This press release just came through; sounds like it will be a pretty great resource. It's not up yet though — check it out in a few days.

The Certified Green Dealer (CGD) program, launched in January 2008, educates and certifies retailers selling green building materials. To become certified, a retailer must have three-quarters of its salespeople watch eight online videos and pass a test on basic green building topics such as mold, insulation, and air-sealing.

With an $18.8 billion transaction, two giants in the chemical industry have merged. Dow Chemical has agreed to acquire smaller company Rohm and Haas, which has found a niche in the specialty coatings and materials market. According to Dow, the two companies share several synergies, particularly in the coatings and biocides divisions, that could... Read more

As part of Utah’s effort to reduce its energy use by 20% by 2015, most state employees are moving to a four-day work week as of August 2008. About 17,000 people—80% of state workers—are working from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The State expects to save about $3 million in energy costs annually by closing offices on Fridays, and... Read more

Last week's column addressed cellulose insulation, which is the greenest and one of the most effective insulation materials available. But it isn't always practical or affordable to install cellulose. To insulate walls with cellulose, it's usually necessary to hire an insulation contractor, and if the job is very small--bumping out and... Read more

Insulation is our number-one line of defense against high heating costs, and my favorite type of insulation is cellulose. Along with its effectiveness at slowing heat flow, cellulose insulation is a green product--made mostly out of an abundant waste product: old newspaper.

Most... Read more

There is no component of a home more important in minimizing energy costs than insulation. Insulation is the material used in walls, ceilings, roofs, and foundations that slows the flow of heat.

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Property management and real estate investment firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) acquired ECD Energy and Environment Canada in July 2008. Toronto-based ECD was responsible for launching Green Globes, a program that aims to compete with the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Rating System (see

EBN

Vol. 14, No. 3). The acquisition... Read more

In May 2008 the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that it would be outsourcing LEED certification to the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) and, through GBCI, to independent certification bodies (see EBN Vol. 17, No. 6). USGBC has now named the ten companies that will be certifying LEED buildings beginning in January 2009... Read more

San Francisco officials hope to lead the nation in the installation of rooftop photovoltaic systems by having 10,000 systems in place within a decade. (About 770 systems are currently installed.) The City’s Board of Supervisors has approved $3 million per year for ten years to provide taxable incentive payments to residents and businesses... Read more