EBN

Vol. 11, No. 1) and our recognition of that product as a 2002 Top-10 Green Building Product helped draw the green... Read more

The International Code Council (ICC) has developed Coastal Construction Flood Plain Inspector certification, which indicates “knowledge of general construction provisions, special high wind and load path continuity, special flood hazard areas, detached and accessory structures, and governmental regulations.” Certified individuals will be able... Read more

Recognizing the role of construction in the global economy and planetary ecology, in February 2006 the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) launched the Sustainable Building and Construction Initiative (SBCI). Part of UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry, and Economics (DTIE), SBCI will establish global baselines for green building,... Read more

Lost Mountain, which describes mountaintop-removal... Read more

BuildingGreen, Inc., is pleased to announce an agreement with McGraw-Hill Construction through which we will provide editorial guidance and articles for an upcoming magazine called

GreenSource. In addition to content for the magazine, BuildingGreen will provide strategic consulting and information to McGraw-Hill Construction’s Web-based... Read more

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New Mexico has become the first state in the U.S. to join the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the nation’s only market-based cap-and-trade system designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The state hopes to reduce its emissions to 2000 levels by 2012, 10% below 2000 levels by 2020, and 75% below 2000 levels by 2050. CCX membership is legally... Read more

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the 2006 inductees into its College of Fellows, among the highest honors bestowed upon members. Several of this year’s Fellows have contributed to green design:

•G. Z. (Charlie) Brown, professor of architecture at the University of Oregon, founder and director of the school’s... Read more

A federal appeals court has overturned a policy that would have allowed power plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities to upgrade without also updating their pollution-control equipment. While the New Source Review program of the Clean Air Act ensured that older plants would clean up emissions whenever they performed upgrades beyond... Read more

New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to turn over information about the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in paints and similar products. Because VOCs contribute to smog and respiratory problems, EPA has limited the amount of VOCs that paints... Read more

Disturbing old farmland can release pesticides applied more than 100 years ago, contaminating surface water, according to Dartmouth researchers. The researchers found that lead and arsenic, widely applied as lead arsenate pesticide on orchards in the late 1800s and well into the 1900s, have become part of the fine silt and organic matter in the... Read more

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) has developed the Zero-Energy Building Award program to recognize energy-efficient projects designed for the Northeast climate. To be eligible, buildings must be located in the Northeast (including New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland), be occupied, and... Read more

Following its acquisition of Bonded Insulation in July 2005 (see

EBN Vol. 14, No. 11), U.S. GreenFiber, LLC, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has expanded further by acquiring two additional cellulose insulation companies: Blue Sky Manufacturing, Inc., based in East St. Louis, Illinois, and Redi-Therm Insulation, Inc., based in Salt... Read more

Conservation International (CI) and George Washington University (GWU) are collaborating in the development and implementation of the Ecotourism Learning Program, designed to “provide a set of tools, knowledge, and standards to help communities create ecotourism destinations that successfully attract tourists while protecting the natural... Read more

The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) is now accepting entries for its first annual Smart Environments Awards, intended to “honor the best in design solutions over the past five years, those that are environmentally and socially responsible as well as beautiful and functional.” Cosponsored by

Metropolis magazine, the... Read more

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has launched a new website designed to “guide building professionals through the green building process, from putting together a business case to design, construction, and marketing.” “Increasingly,” says Rob Watson, director of NRDC’s green building programs, “building professionals are interested... Read more

Six former administrators of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including five Republicans, called on the Bush administration to impose limits on greenhouse gas emissions, which are contributing to global climate change. “This is a major disaster for the world,” said Russell Train, who served under Presidents Nixon and Ford from... Read more

A Community Approach to Independent Living—The Handbookby Charles Durrett. Published by Habitat Press, Berkeley, California; distributed by Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California; 2005. Softcover, 249 pages, $29.95.

Sustainable Community

Learning from the Cohousing Modelby Graham Meltzer, Ph.D. Trafford Publishing,... Read more