On July 8, 2004 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is taking an “administrative action” against DuPont for withholding information the company had as far back as 1981 about risks from its use and disposal of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA—also referred to as C8) at its Washington Works factory in Washington, West... Read more

first Green Building Design Competition for New York City. The competition was open to actual and theoretical projects designed for any specific site within the five boroughs of New York City. Winners were selected from more than 50... Read more

The European Union’s risk assessment of the deca form of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) was released on May 28, 2004, concluding that there is no reason to restrict use of the flame retardant. Nearly ten years in the making, this risk assessment came as a great relief to the chemical industry, which has been faced with rising concerns... Read more

As part of its recently adopted

Green Building Strategy, the Vancouver, British Columbia city council approved a requirement that every new civic building larger than 500 m2 (5,000 ft2) achieve a Gold rating in the recently released LEED for British Columbia (see

EBN

Vol. 13, No. 5).

Steelcase, Inc. has announced its Environmental Partnership Program, enabling companies to resell, refurbish, donate, or recycle used Steelcase office products through a network of recyclers, resellers, and nonprofit organizations. “Today, many companies are not sure what to do with their furniture when it reaches the end of its useful life to... Read more

tidal turbines in New York City’s East River will begin cranking out about 150 kilowatts (kW) of electricity. If all goes as planned, a tidal power farm of 200 to 300 of the 15-foot-tall (4.5 m) turbines will be installed, beginning in the fall of 2005. These will produce about 10 megawatts (MW) of power by 2006, enough... Read more

On July 15, 2004 the California Department of Health Services (DHS) released its “

Standard Practice for the Testing of Volatile Organic Emissions from Various Sources Using Small-Scale Environmental Chambers.” This practice document supersedes the small-scale environmental chamber testing portion of California Specification 01350 and... Read more

EBN

Vol. 8, No. 7), now all the major manufacturers are on board. For low-rise applications, these machine-room-less elevators... Read more

At the June 2004 NeoCon tradeshow in Chicago, Shaw Industries, Inc. announced that it is phasing out its PVC-backed carpet tile. “At the end of the year, we will be exiting PVC entirely,” announced Steve Bradfield, Shaw’s corporate director of environmental affairs. “We’re not leaving PVC because we think it’s a terrible material,” Bradfield... Read more

“The competition goal is simple,” explains the

Green Dollhouse Web site: “Inspire lots of people (big and little) to take steps to make their own homes a little healthier and easier on the environment.” Design professionals and students are encouraged to design and build their own dollhouses for this competition, which was dreamed up by... Read more

Additional research would have revealed that the European Union disagrees with

EBN’s recommended general ban on certain brominated flame retardants (see

EBN

Vol. 13, No. 6)—which, through its generalization, could be dangerous for your readers, other builders, and their customers by reducing fire-safety protections.... Read more

In order to recognize the role design professionals play in determining the energy efficiency of buildings, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have begun

awarding the Energy Star

® label to commercial building designs. “A building design will be eligible for the new designation if the... Read more

® Rating System. The Chicago Standard is intended not to replace LEED but to help designers make the easiest and most effective use... Read more

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) board of directors has announced the recipients of the

2004 Medal and Firm Awards, to be presented during ASLA’s annual meeting in Salt Lake City this November. Some of the winners are listed below; more information is online at www.asla.org.

•Peter W. Walker, FASLA, received... Read more

India’s president, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, inaugurated the CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Center on July 14. The Center became the first Platinum-rated building under LEED

® v.2 in late 2003 (see

EBN

Vol. 12, No. 12). Kalam praised the Center’s achievements and laid out a goal of

reducing the average energy... Read more

The Restoration Economy: The Greatest New Growth Frontier (see review,

EBN

Vol. 12, No. 2), the Revitalization Institute’s mission is “to advance restorative development of communities and... Read more

EBN

Vol. 9, No. 3), touches on all aspects of green design... Read more

Federal Environmental Executive John Howard resigned from his position effective June 11, 2004 to return to Austin, Texas. “It has been a privilege and an honor to have served with so many in working to improve the Federal government’s (and America’s) environmental stewardship,” Howard said in his letter of resignation. “I believe we have made... Read more