The first modules of the

U.S. Life Cycle Inventory Database (see

EBN

Vol. 12, No. 11) are now fully public and available at www.nrel.gov/lci/. This release represents a major milestone in the effort to produce public data for use in environmental life-cycle assessments, and should eventually help make it possible to... Read more

2 (67 m

2)

green construction trailer, stationed at the construction site of an office building outside Green Bay for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (designed to achieve LEED Silver certification). The Boldt team used improved insulation; energy-... Read more

The Roanoke Regional Housing Network is busy planning

C2C Home, an international housing design and construction competition based on the principles described in

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way we Make Things by William McDonough, FAIA, and Michael Braungart (see book review in

EBN

Vol. 11, No. 5).... Read more

Stakeholder meetings for the two Task Groups working under the auspices of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee (TSAC) were held on February 17 and 18, 2004 in Washington, D.C. (see

EBN

Vol. 12, No. 12 for background). The two issues being examined are

the use of HCFC... Read more

An October 2003 report titled “An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario and Its Implications for United States National Security” has generated a flurry of media attention. The study was prepared by the Global Business Network for the U.S. Department of Defense’s internal think tank, the Office of Net Assessment. The report defines a worst-case global... Read more

A new ad campaign is targeting kids between the ages of 8 and 13 in an effort to reduce energy use in homes. The three-year campaign, funded by the Ad Council, Energy Outreach Colorado, and a number of other partners, uses television, radio, and Internet public-service announcements to

teach children to become

“Energy Hog... Read more

After reading about results published in the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) study as they pertain to linoleum emissions (as described in “California Releases Data on Indoor Emissions,”

EBN Vol. 13, No. 2), many of our customers have contacted us with questions.

Forbo Linoleum, Inc. was an active volunteer in... Read more

Philips Lighting, Forbo Flooring, The Invironmentalists, Johnson Controls, Johnson Diversey, and Milliken Carpets have teamed up to create the Alliance for Sustainable Built Environments. This loosely woven network of like-minded companies aims to promote awareness of sustainability while enhancing business opportunities for its members. “Our... Read more

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the NAHB Research Center have announced the names of the people who will work to develop the voluntary

Model Green Home Building Guidelines. The 59 stakeholders represent homebuilders, environmentalists, government agencies, and a number of trade organizations. Each stakeholder is... Read more

Turf grass is ubiquitous in America, covering roadsides, parks, cemeteries, golf courses, and more than 50 million residential yards. Most experts believe that turf covers more than 30 million acres (12 million ha) of American ground, an area larger than the state of Pennsylvania. Lawns make popular common spaces, encouraging community... Read more

EBN

Vol. 9, No. 11), plans to build its newest manufacturing facility, in Chandler, Arizona, according to LEED

® standards. Charlie Popeck, cohost of the PBS show

Build It Green!, is acting as green building consultant on the 108,000 ft

2 (... Read more

Civano, in southeast Tucson, Arizona, was named Best New Community in

Sunset Magazine’s annual Best Places to Live story. The 818-acre (330 ha), mixed-use community was designed around New Urbanist ideals, with a strong sense of community and place (see

EBN

Vol. 9, No. 7). The homes use 50% less energy... Read more

The

Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, which recently trademarked the name Built Green

® for its residential green building program (the largest in the nation), has issued a cease and desist request against Vermont’s

Building for Social Responsibility (BSR) over its use of the name Vermont Built Green for its own... Read more

The Apollo Alliance, a unique coalition of labor, environmental, civil rights, business, and political leaders, has announced its vision of achieving energy independence in ten years. According to a study released by the Apollo Alliance in January, a $300 billion federal investment in renewable energy and green buildings over ten years would... Read more

Thank you for the excellent article on the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild conference (

Vol. 12, No. 12). I would like to take issue, however, with the claim that the conference was free of carbon dioxide (CO

2) emissions.

The chart accompanying the article shows that this claim was made because USGBC received a... Read more

Interface Flooring has sold more than a million square yards (840,000 m

2) of climate-neutral

Cool Carpet™ since its introduction in August 2003 (see

EBN

Vol. 12, No. 10). Through the Cool Carpet initiative, customers are funding greenhouse-gas reduction projects to offset the emissions resulting from the carpet... Read more

At the beginning of March 2004, the U.S. Green Building Council released a draft of the LEED

® for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) Rating System for review by Council members during a 30-day comment period. LEED-EB is designed to certify the ongoing operations and maintenance of facilities, including upgrades to building systems. It is not... Read more

Kaplan, McLaughlin and Diaz), based in San Francisco, has been awarded the prestigious MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Award for the design of the Jie Fang Daily News and Media Group headquarters in Shanghai, China. The project employs numerous green systems, relying heavily on natural ventilation and... Read more

The

Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) was launched in December 2003, initiated by Meeting Strategies Worldwide, of Portland, Oregon. Recognizing that over a million meetings and events, and over 12,000 tradeshows, are held each year, GMIC is committed to “balancing economic, environmental, and community objectives as they relate to... Read more