News Analysis
News Brief
by Dan Imhoff, forewords by Randy Hayes and Sim Van der Ryn, 2001. Watershed Media, Healdsburg, CA; 707/895-3490,
www.watershedmedia.org. Paperback, 136 pages, $22 plus shipping.
Building With Vision is a rare mix of philosophy, practical information on building materials and practices, and superb visual presentation. Following... Read moreNews Brief
David L. Crawford is a recipient of the
2001 Presidential Award from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), for his work in creating awareness of sky brightness and light pollution, and leadership in promoting outdoor lighting to reduce sky brightness. The award was presented at the August 6, 2001 Honors Luncheon... Read more
Product Review
News Analysis
The Sustainability Subcommittee (E06.71) of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Committee E06 on Performance of Buildings has released two Standards documents and is preparing others. Under the leadership of subcommittee chair Dru Meadows, Standard E 2114-01, “Standard Terminology for Sustainability Relative to the Performance... Read more
News Brief
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation headquarters, previously cited in
EBN as the first (so far, the only) building to earn a LEED™ Platinum rating, now has more high-profile kudos. The building is one of 11 winners of the
5th Annual Business Week
/Architectural Record Awards, selected from among 192 applicants and 19 finalists... Read more
Product Review
Gypsum Construction Handbook (see page 145 in the 90th anniversary edition), there is a completely impractical detail for depressing and subsequently hiding wallboard butt joints. But in the head and hands of a craftsman, this detail has been transformed into the ButtHanger, an elegant (despite the name) materials and labor-... Read more
Feature
These roofs are not just green, they're alive.
Mayor Richard Daley saw his first planted roofs several years ago while visiting Chicago’s sister city of Hamburg, Germany. At the same time, he was learning about urban heat islands (in which our urban areas maintain temperatures considerably higher than surrounding suburban and rural areas). He was particularly attuned to the urban... Read more
News Analysis
At its August 19, 2001 meeting the Board of the U.S. Green Building Council voted unanimously to set a new course for updates to the LEED™ Rating System. “What we realized is that we’re overwhelmed by LEED’s popularity,” said LEED co-chair Rob Watson of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “We wanted to ensure that LEED has a really solid... Read more
News Brief
CD-ROM of 46 technical papers, 2001. Send a check (made out to “Tides Center/Ecological Building Network”) to: Bruce King, Ecological Building Network, 209 Caledonia Street, Sausalito, CA 94965. Price: $70 + $10 shipping
The First International Conference on Ecological Building Structure, held July 5-9, 2001 in San Rafael, California,... Read moreProduct Review
News Analysis
When we reported in
EBN
Vol. 10, No. 4 that annual energy use in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s recently constructed Cambria office building was coming in at 62,300 kWh, or $0.18/ft2 ($1.94/m2), we noted that this seemed too good to be true. Alas, this suspicion has been borne out. The incorrect energy... Read more
Product Review
Arsenic has taken a big hit recently—from studies showing elevated levels in school playgrounds in Florida to public outcry about President Bush’s decision to relax drinking water standards for the element. Not surprisingly, product manufacturers are getting the message. In the July/August issue of
EBN (
Vol. 10, No. 7/8) we... Read more
News Brief
Edited by Lynne Elizabeth and Cassandra
Adams, 2000. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
New York. Hardcover, 392 pages, $70.
Alternative Construction provides aterrific overview of various methods
for building with earth, straw, and
bamboo. With writings from over 30
authors—many of them experts or
... Read more
News Analysis
guaranteed that every one of his homes would have annual heating costs less than $100. “My competitors just tore us up over this, claiming it must be bogus because it just could not... Read more
Op-Ed
mourns the loss of friend and green building champion David Kibbey, of Berkeley, California, who died on August 9, 2001 after a long battle with cancer. A native of Vermont, Kibbey was an artist, craftsman, scientist, and counselor. He designed and built beautiful spaces, edited the
Architectural Resource Guide product directory,... Read more
News Brief
A $150,000 grant from the U.S. EPA is funding research by the New Buildings Institute (NBI) of White Salmon, Washington, to
assess actual energy use of newly constructed buildings. NBI will work with subcontractors Eley Associates of San Francisco and Architectural Energy Corporation of Boulder, Colorado on the project. Using the Energy... Read more
News Analysis
At the August 2001 National Hardware Show in Chicago the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced the latest Energy Star®-labeled product: residential ceiling fans. Working closely with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Ecos Consulting, and the residential fan industry, EPA developed airflow efficiency, controls, and... Read more
News Brief
The Devens Enterprise Commission, the permitting authority for redevelopment of the former Fort Devens army base in north central Massachusetts, has created
a green building incentive program tied to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED™ rating system. The program offers a 15% reduction in development permit fees, up to $10,000 per... Read more
News Analysis
Evergreen Nylon Recycling, the joint venture between Honeywell and DSM Chemicals (see
EBN
Vol. 8, No. 9), has ceased operations indefinitely. The facility was slated to process 200 million pounds (90 million kg) of used carpet annually, producing 100 million pounds (45 million kg) of caprolactam, the building block of nylon 6.... Read more




