The third-party certifier Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) confirmed in March 2005 that Owens Corning has increased the average recycled content of its fiberglass insulation from 30% to 35%. The insulation now includes 9% post-consumer and 26% post-industrial recycled content. (For more information about insulation, see

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• Cannon Beach Cottage, a 2,268 ft2... Read more

Environmental Health Perspectives. About 15% of that cost burden can be attributed to the emissions of coal-fired power plants, according to the study, which was performed by... Read more

At press time, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire was expected within days to sign into law a bill passed on March 30, 2005, by the Washington State legislature requiring Silver-level certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® Rating System for all major construction projects built with public funds. Executive orders and... Read more

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Vol. 13, No. 3) is seeking presentation proposals for its upcoming conference, Building Materials Reuse and Recycling: Decon ’05. The conference will be held November 7 and 8, 2005, in Atlanta, just before the U.S. Green Building Council’... Read more

•The Association... Read more

The Marco Island City Council voted four to two in March 2005 to ban artificial turf, in response to a dispute between homeowner Ed Ehlen and his neighbors (see

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Vol. 14, No. 2). While Ehlen argued that his synthetic lawn’s water savings made it environmentally friendly, the city council countered that the lawn’s rubber... Read more

Green interiors expert Penny Bonda and BuildingGreen’s Nadav Malin have teamed up to offer the

Green Guru Tour of NeoCon. On this tour, a group of dedicated design professionals will join Bonda and Malin as they visit the showrooms of leading furniture and furnishing manufacturers. They will sit down for in-depth conversations with top... Read more

The organization formerly known as the Used Building Materials Association (UBMA) has changed its name to the Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA). The educational organization, “dedicated to supporting the recovery and reuse of building materials throughout the U.S. and Canada,” is now based in State College, Pennsylvania, and is online... Read more

“Insulation: Thermal Performance is Just the Beginning” [

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Vol. 14, No. 1] was another very informative article. Some specific comments:

1) Regarding polysio insulation, if the conductivity of the hydrocarbon blowing agent is indeed lower than HCFC-141b, then the insulation performance should be better, not worse.

Just one month after Arizona’s requirement that all new state-funded buildings use nonflushing urinals took effect on January 1, 2005, Governor Janet Napolitano signed an executive order in February requiring all new state buildings to derive at least 10% of their energy from renewable sources—defined as solar, wind, and biomass—and to meet a... Read more

BuildingGreen Suite. Case studies are published through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) High Performance Buildings Database. Selected projects in the database are also featured on:

•DOE High... Read more

Vol. 13, No. 10), I received a letter from Donald Aitken, a highly respected green-building and renewable-energy consultant and a longtime friend. Don wrote to fill a gap in green-building lore and was kind enough to allow us to share his story with our... Read more