The Loudoun County, Virginia Board of Supervisors is serious about stemming sprawl. They have set up a $1 million legal defense fund to protect the county against court challenges by home builders, according to an article in the January 5

Washington Post. Loudoun County is the third fastest growing county in the nation, and it gained... Read more

Collins Products LLC, a division of The Collins Companies, has developed a new line of concrete forming panels that will be available with FSC-certified wood. (A seasonal scarcity of certified logs has limited current production to non-certified product.) The line includes four products: ValuForm, Apex, Apex II, and Apex III. All of the forming... Read more

We’re very excited to announce that Peter Yost of the NAHB Research Center will be joining our staff as research director and senior editor of

Environmental Building News. In addition to contributing to

EBN’s content, Peter will share responsibility for many of our research, writing, and consulting services. A former high-school... Read more

With the passage last year of a law in Louisiana designed to address the risk of Formosan termites, it looked as if preservative-treated wood was going to be

mandated in all framing lumber used in home building. Senate Bill 373 provides for the formation of a task force to deal with the growing problem of Formosan termites in Louisiana... Read more

A call-for-entries has gone out for the 2000 Aurora Awards competition for residential design and construction (both single- and multifamily) from the Southeast Building Conference. Projects located within the 11 southeastern states are eligible for the Awards, which cover a whopping 75 categories, including water conservation, energy... Read more

by Theodore Osmundson, FASLA, 1999. W. W. Norton & Co., New York. Hardcover, 318 pages, $75.

Roof Gardens is a valuable resource for anyone involved with the creation of green spaces on top of buildings or above underground parking garages.

Author Theodore Osmundson, a leader in the landscape architecture field for the last... Read more

by Malcolm Wells, 1999. Available from the author, 673 Satucket Road, Brewster, Cape Cod, MA 02631; 508/896-6850, 508/896-5116 (fax). Hardback, 144 pages, $5 plus $2 postage & handling.

This little book, by architect and underground building pioneer Malcolm Wells, reads like a children’s book, but is more for adult children.

, CEO of Interface, Inc. and recent co-chair of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, received the first annual

Argon Award of Excellence­ in Sustainability on February 7, during the Greenprints 2000 conference in Atlanta. The Argon Award recognizes significant personal and professional contributions to the... Read more

Your highly readable introduction to the Road Oyl emulsion (

EBN

Vol. 8, No. 11, November 1999) shows your reputation for evenhanded reviews is well deserved. I do, however, want to point out a factual error. In reviewing the EPA lab results of runoff for a newly installed Road Oyl pavement, you stated, “Total petroleum... Read more

for Environmental Innovation, a

new facility that will house the

company’s carpet reclamation and

pelletizing operations, along with

research and design laboratories for

environmental technologies. The

Center is directed by vice... Read more

Fiberock Aqua-Tough Sheathing, a new product from gypsum products giant USG, has significant environmental and performance advantages. Strength, durability, and integral water resistance are selling points for this unfaced gypsum sheathing.

I read with particular interest the article entitled “Alternative Forestry Certifications Challenge the FSC” in your January issue of

Environmental Building News (EBN

Vol. 9, No. 1), and I would like to clarify some items related to the American Forest & Paper Association’s (AF&PA) Sustainable Forestry InitiativeSM (SFI... Read more

I’d like to thank you for reviewing our new book and video series in your January 2000 issue (EBN

Vol. 9, No. 1). However, I don’t want your readers to be misled, so I would like to clarify one point.

Healthy House Building for the New Millennium is not a book version of

The Healthy House Video Series. While they both go... Read more

A design competition has been announced for a household electricity meter that resides prominently

inside the home and provides “accurate, compelling, and artistically fascinating feedback to homeowners about their current energy use.” The

Viridian Electricity Meter should reward users aesthetically for reducing their purchased... Read more

In connection with its 2000 Eco-Design Arts Conference (see Calendar) the University of Oregon’s HOPES is sponsoring The Ecology of Home Design Challenge. The very broad guidelines indicate only that entries must present a solution to a universal ecological problem and be presented on no more than two presentation boards. Contact Maren Zieba at... Read more

First, it is designed for exterior mounting, which keeps all combustion outdoors, eliminating... Read more

It was heartening to see your publication address the issue of alternatives to vinyl wallcovering in your January issue (EBN

Vol. 9, No. 1). Although the problems with vinyl are well known in the environmental building community, its extensive use for wallcovering is often overlooked. Soft vinyls that are used for walls and upholstery... Read more