The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has been awarded the fourth annual Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology. Named after the founder of Turner Construction Company, a corporate sponsor of USGBC’s LEED® Rating System, the Turner Prize each year recognizes an invention, an innovative methodology, or exceptional... Read more

As of September 1, 2005, all of Potlatch Corporation’s 1.5 million acres (600,00 ha) of forestland, located in Idaho, Arkansas, Oregon, and Minnesota, has earned certification according to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards. The certification of 319,000 acres (130,000 ha) in Minnesota, along with chain-of-custody certification of a... Read more

Johnson Controls, Inc., an industry leader in control systems for heating, cooling, and ventilation equipment, and York International Corporation, a leading manufacturer of heating and cooling equipment, announced in August 2005 that Johnson Controls would acquire York. “The transaction will enable us to become a single source of integrated... Read more

Green engineering firm Keen Engineering has signed a letter of intent to join the professional design and consulting firm Stantec. “Joining Stantec will accelerate our vision of being a top-tier integrated building design firm promoting sustainable development,” says Keen president and CEO Kevin Hydes. According to Stantec president and CEO... Read more

Zero-energy has become a buzzword of the green building movement, used in advertising slogans, conference presentations, and technical papers. Despite the excitement over the phrase, however, we lack a common understanding of just what zero-energy means. And despite proclaimed achievability, few if any buildings can demonstrate that they in... Read more

The protocol for testing the amount of lead that leaches into water from fixtures, valves, and other plumbing components is inadequate, according to a research team from Virginia Tech and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act, amended in 1996, bans new devices containing pure lead pipe, leaded solders, and... Read more

Responding to feedback from users about their experiences with LEED®, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has initiated a high-level “LEED refinement process.” In the spring of 2005 the Council commissioned a study from USGBC founder David Gottfried about how to improve LEED. More recently, Council board members, LEED committee members,... Read more

Air Quality Sciences, Inc. (AQS) has expanded its product evaluation services to include commercial cleaning products and processes. “The very products and processes that are used to keep indoor environments clean may also contribute to indoor pollution,” says AQS, pointing out that the synergistic effects of mixing various cleaners can be... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) launched its year-long pilot LEED® for Homes (LEED-H) rating system in early August 2005. During the pilot phase, regional program providers will select pilot projects and verify that they meet the rating system’s requirements. Homebuilders interested in participating in the pilot can submit an... Read more

Eileen Collins, commander of the August 2005 space shuttle mission, drew attention to Earth’s environment during a conversation from space with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and other Japanese officials. “Sometimes you can see how there is erosion, and you can see how there is deforestation. It’s very widespread in some parts of the... Read more

Sharper Image Corp. has paid Consumers Union (CU), publisher of Consumer Reports, $525,000 to cover attorneys fees and other costs, ending a lawsuit against the nonprofit organization. Sharper Image sued CU for product disparagement after Consumer Reports described Sharper Image’s Ionic Breeze® Quadra air cleaner as ineffective in its October... Read more

As of September 1, 2005, Green Building Services will no longer be a division of Portland General Electric (which, in turn, is owned by the bankrupt Enron 
Corporation), but will be an independent, employee-owned company. The new company will continue with its current work, including consulting on LEED projects, reviewing LEED submissions for... Read more

Jessica Boehland, who has been with BuildingGreen since the fall of 2001—she joined us as an intern fresh out of Oberlin College and then moved through the ranks of associate editor and senior editor—has just been promoted to managing editor. In this role, along with continuing her research and writing for

EBN, she will manage the... Read more

green buildings, significantly more money may be spent... Read more

In an online editorial, EBN Executive Editor Alex Wilson calls the new Energy Policy Act a "colossal failure."

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