The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) board of directors has set a goal of halving the amount of fossil fuels needed to construct and operate buildings by 2010 and reducing that amount a further 10% in each of the following five years, which would result in a 70% reduction from current levels by 2015. The ambitious goal was set in one of... Read more

“We should view the environment as [Hurricane] Katrina in slow motion.” With that statement, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., CEO Lee Scott summarized his newfound understanding of ecological connections, following a year of listening to Wal-Mart’s critics. In his October 2005 speech, Scott signaled what appears to be a remarkable culture shift for a... Read more

Designing & Building with FSC Award to Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm, for its LEED® Certified building at 30 Hudson... Read more

The Emerging Green Builders chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council announced the winners of their

Natural Talent Design Competition at Greenbuild 2005. This year’s competition, a partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, featured two categories: New Construction and Existing Buildings. The first place winners were:... Read more

The Enterprise Foundation, a national nonprofit leading the charge to build green affordable housing (see

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Vol. 14, No. 3), will become Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., as of January 1, 2006. The organization is online at www.enterprisecommunity.org.

The magazine

Scientific American has recognized the U.S. Green Building Council, based in Washington, D.C., along with the architecture firms FxFowle, P.C. (formerly Fox & Fowle), based in New York City; William McDonough+Partners, based in Charlottesville, Virginia; and Foster and Partners, based in London, among its annual “... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the winners of the fourth annual Leadership Awards program in conjunction with its Greenbuild conference in Atlanta. Designed to “recognize outstanding individuals and organizations that signify vision, leadership, and commitment to the evolution of green building design and construction,” the... Read more

TimberSIL™, the innovative, nontoxic wood-treatment process from Timber Treatment Technologies, LLC, that we reviewed in October 2004 (see

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Vol. 13, No. 10) and recognized as a 2004 Top-10 Green Product (see

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Vol. 13, No. 12), will be distributed nationally by Huttig Building Products, Inc., of St. Louis,... Read more

On November 8, 2005, Scientific Certification Systems, Inc., of Emeryville, California launched its Indoor Advantage program, which appears aimed to compete directly with Greenguard® (see EBN

Vol. 12, No. 10) in certifying products and materials for their low indoor air emissions. The program includes two levels: Indoor Advantage™ and... Read more

In the late 1990s I was part of a team hired to consult on a model green elementary school for McKinney, Texas. The kickoff workshop for this project included the architects (a firm specializing in school design), our team of consultants, and teachers and other staff from the school district. As the workshop began, participants couched all... Read more

Designing a Sustainable and Secure World Awards, presented by Global Green USA, the U.S. arm of Green Cross International. The

Hearst Corporation was recognized in the “green building design” category for commissioning the... Read more

Winners of the second Excellence in Sustainable Design and Development Awards were announced in October 2005 during the Integrated Design/Integrated Development (IDID) Conference, held in Crawford Notch, New Hampshire. The winners were the

NRG Systems Offices and Manufacturing Facility in Hinesburg, Vermont, designed by William Maclay... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) codified new efficiency standards for residential appliances and commercial equipment that were established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (see

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Vol. 14, No. 9). New requirements for small products, such as exit signs, take effect in 2006; requirements for larger appliances, such as... Read more

The Public Utility Commission of Nevada recently approved Solargenix Energy’s amendments to power purchase agreements with Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company, clearing the way for Solargenix to complete the development of Nevada Solar One, the third-largest solar power plant in the world and the largest solar-electric power... Read more

The Home Depot Foundation announced the winners of its inaugural

Awards of Excellence for Affordable Housing Built Responsibly, “in recognition of exemplary projects providing affordable housing that is efficient, durable, safe, and healthy,” during the U.S. Green Building Council Greenbuild conference. The Home Depot Foundation is... Read more

In an announcement that sent shockwaves through the green building industry, the Dow Chemical Company announced on November 15, 2005, that Dow BioProducts, a division of Dow Canada, is shutting down. The Dow BioProducts plant in Elie, Manitoba, will stop producing its Woodstalk™ brand of products on December 8, according to Myra Dunn, the... Read more

Hurricane Katrina and a long list of other natural disasters over the years—from the Northeast’s Blizzard of 1978 that killed 17 people and left tens of thousands of people without heat and water, to the Chicago heat wave that killed more than 700 people during a one-week period in 1995, to the January 1998 ice storm in Eastern Canada that... Read more