After seeing the torchiere review in your November issue (EBN

Vol. 6, No. 10), I confess to cringing slightly when I saw the problems you had with the torchiere [from Energy Federation Inc.]. You were shipped one of the first production units, before we had even assembled some demo units for our lobby.

by the Rocky Mountain Institute, produced by CREST. Version 1.0, November 1997, Windows™ and Macintosh™ compatible. Available for $7 plus $3 shipping and handling from: Rocky Mountain Institute, 1739 Snowmass Creek Road, Snowmass, CO 81654-9199; 970/927-3851, 970/927-4178 (fax), www.rmi.org.

Green Development:... Read more

Concrete pier foundations offer several advantages over full-height frost walls, including greatly reduced concrete use. While most commonly used for decks, outdoor stairs, and the like, pier foundations are also sometimes used for the entire building foundation.

Now pier foundations are easier to install. F&S Manufacturing, Inc. of... Read more

The first load-bearing straw-bale home in the State of Washington is now offered as the prize of an essay contest by Michael and Spring Thomas of the IronStraw Group. The home, which has been monitored by Habitat for Humanity International for their research on affordable, straw-bale houses, consists of two structures situated on a seven-acre... Read more

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A late January meeting in Hesparia, California brought together a large and diverse group of building professionals working to remove regulatory barriers to more sustainable buildings. The “Planning Summit for Sustainable Building Codes” is an important milestone in an ongoing effort spearheaded by contractor and activist David Eisenberg,... Read more

Vol. 6, No. 10), we reported that K&M Bamboo Products, Inc. refused to provide details about their products. We have since received this communication from them, with documentation indicating that their products are indeed similar to most of the others in performance.Like the... Read more

Following its Winter Meeting in San Francisco, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) announced that its energy performance guide, Standard 90.1, will follow in the footsteps of the indoor air quality document (Standard 62) by going onto “continuous maintenance” instead of the current “periodic... Read more

Soy-based adhesives are here. Adhesives made from soybean oil have been approved by the Western Wood Products Association for use in finger-jointing operations at the Willamina Lumber Company in Willamina, Oregon. In the Willamina finger-jointing process, hydrolyzed soy protein is applied to one side of the joint and conventional phenol... Read more

This house may not win any architectural design awards—its boxy, utilitarian design echoes the Yankee values personified by its designer—but the “Hanover House” is indeed ground-breaking. Designed for a middle-aged couple without children by mechanical engineer Marc Rosenbaum, P.E., of Meriden, New Hampshire, this residence has about the lowest... Read more

The first load-bearing straw-bale home in the State of Washington is now offered as the prize of an essay contest by Michael and Spring Thomas of the IronStraw Group. The home, which has been monitored by Habitat for Humanity International for their research on affordable, straw-bale houses, consists of two structures situated on a seven-acre... Read more

The design firm Conger Fuller Architects of Aspen, Colorado has taken a unique approach to addressing resource consumption of its residential building projects. At the end of 1997 the company donated enough money to the Oregon Forest Resources Trust to replenish 6.5 acres of trees—the amount they calculated were used to build the houses they... Read more

Long used in computer rooms, access floors are now finding their way into office buildings and other commercial space, where they can dramatically reduce renovation costs while saving energy and improving indoor air quality—especially when providing an underfloor plenum for conditioned air distribution.... Read more

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. has sold its Fiberbond gypsum panel product to USG, and has put a number of other divisions, including Nature Guard Roofing Shakes, on the auction block. These sales are part of a large-scale restructuring initiative intended to focus the company more strongly on building products with a national market, according to... Read more

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. has sold its Fiberbond gypsum panel product to USG, and has put a number of other divisions, including Nature Guard Roofing Shakes, on the auction block. These sales are part of a large-scale restructuring initiative intended to focus the company more strongly on building products with a national market, according to... Read more