ASTM International has published the

Standard Guide for the General Principles of Sustainability Relative to Building (E2432). “It is expected that the Guide will be referenced and used by federal, state, and local governments, architects, and others seeking to solidify and/or justify the tripartite—environmental, economic, and social—... Read more

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed a bill in September 2005 that expands tax credits for solar energy systems. The bill, which takes effect November 4 and expires in 2016, allows for tax credits of $3.00 per watt of installed solar electric output capacity. The credit is capped at half the cost of the installed system, up to $6,000.... Read more

California’s Million Solar Roofs bill, which would have led to the addition of 3,000 megawatts of solar panels on one million roofs, including half of all new homes, died in assembly in September 2005. The bill would have made California the world’s third largest solar energy producer, behind Japan and Germany. After passing the Senate by a... Read more

Jane Silverstein Ries, FASLA, the ASLA Medal, the highest honor the organization bestows upon individuals, “for her lifetime achievements and contributions to the profession, the welfare of the public, and the environment.” Ries began her 56-year career in 1933 as the first female... Read more

Green Built Home™, a voluntary green building program of the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative, in partnership with the Madison Area Builders Association, has been partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Dane County to certify all new Habitat homes as Green Built Homes. For 2005, all new Habitat homes will earn at least 112 points in the Green... Read more

Zero-energy has become a buzzword of the green building movement, used in advertising slogans, conference presentations, and technical papers. Despite the excitement over the phrase, however, we lack a common understanding of just what zero-energy means. And despite proclaimed achievability, few if any buildings can demonstrate that they in... Read more

New labels demarcating “FSC Pure,” “FSC Mixed Sources,” and “FSC Recycled” products (see

EBN Vol. 14, No. 2) took effect for all FSC certificate holders on July 1, 2005. The labels are available in several languages to serve different markets. For more information, visit www.fsc.org or e-mail trademark@fsc.org.

“The study indicates there is no threshold for the adverse consequences of children’s exposure to lead,” says Bruce Lanphear, M.D., director of the Children’s Environmental Health Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and lead author of a study on the effects of lead on children. Published in the July 2005 issue of... Read more

In an online editorial, EBN Executive Editor Alex Wilson calls the new Energy Policy Act a "colossal failure."

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Through the new Massachusetts Green Communities™ initiative, MassHousing and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) are working with the nonprofit Enterprise Foundation to build 1,000 green affordable homes throughout the state. The Enterprise Foundation will provide up to $75 million in private equity to developers, from the sale of... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced a call for projects to pilot-test the LEED® for New Construction Application Guide for Retail, developed to tailor LEED credit language to retail projects and to define alternative compliance paths in some areas. The LEED for Retail Committee is seeking 25 to 50 retail projects—preferably... Read more

The U.S. joined Australia, China, India, Japan, and South Korea in signing the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate in July 2005, with the goal of “taking action on climate change in a broad, pro-growth context,” according to a White House fact sheet. Together, the signatory countries represent about half of the world’s... Read more

August 22, 2005, marks the first day of classes for the new American College of the Building Arts. In 1998 the School of Building Arts opened in Charleston, South Carolina, hoping to reverse a steady decline in the availability of craftsmanship training. Since the South Carolina commission on higher education licensed the school as a college in... Read more

The City of Bellingham, Washington, is requiring all publicly funded new and renovated buildings larger than 5,000 ft2 (470 m2) to meet LEED® Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Bellingham joins the state of Washington, which became the first state to have a legislated requirement for LEED certification, also Silver, in... Read more

The average urban household in the U.S. uses 320 million Btus (338,000 MJ) of energy each year, compared to 440 million Btus (464,000 MJ) for the average suburban household, according to John Holtzclaw of the Sierra Club and Jennifer Henry of the U.S. Green Building Council. The pair’s findings, presented during the Congress for the New... Read more

Office furniture manufacturer Steelcase, Inc., has committed to halting its use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in time for its 100th anniversary in 2012. The company credits its collaboration with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) for the decision. Eliminating PVC from edge banding is the first step along that path, according to a... Read more

In July 2005 New York became the latest state to develop energy efficiency standards for products not covered by federal regulations. (The Energy Policy Act of 2005, signed in August, established several federal standards; see Bush Signs Energy Policy Act of 2005.) New York’s Appliance and Equipment Energy Efficiency Standards Act of 2005... Read more