The first issue of

EnvironmentalBuilding News was mailed out one year ago to a few hundred subscribers. Six issues later, we have a respectable circulation of well over 1,000. Judging from feedback received, we’re succeeding in what we set out to do: provide useful, unbiased information on how to make buildings... Read more

The International Council for Building Research Studies and Documentation (CIB), based in France, is forming a new working group entitled “Construction and the Environment.” The new group will focus on recycling, waste reduction, by-products, and related matters. Membership in CIB is not a requirement for participation. Contact: Charles J.... Read more

On May 18 EPA Administrator Carol Browner announced a program to control hazardous waste combustion that may eliminate the burning of hazardous waste in cement kilns. Effective immediately, all new permits now require comprehensive risk assessment, and existing permits will be reviewed over the next 18 months, according to an EPA press release... Read more

Dear Mr. MacArthur,

I thought your article in EBN (Vol. 2, No. 3) on “Water-based Poly­urethanes” was useful and timely. We now routinely recommend a water-based finish for health reasons, especially if it is applied in cold weather when adequate ventilation is difficult. Did you try a product called “... Read more

The Drawing-Room Graphic Services, Ltd., Box 86627, North Vancouver, B.C. V7L 4L2, Canada. $40.66/year in Canada (includes GST), U.S. $46 in the U.S.

Sol Plan Review is the thinking builder’s guide to advanced Canadian home­building. Considering how much governmental support there has been for... Read more

Architecture Schools?

Dear Editor,

I am an architecture student in the first year of a Master of Architecture program. The school which I now attend, despite having an excellent program, places little emphasis on energy efficiency and environmental consciousness in design. I am looking for a school with such a... Read more

Independently certified softwood lumber from North American forests is being market-tested for the first time this summer by Home Depot, Inc. White spruce 2x4s will be sold in Arizona and ponderosa pine shelving in southern California, both sporting labels with Collins Pine’s sustainable... Read more

The NAHB’s “Builder of the Year,” Realen Homes of Philadelphia, has hired award-winning architect and landscape architect Leslie Gallery to develop a green plan for the company. Early efforts are focusing on protecting vegetation during sitework, but eventually all aspects of the process are to be addressed.

Steve Loken. 1993. Center for Resourceful Building Technology, PO Box 3866, Missoula, MT 59806; 406/549-7678. 56 pages. $12.50 postpaid.

Foam-Tech, Inc. of North Thetford, VT, this past April became the first company to offer a urethane spray or injection foam with zero ozone-depletion potential. Super Green™ is produced with hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) 134a, which contains no chlorine and thus does not damage the Earth’s protective ozone layer. In 1991,... Read more

In a settlement reached with the EPA in May, Louisiana-Pacific has agreed to pay $11.1 million for failure to comply with permitting procedures at 14 oriented strand board (OSB) and medium-density fiberboard (MDF) plants. L-P will also install state-of-the-art pollution control... Read more

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) is planning a demonstration building project that will exhibit energy- and resource-efficient technologies and provide office and meeting space for NESEA and affiliated organizations. The “Northeast Sustainability Center” is slated to be built in 1994 in the five-college area of western... Read more

David W. Bearg. Lewis Publishers, 1992. C/O CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL 33431; 407/994-0555. 220 pages, hardcover; $59.95.

David Bearg’s new book is a terrific overview of a very complicated subject. Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems for commercial buildings have become increasingly... Read more

McDonald’s is showcasing dozens of recycled materials—from feldspar floor tiles to a recycled copper roof—in a new restaurant in Kent, Washington. It is the most recent of four such restaurants recently built around the country; the others being in New York, Arizona, and Tennessee. According to McDonald’s... Read more

Fact: More than 130 sawmills and plywood mills have... Read more