A manufacturing facility built with great green hopes is now spending most of its time making a more conventional product. Great Lakes MDF, LLC has purchased the Lackawanna, New York medium-density fiberboard (MDF) plant formerly owned by The CanFibre Group, Ltd. The plant initially relied on phenol-formaldehyde binders in place of conventional... Read more

The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Foundation has established a

Sustainable Design Education Fund to reimburse members of the interior-design community for taking classes, attending conferences, undergoing LEED™ accreditation, and participating in other activities related to sustainable design. The fund is made... Read more

The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) has developed a voluntary

certification program for installers of photovoltaic (PV) systems. NABCEP plans to hold its first exam on October 25; in order to participate, candidates must complete their applications by July 31. For details or to apply for certification,... Read more

Sunlight can convert triclosan, a disinfectant used in antibacterial and antimicrobial soaps and other products, into dioxin, according to a paper in the May 30, 2003 issue of the

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry. Photodegradation of triclosan in the absence of chlorine can produce a relatively benign form of... Read more

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Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities, the first national conference on green roofs, was held May 29–30 in Chicago, drawing more than 500... Read more

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The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) awarded this year’s

Environmental Sensitivity Awards to two architecture firms that specialize in... Read more

After surveying its member companies, the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association estimates that the industry used nearly 2 billion pounds (900 million kg) of

recycled glass and blast-furnace slag in the manufacture of fiberglass and slag-wool insulation last year. Of that total, 58% was glass cullet and 42% was slag. Since... Read more

The IRS has approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit status for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Until now, USGBC has been a 501(c)(6) “trade association,” but in October 2001 the Board decided to pursue a shift in status. President and CEO Christine Ervin believes the new designation ”will communicate to the public and potential funders that our... Read more

In late May 2003, winners of the first annual Green Roof Awards of Excellence were announced during the first national green roofs conference (see page 3). Award recipients and their projects are described below:

•  Katrin Scholz-Barth Consulting,  green roof consultant – Montgomery Park Business Center, Baltimore, Maryland: 30,000 ft2... Read more

I am continually surprised by how little emphasis the green building movement places on building science. As we examine the many priorities of green building—from land-use planning to energy efficiency, material selection, and indoor air quality—the basic science of how we design and build structures to ensure long life and healthy indoor... Read more

SunPower Corporation has announced that their new A-300 crystalline-silicon solar cell converts over one fifth of the sunlight hitting it into electricity. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has verified a

20.4% conversion efficiency for the 125-millimeter, single-crystal A-300 cell, making it likely to become the most efficient... Read more

On May 9, 2003, the Board of Directors of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) unanimously passed a resolution titled “Support for Green Building.” The resolution lays out a number of issues and goals, which boil down to two primary objectives: to acknowledge and support the interest in green building among many builders and local... Read more

The

University of Cincinnati invites applications for a tenure-track position in the School of Architecture and Interior Design (SAID) in the area of environmental technologies. For further information, contact: David Lee Smith, Professor of Architecture, david.smith@uc.edu, 513-556-5291.

A Quebec-based manufacturer of contract fabrics is the first to offer a line of polyester textiles that meet a stringent set of ecological criteria developed by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). The Eco Intelligent™ fabrics from Victor Innovatex are made in accordance with MBDC’s “cradle-to-cradle” protocol. In this protocol, each... Read more

One hundred thousand homes have earned the Environmental Protection Agency’s

Energy Star® designation. Each home that meets the voluntary criteria uses an average of 30% less energy for heating, cooling, and water heating than a conventional home, saving homeowners about $200 to $400 annually. According to EPA, the program saves... Read more

, a Martha’s Vineyard design/build firm, seeks a residential architect and/or designer committed to ecological design. For details, visit

www.somoco.com or e-mail John Abrams at jabrams@vineyard.net.

Thanks to your great article on biodiesel (

EBN

Vol. 12, No. 1), we are now the proud owners of a 2001 Jetta TDI, running on biodiesel. We have found several local sources for B100, 30 gallons [115 liters] of which we now have under our back stairs. No more fossil fuels! I love using a renewable, even “waste,” fuel. It just makes... Read more