The executive committee of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) has selected its ten recognized projects for Earth Day 2000. More details and contact information are available from Mike Janes of The AIA press office at 202/626-7467 or mjanes@aia.org.

Washington state is following the lead of Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and others in moving toward

certification of state-owned forestland. The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced in late March that it would like to have up to 1.1 million acres (445,000 ha) of state land certified under the Forest Stewardship Council... Read more

The secondary mortgage lending market is complex and can be confusing. While sale of mortgages on the secondary market can actually limit green options (with the requirements for conventional heating and wastewater systems, for example), it can also be a way of encouraging green—at least if Fannie Mae’s new Green... Read more

1999 energy consumption in the United States increased 1.6% over 1998, according to the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy (EIA). Total consumption was 92.72 quads (97.9 x 1018 J). At the same time, domestic energy production dropped 0.86% and net imports increased 2.59%. Dependence on petroleum... Read more

On April 4, 2000 the San Jose, California City Council approved a series of recommendations aimed at

promoting green building practices in the city. With an estimated $1.4 billion in total value of building permits issued during fiscal year 1997/98, this new program could affect a lot of construction. The recommendations approved by the... Read more

I always read

EBN all the way through, but I look for the best parts and go to them first. After leafing through the whole magazine, I started on the “Structure as Finish” article (

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Vol. 9, No. 3), thinking at first—“not so interesting.” By the time I was into the third... Read more

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Vol. 8, No. 5) as their first climate-neutral product, and Saunders now offers climate-... Read more

In December 1998, Hurd MillWORK agreed to a $5.3 million class-action settlement relating to claims about R-value in gas-fill windows that were shipped with breather tubes installed. Andersen Windows devotes a full page in this year’s residential product catalog to “High Altitude Glass Considerations.” The window industry is struggling with the... Read more

Liverpool High School, near Syracuse, New York, has become the first high school to install a fuel cell. The school’s ONSI PC25 fuel cell will be used both as a power source and a teaching tool. Funding was provided, in part, from the state of New York and the U.S. Department of Defense.

A “Sun Wall” national design competition has been announced for an aesthetic and practical solar energy system for the huge South wall of the Department of Energy’s Forrestal Building in Washington, D.C. DOE estimates that the roughly 28,000 ft2 (2,600 m2) can generate as much as 200 peak kilowatts of electricity. The competition is cosponsored... Read more

On March 8, 2000 Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell (BNIM) Architects of Kansas City created a new division focusing exclusively on green design and consulting. The new “Elements” division will be directed by Jason F. McLennan, who is currently project manager on several green demonstration projects. Elements offers services in programming... Read more

The San Francisco-based Rainforest Action Network (RAN), whose activist tactics are scorned by some in the environmental community but who played a pivotal role in convincing Home Depot to embrace forest certification, has launched a campaign against the home building industry’s use of lumber. RAN argues that home builders use 72% of the nation... Read more

Roger Babb and his company, Babb International, have been awarded the Spirit of Georgia Award from the State Chamber of Commerce. The honor is given to a Georgia business person who has demonstrated superior ability and courage in the development of an idea into a successful business. Babb International is the only domestic producer of... Read more

Version 4.0 of the popular E Build Library CD-ROM is now in production, with copies expected to ship starting in early May. The comprehensive archive features all 57 back issues of

Environmental Building News from the first, in 1992, through 1999. The text is fully searchable using Adobe Acrobat® text search or via hotlinks from the... Read more

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) has approved a standard for electrical inverters used to connect photovoltaic (PV) generators to the utility grid. John Stevens, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, chaired the working group, which included about 25 members representing the utility industry,... Read more

With the passage last year of a law in Louisiana designed to address the risk of Formosan termites, it looked as if preservative-treated wood was going to be

mandated in all framing lumber used in home building. Senate Bill 373 provides for the formation of a task force to deal with the growing problem of Formosan termites in Louisiana... Read more

France unveiled a plan on January 20 to fight global warming by raising taxes on industrial energy consumption. Under the plan, taxes will go into effect in 2001, though companies under heavy competitive pressure will be able to avoid the tax by focusing on reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. The plan also aims to improve public transit,... Read more

I was not so convinced by the case for building commissioning as I expected to be when I began reading the article in

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Vol. 9, No. 2.

Two Wisconsin state agencies, the Department of Consumer Protection and the Department of Health and Family Services, have issued a warning about the use of ozone generators. The February 29 press release singles out Alpine Industries for violating a Federal Trade Commission order and using unsubstantiated health benefits to market ozone... Read more