BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

March 1, 2001

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

News Brief

March 1, 2001
Terrel M. Emmons

, 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

News Analysis

March 1, 2001
On January 9, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on an important case that jeopardizes wetland protection nationwide (Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County vs. United States Army Corps of Engineers). The Court ruled against the Army Corps, threatening somewhere between 30% and 60% of all our wetlands, according to the Association of State Wetlands... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2001

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

Op-Ed

March 1, 2001

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

News Brief

March 1, 2001
Pulte Homes Tucson Division

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

News Analysis

March 1, 2001
Boise Cascade

is about to begin construction of a $70 million plant in southwestern Washington state to produce siding from urban wood waste and recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) from plastic bags and shrink wrap. Plant operation is set for early 2002. This brings Boise Cascade into the growing ranks of building product manufacturers... Read more

Product Review

March 1, 2001
According to a recent study by Ecos Consulting and the Natural Resources Defense Council, two of every three homes in the U.S. have at least one ceiling fan, and—on average—each fan consumes about 130 kWh per year. Ceiling fans can reduce energy consumption for cooling, but they are all notoriously inefficient. Except one. A much more energy-... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2001
The

world’s first commercial wave-power plant began operation in late November on the Scottish island of Islay, feeding approximately 500 kW of power into the United Kingdom power grid.

The technology was jointly developed by Wavegen, which built and owns the power station, and Queens University Belfast. The technology employed is known... Read more

Feature

March 1, 2001

A lot of finger-pointing is going on in California these days. The rolling blackouts in January were due to deregulation gone awry … or failure to project rapid growth in demand … or permitting delays … or bottlenecks in power transmission. One thing is crystal clear, however: energy is back on the radar screen. People are talking about the oft... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2001

U.S. Green Building Council board member

Drew George was promoted on January 15, 2001 to Environment Manager – Americas of Bovis Lend Lease. George now oversees environmental programs and green construction projects for the company’s 26 offices in North and South America, with a mandate to make BLL the leading green provider of... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2001

EBN Advisory Board members Gail Lindsey and Michael Nicklas have been selected as Fellows of The American Institute of Architects. Lindsey, principal of Design Harmony, Inc., becomes only the second woman from North Carolina to receive this distinction, given for outstanding achievement and service to the profession. Lindsey recently served two... Read more

News Analysis

February 1, 2001
The City of Portland, Oregon’s new Office of Sustainable Development has formulated a series of initiatives aimed at greening both municipal and private-sector buildings. The new office was created in September 2000 by combining the City’s Energy Office with the Solid Waste and Recycling Division and adding a Green Building Division. The City’s... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2001

In January 2000 (

Vol. 9, No. 1), we reported on the just-released

National Resources Inventory (NRI) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, which tracks land uses every five years. The 1997 USDA figures, it turns out, were incorrect due to a software error. The reported rate at which open... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2001

The

National Conference on Building Commissioning is now accepting nominations for the third annual Benner Award, a prize for excellence in efforts to make commissioning business as usual. Nominations are due March 1, 2001. Criteria and instructions are available at:

www.peci.org/ncbc/2001/benner.html.

Op-Ed

February 1, 2001
Perspective:

Hospice Ecology

Reading dozens of environmental publications and hundreds of e-mailed news stories each month gives one a pretty tough skin. There’s a lot of depressing stuff going on—from mushrooming sprawl, to increasing incidence of asthma in children, to almost-daily new evidence of global warming. Somehow I manage... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2001

On January 15, 2001 Maharaj Muthoo took over as the new Executive Director of the

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Dr. Muthoo has a doctorate from the University of Oxford and has devoted the past 30 years to issues of social and economic development and environmental management. For 15 years, he was the Director of Forestry Operations... Read more

Product Review

February 1, 2001
Temple-Inland’s Green Drywall

For the first time, builders and architects can specify gypsum wallboard with a certified recycled content of 99%. Temple-Inland—with distribution to most areas of the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest—earned Scientific Certification System’s green cross and globe emblem for wallboard products being manufactured in... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2001
Newsbriefs

Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell Architects (BNIM), a leader in the sustainable design movement, has moved its downtown Kansas City headquarters to the landmark Power & Light Building. BNIM will occupy the first three stories of the building. With its renovation of the space and signing of a ten-year lease, the firm hopes to... Read more

News Analysis

February 1, 2001
Product Brief

Paint recycler

Amazon Environmental, Inc. has teamed up with paint manufacturer and distributor

Dunn-Edwards Corp. to offer recycled latex paint in six states: California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. This significantly expands the reach of Amazon Environmental and will result in a doubling of... Read more