President Barack Obama, together with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, announced new energy-efficiency standards for lighting in June 2009. The announcement extends the provisions in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which set standards that would phase out conventional incandescent lamps by 2014 (see

EBN Feb. 2008).

I was initially excited to read about the R-etro System, designed to make exterior insulation retrofit applications easier (see EBN June 2009). After reading the article and checking out the installation details on the manufacturer’s website, however, it looks to me as if the R-etro System addresses some of the easy problems about applying... Read more

Climate and energy policy took a big step forward, according to many environmentalists, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) in June 2009. The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where it will wait until at least September for action.

Christopher Pyke, Ph.D., former director of climate change services at CTG Energetics in Irvine, California, has been named Research Director for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Dr. Pyke has extensive experience designing and implementing strategies for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to dynamic climatic conditions,... Read more

Armstrong World Industries has announced that its Center, Texas, plant has received chain-of-custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). This certification is a requirement for selling FSC-certified products, and it ensures that a facility has procedures in place to track wood from certified forests and avoid confusing it... Read more

Insulation is a critical component of our buildings, and providing high R-values must be a high priority in creating green buildings of nearly all types and sizes.

Toward that end, polystyrene insulation, both extruded (XPS) and expanded (EPS), plays a key role in many energy-efficient green buildings. And it is a key component of... Read more

Polystyrene, in both extruded and expanded forms, is very widely used as rigid insulation in North America and worldwide. In below-grade applications, owing to its good insulation value, superb moisture resistance, strength, performance, and affordability, polystyrene dominates the market.

But a chemical that’s added to polystyrene to... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council just sent out information from a report written by McKinsey and Company about energy efficiency and its role in U.S. mitigation of climate change. Here's what they found:

Starting in the 1970s, following the first energy crisis, major weatherization programs were launched to tighten up American homes. The Weatherization Assistance Program of the U.S. Department of Energy, which focuses on low-... Read more

Problematic drywall imported from China has been making headlines since 2008, when homeowners began complaining about sulfur odors and corrosion of copper wiring. Most of the complaints have come from southern states, where high temperatures and humidity seem to aggravate the problems. The issue has grown to national proportions, spawning a... Read more

Recent updates to the industry standard for thermal comfort in buildings, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 55, will for the first time recognize elevated air speed as a component of thermal comfort, giving building designers and operators the ability to turn up the fans, rather... Read more

As houses get tighter, they becaome less able to 'breathe' on their own -- they need mechanical ventilation. Put another way, energy efficient houses... Read more