A team led by CTG Energetics, Inc., of Irvine, California was selected by the California Department of General Services (DGS) to develop a database of

environmentally preferable building materials for schools. Also on the team are BuildingGreen, Inc., Scientific Certification Systems, Inc., and Green River Data Analysis. A working group... Read more

Governor George Pataki thrilled the environmental community in January with his announcement that within the next ten years, 25% of New York’s electricity will come from renewable sources. Although 17% of the state’s electricity is already renewable (mostly from hydroelectric sources), Pataki’s announcement means financing for the construction... Read more

Director of Online Services. Jim has degrees in architecture and business management, ran a small design-build firm for 13 years, and has managed projects for several Internet technology companies. He contributed greatly to the content quality of our Web site when... Read more

New York State’s Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) is offering $1 million for development and demonstration of

innovative heating and cooling technologies for residential and commercial buildings in the state. NYSERDA expects to give out multiple awards of up to $250,000 each to support new technologies or... Read more

by Daniel D. Chiras. Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River Junction, VT, 2002. Softcover, $29.95

The Solar House... Read more

EBN

Vol... Read more

Students, faculty, and practicing architects from across Canada gathered in Montreal last August to discuss

how architecture can address environmental concerns, how sustainable design is integrated into various architecture programs, and how those programs can more effectively collaborate on such issues. To get involved, contact Ray... Read more

Project submittal is now underway for the annual American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Green Projects competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The competition is intended to recognize projects that integrate the best practices of sustainable design into appropriate and beautiful... Read more

How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built, modern-day philosopher Stewart Brand translated Heraclitus’s insight into the language of design: “A building is not something you finish. A building... Read more

During the ill-fated January flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia, astronauts tested a

water-mist technology for fighting fires that may prove an effective replacement for ozone-depleting halons. Water droplets 20–40 microns in size encountered a small flame in the gravity-free environment, an essential experiment for learning more... Read more

The Honorable Gaylord A. Nelson was awarded the

American Society of Landscape Architects’ (ASLA) Olmsted Medal in January. Nelson championed environmental legislation as a U.S. Senator (D-WI) from 1963 to 1981, and founded Earth Day in 1970. The Olmsted Medal is the highest award presented annually by the ASLA to an individual outside... Read more

Environmental Building News has been honored with a Silver Award in a recent competition sponsored by The Newsletter on Newsletters. EBN was recognized for its “overall excellence—superior editorial content enhanced by appropriate design and typography … and photographic and printing quality.”

Four social-justice organizations recently pooled their efforts to author a report, released in October, titled “Air of Injustice: African Americans & Power Plant Pollution.” The study, a sobering crash course in environmental justice, explains health threats associated with coal-fired power plants, lays out why people of color are... Read more

by Storm Cunningham. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, 2002. Hardcover, 341 pages, $29.95

The Restoration Economy,

outlines how industries that focus on restoration—“redeveloping our nations, revitalizing our cities,... Read more

World Architecture magazine’s award for

Green Building of the Year for 2002. The Druk White Lotus School in Ladakh, India (see photo)—designed by Arup and Arup Associates includes the master plan for a small campus, of which parts have been completed. The project uses indigenous materials and passive... Read more

Muscoe Martin, AIA, past chair of the The American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment, has left his position as principal at the leading green design firm Susan Maxman Architects to join Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) of Philadelphia as a Senior Associate. Founded by Ian McHarg, among others, WRT is a 180-person firm... Read more

Beginning this month, ecological design proponents will discuss their experiences in the interface of human well-being, building design, technology, and nature through an e-mail format. “

BioInspire” will feature the work of a different guest essayist each month; Judith Heerwagen, Senior Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory... Read more

Those of us who drive diesel vehicles or heat our homes and businesses with heating oil enjoy the savings this fuel provides—I’ve driven over 800 miles (1,300 km) on a single tank of diesel fuel in my Volkswagen Passat TDI station wagon—but some of us are not so thrilled about the pollutants emitted by that fuel. Diesel fuel and heating oil... Read more