that existing stack-scrubbing technology can be applied to wood-burning boilers to remove and render insoluble volatilized heavy metals from the

incineration of CCA-treated wood (see

EBN

Vol. 6, No. 3 for background discussion). Bubbling stack exhaust through... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 2000
Armstrong World Industries has dramatically expanded its ceiling tile recycling program (

EBN

Vol. 7, No. 10). The company now pays the freight (within the lower 48) on trailer loads—30,000 ft2 (2,800 m2) or more—of approved tiles, has streamlined the process of recycling, and gives great guidance on job-site practices for efficient... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 2000
Larry Sherwood

, who has served ably as executive director of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) for 12 years, has announced his resignation. Larry plans to leave the association following the ASES Annual meeting in April 2001. He does not have definite plans for the future.

Op-Ed

October 1, 2000
Errata on BEES Review

In our review of the BEES 2.0 software (EBNVol. 9, No. 9), we made two unfortunate errors:

1. When we expressed skepticism about the installed costs of vinyl siding and stucco, we reversed the numbers. BEES uses $1.29/ft2 ($13.89/m2) for stucco and $2.07/ft2 ($22.39/m2). for vinyl. We have also learned that these... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 2000
Ten Shades of Green, a highly acclaimed exhibit

of green buildings from the U.S. and Europe, will be traveling from its New York City origin to several other locations over the next year. The exhibit was organized by the Architectural League of New York and curated by Peter Buchanan. Details may be found online at www.archleague.org. At press... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 2000

William Bobenhausen, Director of Sustainability at Steven Winter Associates (SWA) of Norwalk, Connecticut, was conferred the honor of “Fellow” by the American Institute of Architects at the May 2000 AIA Convention in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, SWA has received an official citation from the Connecticut General Assembly for “exemplary efforts to... Read more

News Brief

September 1, 2000

A study conducted for the Federal Energy Management Agency (FEMA), reported in the

New York Times on June 28, has concluded that at least a quarter of the

houses within 500 feet of U.S. coastlines may be lost to erosion during the next 60 years. If sea levels rise due to global warming, coastline erosion could be even worse.... Read more

News Brief

September 1, 2000

In announcing a

Global Coal Initiative to research clean coal technologies, the Electric Power Research Institute forecasts a fourfold increase in worldwide power demand by 2050. “Meeting this estimated demand will require the equivalent of building a new 1,000-megawatt power plant somewhere in the world every two days for 50 years,”... Read more

News Brief

September 1, 2000

Meanwhile,

polar ice is melting. The July 21 issue of

Science reports that the massive Greenland Ice Sheet, which contains roughly 10% of all fresh water on earth, is melting at a rate of 12 cubic miles (51 km3) per year. This melting results in 0.13 mm of sea level rise worldwide annually, according to NASA researchers.

... Read more

Product Review

September 1, 2000
Termi-Mesh – Stainless Steel Screening for Protection Against Termites

Just as common window screening keeps airborne pests out of buildings, Termi-Mesh keeps out subterranean termites. But that is where the analogy ends. If you are going to bury a screen underground, build walls on top of it, wrap it tightly around pipes, make it “chew-proof”... Read more

Op-Ed

September 1, 2000
On EBN’s LEED Coverage

The U.S. Green Building Council would like to thank

Environmental Building News for an excellent article in the June issue on the development and content of LEED™ Green Building Rating System (EBN

Vol. 9, No. 6). We are extremely excited by the market response we have seen and believe that LEED is, and... Read more

News Brief

September 1, 2000

Although the number of

local green building programs is still relatively small—there are fewer than 20 nationwide—forces are growing. In June of this year, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (Greater Seattle) released their Built Green™ program. Partners for the home builder-based program include King and... Read more

News Analysis

September 1, 2000

In what EPA is calling the “largest enforcement penalty ever taken against a single ‘smokestack’ company under the Clean Air Act,” Portland, Oregon-based Willamette Industries is expected to spend in excess of $90 million in fines and pollution controls. The company violated the Clean Air Act by failing to install proper pollution controls or... Read more

News Brief

September 1, 2000

Recent doctoral work in geography by Ryan Jensen at the University of Florida-Gainesville revealed that the city of Gainesville has twice the leaf coverage of the nearby city of Ocala. When Jensen then checked average utility bills from the two cities, he found that Ocala residents were paying $126 more per year than Gainesville residents.... Read more

News Analysis

September 1, 2000
Consolidation in the Cellulose Industry

On August 1, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation merged its GreenStone cellulose insulation division with the U.S. Fiber division of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. to form U.S. GreenFiber, LLC. With the creation of this 50:50 joint venture, both U.S. Fiber and GreenStone have ceased to exist. The new company will... Read more

News Brief

September 1, 2000

Software from the Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). No charge. Download from the Web at

www.bfrl.nist.gov/oae/bees.html or order from the U.S. EPA’s Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse, 202/260-1023, ppic@epamail.epa.gov. Information: Barbara C. Lippiatt, 301/975-... Read more

News Brief

September 1, 2000

Ocean

surface waters near the equator are warming at an “alarming” rate, according to analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released on July 28. Between 1984 and 1996, water temperatures have risen approximately 0.1°F (0.056°C) per year, which the researchers say is far more than can be explained by... Read more

Product Review

September 1, 2000
SmartGuard Borate-Treated Wood Products Introduced

In what is potentially one of the most far-reaching developments in light-frame construction in the last decade, Louisiana-Pacific, Osmose, and U.S. Borax have introduced the SmartGuard family of borate-treated wood products for home building. The products were rolled out on April 4 in... Read more

News Brief

September 1, 2000
Newsbriefs

On July 25, 2000, the Henrico Community Housing Corporation in Virginia celebrated the opening of Hilliard House, a transitional housing facility near Richmond for up to 30 women and children. Thanks largely to the efforts of HCHC Board President Karl Bren,

Hilliard House is also a distinctly green project. The $1.2 million... Read more

Op-Ed

September 1, 2000
Systems Thinking: Have you hugged your building scientist today?

A big topic around our office is how critical and how difficult it is to approach green building from a systems perspective. A building, like the environment, is a system in which “everything affects everything”—it’s hard to discuss a single aspect of building, develop a tool... Read more