Responding to growing international requirements for suppliers to document that their wood comes from legal sources, the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) released a report claiming to validate the legality of North American hardwood sources as a whole. While a trade association promoting hardwood exports might not be the most objective... Read more

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has proposed six addenda to Standard 90.1-2007 that would expand its scope and change how lighting efficiencies are calculated.

GE Consumer and Industrial is seeking approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use the hydrocarbon isobutane in household refrigerators, according to a recent report in

Appliance magazine. Isobutane is neither an ozone-depleting compound nor a greenhouse gas, which sets it apart from the HCFCs and HFCs used in... Read more

To achieve the rating, Gottfried renovated a... Read more

EBN

Vol. 15, No. 12) was recently chosen to provide heating and cooling at 2,000 housing units at Fort Dix/McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. About 600 units are in operation now, with new homes being completed at a rate of 40 each month.

Jack Gafford,... Read more

Recent research published in the journal

Psychological Science gives a boost to the

biophilia hypothesis, which suggests that humans have an innate affinity for nature and that we benefit from exposure to nature—even through images (see

EBN

Vol. 15, No. 7).

Subjects in a University of Michigan study were... Read more

Icynene, maker of the widely used and first open-cell polyurethane spray foam insulation of the same name, has launched a new product with some rapidly renewable content. Icynene LD-R-50 is formulated with a polyol derived from the castor plant—a shrub with two annual growing cycles that thrives on marginal land.

Officials in Portland, Oregon, have proposed a far-reaching green building program that would be the first of its kind in the country.

Can the presence of porches and stoops affect people’s health? Numerous designers, researchers, and authors have explored the connection; Jane Jacobs famously wrote about the benefits of “eyes on the street” and the architectural features that support them. A team led by Scott Brown of the Miami Miller School of Medicine recently published... Read more

A recent review in Environmental Health Perspectives of 41 scientific papers found sparse but suggestive evidence for a connection between phthalate exposure and asthma and allergies. The reviewers examined evidence that phthalates, commonly used as plasticizers in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products, increase the risk of asthma and allergies and... Read more

When NTI founder Kevin Dennison visited western Canada in 1999, he found slab-on-grade houses with air conditioning and heat-recovery ventilation for the summer as well as radiant floor heating for the winter. Looking at all of the separate equipment and the space it required, Dennison wondered, “Why couldn’t we develop a unit that did... Read more

Long before the invention of portland cement, the Romans created impressive concrete structures using lime and a volcanic ash (with properties that were first discovered in Pozzuoli, Italy) that reacted with the lime and hardened the concrete. Coal fly ash, which is the particulate matter collected by pollution-control equipment from... Read more

Cyclists were already in line before... Read more

Continuing in the recent thread of examining various power generation technologies, this week I'll weigh in on nuclear power. I do this against my wife's better judgment, and perhaps out of concern that my columns haven't been generating enough controversy.

Let... Read more

Continuing in the recent thread of examining various power generation technologies, this week I'll weigh in on nuclear power. I do this against my wife's better judgment, and perhaps out of concern that my columns haven't been generating enough controversy.

Let... Read more

Twice each month, BuildingGreen publishes an email news bulletin with current news and product information briefs. Sign up here — it's free. We will never share or sell your email address, and you may unsubscribe at any time.