The company premiered its new Axis™ underfloor HVAC system at the 2003 Greenbuild... Read more

President George Bush signed the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 into law on December 3. “We have a responsibility to be good stewards of our forests,” Bush remarked at the signing ceremony, describing the legislation as “a major step forward in protecting America’s forests.” Disagreement, however, surrounds the ecological soundness of... Read more

Building on the success of its EcoWorx® backing system, in early December Shaw president Julian Saul... Read more

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking comments on their proposed Indoor Air Quality Label for New Homes (see EBN Vol. 12, No. 5). This voluntary label, a complement to the existing Energy Star® label for homes, is intended to improve IAQ, moisture control, comfort, and durability. The draft specifications and introductory material... Read more

American Biofuels, LLC has begun test runs at its new biodiesel plant in Bakersfield, California. The Bakersfield plant, the nation’s only biodiesel production facility to use a continuous-flow process in place of batches, can already produce 2.5 million gallons (9.5 million l) per year, and capacity could expand to 35 million gallons (132.5... Read more

The Bush Administration surprised critics in December when it abandoned plans to revise the Clean Water Act. The changes, proposed in September 2002, would have significantly reduced the number of waterways and wetlands protected from development. The change of plans was made following an overwhelmingly negative response from the public and... Read more

Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) has completed its review of 1.2 million acres (500,000 ha) of forestland managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. The report outlines measures the state will need to take in order to achieve Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, as well as several other conditions to be... Read more

Boulder Community Foothills Hospital has become the first healthcare facility to achieve certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED™ Rating System for new construction. The project received 33 points, for a LEED Silver rating. For more information on this 60-bed, 200,000 ft2 (18,600 m2) facility, visit www.bch.org.

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The Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) is developing a Green-e label to distinguish products made with a significant percentage of green power (from solar electric, wind, geothermal, biomass, and small or certified-low-impact hydropower facilities).

In order to use the label, companies that consume more than 100,000,000 kWh of power... Read more

As part of its Pollution Prevention Program, INFORM, Inc. has published a fact sheet on “Specifying and Sourcing Mercury-Free HVAC and Building Equipment.” Fluorescent lamps are not the only mercury-containing products we use. A number of widely specified building systems—most notably switches and thermostats in heating and cooling systems;... Read more

The first draft of “Green Guidelines for Healthcare Construction: Creating High Performance Healing Environments” is now available for public comment. Developed by a team led by the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems of Austin, Texas, sponsored by the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), and funded by the Merck Family... Read more

Since the Edwards Dam in Augusta, Maine was dismantled in 1999,

more than 100 dams have been removed across the United States, according to American Rivers. Over 76,000 dams taller than 6 feet (1.8 m) remain, however, and fewer than 3% of these are used to generate electricity. For details, visit www.americanrivers.org.

In a landmark agreement, the paper and forest-products company Domtar, Inc. and World Wildlife Fund Canada have committed to ensuring the long-term conservation of Canadian boreal forests. Under the agreement, Domtar has agreed to certify all of its forests and mills to FSC standards, subject to the successful completion of two pilot projects... Read more

The California Energy Commission has approved updated standards for energy efficiency in residential and nonresidential buildings, to take effect in October 2005. Changes to the Title 24 standards, already the country’s most stringent energy-efficiency regulations, focus on reducing both peak energy loads and total energy use. The standards... Read more

Architectural Energy Corporation (AEC), based in Boulder, Colorado, and Eley Associates, of San Francisco, two leading building energy engineering and evaluation firms, have announced that they will merge into a single firm beginning February 1. Retaining the AEC name, the new firm will have offices in Boulder, San Francisco, and Chicago. AEC... Read more

The North Carolina Green Builder Program (NCGBP) Task Force has published its checklist for residential certification. Homes may be certified to four distinct levels by achieving a number of prerequisites and earning points in each of eight sections: site; water; energy for (a) building envelope, (b) comfort systems, and (c) appliances and... Read more

The Kresge Foundation, one of the largest foundations in the country, with assets of over $2 billion, has started a Green Building Initiative, aimed at “creating awareness among nonprofit organizations that they too can build green.” The initiative includes educational materials, which can be downloaded from the Kresge Web site, in addition to... Read more

Just in time to host Greenbuild 2003, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh was awarded 39 points in the LEED® Rating System, qualifying it for Gold certification. At nearly 1.5 million ft2 (140,000 m2), the Lawrence Center is the largest LEED-certified building. The $385 million... Read more