News Brief
Softcover, 178 pages, $19.95.
Update: (March 29, 2006)New Village Press has posted this book's missing page on its website. To view it, visit www.newvillagepress.net/cover_ecoDesign.html, and click on "Errata page 84/85."
Searching for a master... Read moreNews Brief
Recognizing that “utilizing less hazardous cleaning products in our State facilities and workplaces, and implementing measures to reduce exposure to those products, can minimize harmful impacts to office and custodial workers as well as improve air quality and reduce water and air pollution,” New Jersey Governor Richard Codey signed an... Read more
News Analysis
Vol. 13, No. 1), quite a bit has happened in the area of standardized testing of toilet performance. The Maximum Performance (MaP™) testing that we reported on has been progressing at a rapid pace. Veritec Consulting, Inc., has now tested well over 200 toilet models, and the... Read more
Product Review
News Brief
The Passive Solar Energy Book and a leading advocate for energy efficiency in buildings, has created an organization to amplify his call to action. Architecture 2030 aims to “conduct research and provide information and innovative solutions in the fields of architecture and planning, in an effort to address global... Read more
News Brief
Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vermont, together with ReCycle North of Burlington, Vermont, and Habitat for Humanity, will offer two five-day training courses in April 2006 on building deconstruction and the use of reclaimed building materials in new residential construction. The courses are intended for nonprofit organizations... Read more
News Analysis
On January 4, 2006, the Executive Committee of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) board of directors approved the charter of a Research Committee and appointed its initial five members. This is a core
organizational committee of the Council (as opposed to being a LEED® committee) that focuses on one of the USGBC’s six key goals in... Read more
News Brief
News Analysis
Tarkett AG, the world’s largest manufacturer of resilient flooring, has acquired Johnsonite, a producer of specialty flooring and flooring accessories. Johnsonite, based in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, makes flooring adhesives with low emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), entryway track-off systems, and flooring produced from recycled tires... Read more
Op-Ed
Are you an experienced writer/editor with green building knowledge and excellent research skills? Do you have a knack for distinguishing meaningful information from hype? If so, you might consider joining the editorial team at BuildingGreen, Inc. We need to add a writer to our staff to keep up with our publishing schedule and commitments. The... Read more
News Brief
The Zody™ chair from Haworth, Inc., was granted a 2005 Good Design™ Award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design. The international program recognizes “designers and manufacturers for advancing new and innovative product concepts and originality and for stretching the envelope beyond what is considered standard product and... Read more
News Brief
Centennial College, a community college based in Toronto, Canada, has launched a full-time program in architectural technology that emphasizes green building design and construction. “The three-year program prepares students to work as technologists alongside architects, engineers, builders, contractors, and municipal building departments,”... Read more
News Brief
The Swedish government has set the aggressive goal of eliminating its dependence on fossil fuels by 2020, according to Mona Sahlin, minister for sustainable development. Sweden plans to harness tax credits, research, and large-scale investment in district heating, among other strategies, to wean the country off fossil fuels. Transportation,... Read more
News Analysis
In an effort to capitalize on the brand value of one of its many acquisitions, the financially troubled U.S. Plastic Lumber (USPL) company has been renamed Trimax Building Products, Inc. The rechristening follows the purchase of the company by a private equity firm, American Pacific Financial Corp., according to a January 16, 2006,
... Read more
News Brief
A Report for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative by Gregory Kats, Capital E. Available free at www.cap-e.com. December 2005, 66 pages.
Following up on their influential 2003 report “The Costs and Financial Benefits of Green Buildings” (see “Green Building Pays” inEBN
Vol. 12, No. 11), Greg Kats and his team at Capital E... Read more
News Brief
The American Institute of Architects Committees on Design and the Environment (COD and COTE) are cosponsoring a conference called “The Architecture of Sustainability” and a design competition called “A House for an Ecologist” (formerly known as eco:dwell) to explore sustainability as an architectural agenda. Judges for the competition are Peter... Read more
News Brief
ASTM International has accepted four new standards addressing green roofs:
Standard Test Method for Saturated Water Permeability of Granular Drainage Media [Falling-Head Method] for Green Roof Systems, Standard Practice for Determination of Dead and Live Loads Associated with Green Roof Systems, Standard Test Method for Water Capture... Read more
News Brief
The Building Envelope Institute, a nonprofit professional association based in Cary, North Carolina, was created in October 2005 “to serve the common interests of individuals involved in issues related to the performance of building envelope systems.” Details, including a list of the organization’s officers, directors, and 13 founding members,... Read more
Product Review
News Brief
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reached a settlement with DuPont over the company’s alleged withholding of information about the health risks of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, also referred to as C8), which is used to make Teflon® and other products (see
EBN
Vol. 13, No. 3 and
Vol. 13, No. 8). The... Read more

