BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

December 1, 2002
Environmental Building News

is proud to join the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and Kaiser Permanente in receipt of

Leadership Awards from the Healthy Building Network. Winners were selected for their “actions that have accelerated the transition to... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002

Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century,” the National Building Museum’s newest exhibition, will open in Washington, D.C. on January 17. Big & Green will explore green architecture from design, historical, and technical perspectives and profile roughly 50 green projects from around the world. The... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002

“Evaluation of LEED™ Using Life Cycle Assessment Methods” by Chris W. Scheuer and Gregory A. Keoleian, Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan. Report prepared for Barbara Lippiatt, Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology. Document #NIST GCR 02-836, 157 pages, 1.8 MB file available... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002

The

Denver Metro Home Builders Association recognized five members of its Built Green program in October for their achievements in green building:

Russel Burton won an Award of Excellence and a variety of judges awards for Miller Burton’s “Roaring Fork” home, which demonstrated a residential-scale fuel cell during this year’s... Read more

News Analysis

December 1, 2002
Of all new commercial construction projects in the nation in 2002, according to the U.S. Green Building Council, over 4% by floor area are registered for certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) Rating System. Among the 18 projects already certified under LEED version 2.0, 8 are rated Gold and 3 are rated... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002

Fifty schools throughout the state of New York will receive photovoltaic panels, thanks to a grant through the

Energy Smart Schools Program of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The PV arrays, each with a peak capacity of 2 kW, will be accompanied by curricular materials to help teachers explain the... Read more

News Analysis

December 1, 2002
The World Green Building Council (WGBC) was formally launched by its nine founding nations on November 11. Representatives from Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, and the United States gathered in Austin to ratify the formal constitution of what they hope will serve as the United Nations of Green Building Councils.

... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) is seeking applications for its

2003 Northeast Green Building Awards. The awards are open to new construction or renovations completed after January 1, 1998 in the northeastern United States. Submissions are due February 11. Details are online at www.nesea.org/buildings/2003design... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is seeking applicants for its 2003 National Green Building Awards, to be announced at the National Green Building Conference March 30 through April 1, 2003 in Baltimore, Maryland. Applications are due December 31. For more information, call 888-602-HOME or visit www.nahbrc.org.

 

News Brief

November 1, 2002

Torrance, California will soon be home to a 501 kW rooftop PV system. The array, to be installed by PowerLight Corporation, will bedeck 52,000 ft2 (4,800 m2) of the Toyota Motor Sales USA headquarters. Details are available online at

www.powerlight.com.

News Brief

November 1, 2002

Specialized, energy-intensive lighting techniques can benefit seniors, according to the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Researchers at the LRC developed a set of

lighting principles for older adults and put them to the test at two assisted-living facilities. The results of the study... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002

International Forest Products (Interfor) surprised Canadian wilderness advocates in October with the announcement that they would

stop logging the Elaho Valley of British Columbia, about 125 miles (200 km) north of Vancouver. The valley is home to the spotted owl, possibly Canada’s most endangered species. Fewer than 25 breeding pairs... Read more

News Analysis

November 1, 2002
The onslaught of wildfires in the western United States in recent years has persuaded the California Office of the State Fire Marshal to incorporate new fire performance requirements into the building codes of homes encroaching on California wildlands. The task of testing how roofs, walls, windows, and decks respond to fire has fallen to the... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $1.5 million in grants to 30 entities in 19 states as part of the

Million Solar Roofs Initiative. The new partnerships will combine grant money with private funds to support solar energy through education, the development of financing options and building codes, and construction. Details can be... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002

A Sunoco gas station in Markham, Ontario has opened

Canada’s first solar car wash. The Canadian government and Suncor Energy Products Inc. are teaming up to convert standard car-wash stations to use solar systems similar to residential solar water heaters. Car-wash stations use an average 69 gallons (260 l) of hot water—roughly the... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002

Capital E is seeking

case studies documenting specific benefits of green buildings, as part of a contract with California’s Department of General Services and other agencies to analyze the full costs and benefits of green buildings. Documented examples of benefits that are not always recognized, such as enhanced occupant health,... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002

Kane Hardwood, a Collins Company, has been awarded the

National Hardwood Lumber Association’s (NHLA) Forest Stewardship Award. Kane was recognized for its achievements in public education, political involvement, private landowner education, forest stewardship, and efficient resource utilization. Kane, which owns and manages over 125,000... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002

The

Clean Water Act celebrated its 30th birthday on October 18. The law has enjoyed bipartisan support and has accomplished much to protect America’s water resources. Since its inception in 1972, for example, the act has slowed the rate of wetland loss by 75% and doubled the number of households served by sewage treatment plants.... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002

Land surface changes may be as much to blame for

global climate change as greenhouse gases, according to research by Roger Pielke Sr., professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, and his colleagues. The study, published in a recent issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London and released by... Read more

Feature

November 1, 2002
Like many communities, our town of Brattleboro was faced with a huge problem in its existing high school complex. The sprawling, dilapidated, 230,000 ft2 (21,000 m2) school for 1,600 students—actually a high school, middle school, and career education center all in one—was built in five stages between 1951 and 1991. It is a health hazard, the... Read more