We are saddened to note the passing of two mavericks in the world of sustainability. On February 20, Donella (Dana) Meadows died suddenly of bacterial meningitis at age 59. In her late 20s, Dana was principal author of

Limits to Growth (1972), one of the first books to address the limits of population growth and resource extraction.... Read more

National Post Design Exchange Awards Gala, held on January 25, 2001 in Toronto.

The project won a Gold Award in the category “Built Environments, Grand... Read more

The worldwide

costs of climate change will reach $300 billion annually by 2050, predicts Munich RE, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies. These costs will result from more frequent tropical cyclones, land loss due to rising sea levels, and damage to fishing stocks, agriculture, and water supplies. In the U.S., an estimated... Read more

With support from The Heinz Endowments, Alan Barak of the Penn Energy Project... Read more

is pleased to be honored by

Metropolitan Home magazine as one the

Design 100 Best of the Best: People, Places, Extraordinary Things in the “Design that Makes a Difference” category. Also recognized are architect (and

EBN Advisory Board member) Gail Lindsey, landscape architect Julie Bargmann, eco-designer Wendy... Read more

The

Architecture + Energy: Building Excellence in Sustainable Design awards program from the AIA/Portland Chapter recognizes the integration of design excellence with sustainable principles and conservation technology in commercial buildings. Historically restricted to buildings in the Northwestern U.S., this year the program invites... Read more

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) are partnering to establish the

best available practices in

life-cycle assessment. The Life Cycle Inititative should go a long way toward harmonizing existing methods, databases, and life-cycle tools. This initiative... Read more

by Richard Pinkham. Rocky Mountain Institute, 2000. Spiral-bound, 64 pages. Available printed for $12 plus shipping from RMI, 1739 Snowmass Creek Rd., Snowmass, CO 81654; 970/927-3851; or available for free in PDF format from the RMI Web site:

www.rmi.org

FPL Energy of Florida is building a

300-megawatt wind farm—the world’s largest—on the border of Oregon and Washington. The 450-turbine wind farm, which will produce enough power for approximately 70,000 homes, should be completed by the end of this year. Power from the Stateline Wind Generating Project will be sold throughout the West... Read more

On March 13, Governor Parris Glen-denning’s Executive Order made Maryland the first state to mandate sustainability measures for all government operations in clean energy, green buildings, pollution prevention, and alternative fuel vehicles (www.gov.state.md.us/gov/execords/2001/html/0002eo.html). The order features a new High Efficiency Green... Read more

by Jennifer Corson, 2000. Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River Junction, Vermont. Paperback, 157 pages, $24.95

Every once in a while, a book comes our way about building and the environment that just about anyone will find practical and delightful—Sarah Susanka’s most recent book, Creating The Not-So Big House, comes to mind.... Read more

The February [

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 2] cover story on site restoration and the editorial on hospice ecology in Hawaii were excellent. In the piece on Hawaii and its loss of habitat and native species, your question of how this relates to green building is so important. It goes to the heart of what is “green” and what is “sustainable... Read more

, an architecture firm in the U.K., has become the first firm we know of to adopt the International Standards Organization (ISO) 14001 environmental management standard. The firm applied the standard to an architectural practice by developing a system to ensure that environmental impacts are considered in its... Read more

Nominations are now being accepted for the first annual

Sustainable Design Leadership Awards from the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and C&A Floorcoverings. Winners in two categories will be announced on June 18, 2001 at NeoCon in Chicago. The first will recognize a U.S.-based design professional who has... Read more

The new

International Society of Industrial Ecology has been launched from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Industrial ecology looks to nature as a guide for making more integrated and efficient industrial processes, such as co-location of industries that can make use of each other’s wastes. The society serves as a... Read more

, FAIA, associate director for professional services at the National Park Service Headquarters, is one of two recipients of this year’s

Thomas Jefferson Awards for Public Architecture. Emmons was honored in the category for public-sector architects who manage or produce quality design within their agencies. Until last... Read more

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently issued new reports on

global climate change, with three very important outcomes. First, global average surface temperatures have increased by 0.6°C over the last 100 years, 0.15 degrees more than previously reported. The difference is largely due to relatively higher... Read more

was named Builder of the Year by the EnergyValue Housing Awards on February 9 at the International Builders Show in Atlanta. Also recognized were ten Gold Winners and ten Silver Winners, in a range of categories and climates. The Awards are managed by the NAHB Research Center in partnership with the National... Read more