BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

February 1, 2003

Governor George Pataki thrilled the environmental community in January with his announcement that within the next ten years, 25% of New York’s electricity will come from renewable sources. Although 17% of the state’s electricity is already renewable (mostly from hydroelectric sources), Pataki’s announcement means financing for the construction... Read more

News Analysis

February 1, 2003

Four social-justice organizations recently pooled their efforts to author a report, released in October, titled “Air of Injustice: African Americans & Power Plant Pollution.” The study, a sobering crash course in environmental justice, explains health threats associated with coal-fired power plants, lays out why people of color are... Read more

Product Review

February 1, 2003
Southern Diversified Products has a vegetable-oil-based line of interior latex paints named “American Pride.” The new paint is based on a monomer developed by University of Southern Mississippi (USM) polymer science researchers to take the place of a petroleum-based solvent in the formulation of interior latex paint. By replacing the traditional... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003

New York State’s Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) is offering $1 million for development and demonstration of

innovative heating and cooling technologies for residential and commercial buildings in the state. NYSERDA expects to give out multiple awards of up to $250,000 each to support new technologies or... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003

by Daniel D. Chiras. Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River Junction, VT, 2002. Softcover, $29.95

At first glance, passive solar design might seem simple: put most of a building’s windows on the south side, minimize north-facing windows, and add thermal mass to store solar heat. But, as Daniel Chiras’s latest book,

The Solar House... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003

Students, faculty, and practicing architects from across Canada gathered in Montreal last August to discuss

how architecture can address environmental concerns, how sustainable design is integrated into various architecture programs, and how those programs can more effectively collaborate on such issues. To get involved, contact Ray... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003

Project submittal is now underway for the annual American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Green Projects competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The competition is intended to recognize projects that integrate the best practices of sustainable design into appropriate and beautiful... Read more

Op-Ed

February 1, 2003
BuildingGreen is pleased to announce the addition of Jim Newman to our staff as

Director of Online Services. Jim has degrees in architecture and business management, ran a small design-build firm for 13 years, and has managed projects for several Internet technology companies. He contributed greatly to the content quality of our Web site when... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003

During the ill-fated January flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia, astronauts tested a

water-mist technology for fighting fires that may prove an effective replacement for ozone-depleting halons. Water droplets 20–40 microns in size encountered a small flame in the gravity-free environment, an essential experiment for learning more... Read more

News Analysis

February 1, 2003
Southern California earned mixed grades on its 2002 report card from the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) Institute on the Environment. This year, the institute graded the environmental performance of the region’s agencies, private sector, and general public in: preserving biodiversity, water reclamation, solid waste, and sustainable... Read more

Product Review

February 1, 2003
Ten years after the Waterless Company revolutionized water conservation in the men’s room by introducing a waterless urinal, a third such product has entered the U.S. market: the German-made McDry urinal from Duravit AG. The McDry’s elegant teardrop shape offers a high level of style to restrooms. Like the Waterless urinal (see

EBN

Vol... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003

The Honorable Gaylord A. Nelson was awarded the

American Society of Landscape Architects’ (ASLA) Olmsted Medal in January. Nelson championed environmental legislation as a U.S. Senator (D-WI) from 1963 to 1981, and founded Earth Day in 1970. The Olmsted Medal is the highest award presented annually by the ASLA to an individual outside... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003

by Storm Cunningham. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, 2002. Hardcover, 341 pages, $29.95

“Restoration is the business and spirit of the twenty-first century.” Storm Cunningham’s new book,

The Restoration Economy,

outlines how industries that focus on restoration—“redeveloping our nations, revitalizing our cities,... Read more

News Analysis

February 1, 2003
Lees Carpets introduced a new and improved backing system at the green building exposition in Austin. Unibond™ RE is certified by the Scientific Certification Systems to contain 20% post-consumer recycled content. Unibond RE represents an improvement over its predecessor Unibond, which has been in use since 1971. Both products have received the... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003
Two educational buildings share

World Architecture magazine’s award for

Green Building of the Year for 2002. The Druk White Lotus School in Ladakh, India (see photo)—designed by Arup and Arup Associates includes the master plan for a small campus, of which parts have been completed. The project uses indigenous materials and passive... Read more

Feature

February 1, 2003
Some 2,500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus made headlines when he proposed that nothing is permanent but change. In his landmark

How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built, modern-day philosopher Stewart Brand translated Heraclitus’s insight into the language of design: “A building is not something you finish. A building... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003

by Avi Friedman. McGraw-Hill, New York, 2002. Hardcover, 271 pages, $45.00

A renowned advocate of flexible housing, Avi Friedman has fleshed out his ideas on adaptability in his recently released book,

The Adaptable House. Friedman begins with the assertion that “A conflict exists between the dynamic nature of people’s lives and the... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003

Muscoe Martin, AIA, past chair of the The American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment, has left his position as principal at the leading green design firm Susan Maxman Architects to join Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) of Philadelphia as a Senior Associate. Founded by Ian McHarg, among others, WRT is a 180-person firm... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 2003

In an effort to provide low-cost, locally appropriate housing while improving Cairo’s air quality, U.S.-based Horizon International is cooperating with the Arab Environment Association to

introduce straw bale building to Egypt. Over 90% of Egypt’s rice straw is currently burned in the fields, contributing to a recurring autumnal black... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 2003
Solar energy has returned to the White House complex. While the White House has kept pretty quiet about it, three solar installations were completed last summer on White House buildings and are now generating renewable power and hot water. Here are the details:

In July and August, three solar energy systems, designed by Steven Strong of Solar... Read more