TerraPass, Inc., one of the more prominent companies providing consumers with an easy way to offset the greenhouse gas emissions of their air travel by buying carbon offsets, has partnered with a manufacturer and a retailer to bring that option to a retail product. A pressure washer made by Kärcher USA will be sold on the shelves of Sam’s Club... Read more

On February 26, 2007, the Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee (TSAC) of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released its long-awaited report on whether evidence supports an anti-PVC credit in the LEED® Rating System (proposed seven years ago). The basic conclusion, that available evidence does not support a simple, across-the-board... Read more

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and partners have announced the Lifecycle Building Challenge, a competition focused on design strategies that promote design for disassembly and product stewardship. The panel of judges includes Vivian Loftness, FAIA, of the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University; Lance Hosey, AIA, of... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the top performers in a program it designed to encourage technological innovation in reflector compact fluorescent lamps (R-CFLs). Beginning in 2001, DOE worked with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and a group of manufacturers to create specifications for the lamps, which are often... Read more

Recent ordinances under consideration in New Orleans demonstrate that in the effort to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, green building advocates are playing a role. In August 2006, the City Council approved a resolution spelling out a “Green Building Program” that would require City-funded buildings to achieve Gold certification in the U.S.... Read more

Ted Turner, the former cable-television magnate and chairman of Turner Enterprises, Inc., has announced he will partner with Dome-Tech Solar in Branchburg, New Jersey, to create DT Solar. Dome-Tech Solar has been involved in several large-scale photovoltaic installations on the East Coast, including projects for the New York Metropolitan... Read more

In separate actions in December 2006, two environmental groups asked the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Inc. (SFI) to take member companies to task for their ecologically damaging logging practices. The Seattle Audubon Society charged that Weyerhaeuser Company has violated SFI standards by harming northern spotted owls in Washington. The... Read more

Students at Arizona State University can now enroll in the first courses of the newly formed School of Sustainability. Growing out of the Global Institute of Sustainability, the new school will offer both bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees in sustainability, along with master-level and doctoral degrees. Faculty for the school will... Read more

A minor partner in Coldham Architects, LLC, since 1998, Tom Hartman, AIA, has joined Bruce Coldham, AIA, as a full partner to form Coldham & Hartman Architects in Amherst, Massachusetts. Focusing on creating high-performance buildings and communities, the firm is currently working on projects ranging from a cohousing community in Ulster... Read more

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new rule in December 2006 that raises thresholds for industries reporting chemical releases to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), which provides data to the public on releases of toxic chemicals. Under the new rule, companies can use a simplified reporting form that includes only the... Read more

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided not to allow the use of acid copper chromate (ACC) as a wood preservative for lumber in residential applications such as decks, playgrounds, and picnic tables. ACC, which contains the known carcinogen hexavalent chromium, will continue to be allowed for commercial uses such as marine... Read more

Research conducted at Boston University and published in January 2007 in Environmental Science & Technology confirms a long-suspected link between human polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) levels in humans and PBDEs in household dust. Commonly found as flame retardants in household items like foam mattresses and appliance casings, certain... Read more

"We were looking at our whole sustainability strategy, and we wanted to take it to the next level,” said Richard Guinn, a vice president at Centria Architectural Systems, makers of composite wall-panel systems for commercial and institutional buildings. After researching its options, Centria chose to work with McDonough Braungart Design... Read more

Canada’s prime minister Stephen Harper unveiled a new Chemicals Management Plan in December 2006, in which the government would put CA$300 million towards the assessment of about 4,000 substances over four years. As part of its plan, the government has launched a new website where citizens can learn about the chemicals and track the assessment... Read more