The tragedies of September 11th are almost too horrible to comprehend. We were fortunate at

EBN that no close friends or family members were killed or injured at the World Trade Center or the Pentagon. Our staff joins the millions around this country and the world in mourning the loss of life that occurred that day. We hope and pray... Read more

Through a new partnership with the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), Home Depot stores across the U.S. will now contain

recycling stations for used portable rechargeable batteries. This partnership should provide a significant boost to the efforts of nonprofit RBRC to keep cadmium, lead, and nickel out of the... Read more

At the August 2001 National Hardware Show in Chicago the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced the latest Energy Star®-labeled product: residential ceiling fans. Working closely with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Ecos Consulting, and the residential fan industry, EPA developed airflow efficiency, controls, and... Read more

Kudos for tackling the heavy issue of life-cycle analysis in plastic building materials in your article “Plastics in Construction” (Vol. 10, No. 7/8). Although we agree that a “full discussion of LCA” and other comparative analysis would require far more than a nine-page article, it concerns us nonetheless that your readers may interpret some... Read more

Kompan, Inc., the nation’s largest manufacturer of commercial wooden playground equipment, is

the latest manufacturer to abandon CCA-treated wood. Citing concern on behalf of customers, the company completed the switch to nonarsenic, nonchromium pressure-treated wood on September 15. Kompan is using Natural Select™ wood treated with... Read more

Evergreen Nylon Recycling, the joint venture between Honeywell and DSM Chemicals (see

EBN

Vol. 8, No. 9), has ceased operations indefinitely. The facility was slated to process 200 million pounds (90 million kg) of used carpet annually, producing 100 million pounds (45 million kg) of caprolactam, the building block of nylon 6.... Read more

CD-ROM of 46 technical papers, 2001. Send a check (made out to “Tides Center/Ecological Building Network”) to: Bruce King, Ecological Building Network, 209 Caledonia Street, Sausalito, CA 94965. Price: $70 + $10 shipping

Vol. 10, No. 6). We are pleased to report that we were off by at least one! E-Crete, whose plant is located in Casa Grande, Arizona (near Phoenix), has been producing AAC blocks since December 2000. The... Read more

The indoor air quality mantra “ Eliminate, Isolate, Ventilate” describes a sound framework for ensuring safe indoor environments. In the first of these strategies, we tend to focus on the materials and products used in construction—specifying low-VOC paints, choosing formaldehyde-free wood products, perhaps avoiding mineral fiber insulation... Read more

Version 5.0 of our acclaimed

EBN Archives is now shipping! This single CD-ROM includes all issues of

Environmental Building News—from 1992 through 2000. A total of 67 issues (1,200 pages) are available in easy-to-use Adobe Acrobat PDF format. The

Archives are fully searchable and provide instant access to all articles... Read more

A new report from the nongovernmental organization

Fern identifies the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as the only independent and credible forest certification program. Three other major programs—the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), the Canadian Standards Association’s Sustainable Forest Management Standard (CSA), and the Pan-... Read more

a 113 kW photovoltaic carport that will shade 152 parking spaces at Riverside, California’s Public Utilities Operations Center. A total of 2,016 modules, each generating 75 W, will be mounted in two rows on the structure, which is slated for completion by November.

The Home Builders Association of Metro Denver and the Colorado Association of Home Builders have developed a

Built Green Communities rating program. Designed to work with their newly upgraded Built Green checklist for homes, the green communities program was developed by a diverse working group including local planning experts,... Read more

Source: “Whole-House Measurements of Standby Power Consumption” by J. P. Ross and Alan Meier, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Report LBNL-45967, 2000.

I read your article entitled “Plastics in Construction: Performance and Affordability at What Cost?” (

Vol. 10, No. 7/8) with much interest. As a manufacturer of both PVC and FPO (called TPO here in the U.S.) roofing membranes, we are concerned with your conclusion that TPO is a “greener alternative” to PVC roofing.

Everyone has a great way for taxpayers to spend their tax rebate checks, including the Lowe’s and Home Depot home improvement centers. Both now describe

energy-efficient home improvement projects for under $300 and under $600 starting right on the home pages of their Web sites. But Home Depot goes a step further: “There’s no need to go... Read more

To the best of our knowledge, this product is no longer available.

A recent study by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources investigated the feasibility of

deconstructing mobile homes for salvage. The study was prompted by an unexpected waste disposal crisis—a group of condemned, flash-flooded, mobile homes. A surprising underground market for mobile home windows, fixtures, and chassis was discovered... Read more