In addition to the two honorees for whom we had advance notice, Gail Lindsey and Mike Nicklas, two other champions of sustainable design were designated “Fellows” of The American Institute of Architects at a May 18, 2001 ceremony in Denver. They are Gregg Ander of Southern California Edison, and Marsha Maytum of Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects in... Read more

Transparent insulation was developed to increase the thermal performance of glazings without significantly reducing the light transmission. One pioneer in transparent insulation, Dr. K. G. T. Hollands of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, was initially looking for ways of improving performance of solar water heating collectors. By creating... Read more

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has a new standard for recycled-plastic residential decking. This standard pulls together into one product specification the individual strength test methods for recycled plastic established almost four years ago (see EBN

Vol. 6, No. 9). While the standardized test methods created a... Read more

When a regional astronomy club based in Springfield, Vermont raised opposition to a new state prison slated for the town, the state hired lighting engineer (and new

EBN Advisory Board member) Nancy Clanton to come up with a plan for reducing light pollution in the prison design. While her firm came up with an outdoor lighting plan for... Read more

Our Newsbrief on page 5 of

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 4 about the Maine Hospital Association incorrectly identified the Natural Resources Council of Maine as the Natural Resources

Defense Council of Maine. Our apologies.

... Read more

by the Center for Sustainable Construction of the Building Research Establishment (London, England), 2000; online at www.constructionplus.co.uk. Two softbound publications: BR 389 2000 (Program introduction), £25; BR 390 2000 (Materials guide), £35

The

American Tree Farm System has engaged PriceWaterhouseCoopers to review its certification and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses in relation to the American Forest & Paper Association’s (AF&PA) Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). The Tree Farm System is a program of the American Forest Foundation, providing technical... Read more

Collins Products LLC has received Green Cross certification from Scientific Certification Systems, Inc. that its particleboard is manufactured entirely from post-industrial waste fibers. While most particleboard manufactured today contains a high percentage of wood waste from other manufacturing processes, Collins has made an unusual commitment... Read more

Solar electric buildings researcher, designer, and advocate Steven Strong was the recipient of this year’s prestigious Charles Greeley Abbot Award from the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). The award is given for significant contributions to the Society or to the field of solar energy. Strong is principal of Solar Design Associates in... Read more

Entering the U.S. market with autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) has not been easy. North American Cellular Concrete made a go of it in 1992 (see

EBN

Vol. 1, No. 2) but got no further than a pilot plant. In 1996, the German Hebel Group built a manufacturing plant in Adel, Georgia through its subsidiary Hebel USA (see

EBN... Read more

A report requested by the Bush administration on global climate change was released by a committee of the National Academies’ National Research Council on June 6, 2001. The report summed up science’s current understanding of climate change by confirming that greenhouse gases are accumulating in the earth’s atmosphere and causing surface... Read more

Greenpeace has a new building products directory called the PVC Alternatives Database – Building the Future. The fully searchable international database lists over 236 (and counting) PVC-free products for the following building components: roofing, insulation, exterior cladding, windows and doors, flooring, wallcoverings, piping, and—often the... Read more

in severity in many parts of the United States. In the Southeast and Northwest, drought conditions range from moderate to extreme, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In pockets of West Texas, the Central Appalachians, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Iowa, and eastern Tennessee, drought conditions... Read more

(who is married to Alex) helped to launch

EBN and build our readership in the early ’90s. Now she has returned as Outreach Director and will be working on new ways to familiarize the building community with

EBN and our other products.

Among other tasks, she is contacting workshop presenters and conference... Read more

A

novel energy conservation plan in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Utah promises significant electricity savings. The 20-20 Program gives PacifiCorp customers at least 20% off their electricity bills this summer if they use 20% less electricity than they did last summer. While not yet approved by regulators, the program would apply to... Read more

Most of us have a general understanding that buildings and the process of development have a pretty big impact on the environment. But what are those impacts and just how significant are they?

The East Lake Commons community in Dekalb County, Georgia, has received a

National AIA-HUD Housing and Community Design Award for 2001 for excellence in community design that incorporates mixed use and mixed income. East Lake Commons was designed by Village Habitat Design, LLC, with Greg Ramsey, principal-in-charge. Southface Energy... Read more