, former editor-in-chief of

Professional Builder magazine, reportedly lost his job after writing an editorial taking issue with the National Association of Homebuilder’s (NAHB) anti-environment stance. Healthy homes builder and author John Bower, writing on the Green-building e-mail discussion group, notes that Carper was... Read more

I read with interest your July/August issue (Vol. 6, No. 7). I was particularly drawn to your article on Louisiana-Pacific’s new siding line, SmartStart.

While you were accurate in noting that MDI binder is more resistant to moisture and swelling than the competitors’ resin, I would like to comment on your portrayal... Read more

Social awareness and recognition of efforts to reduce car-dependence are evident in the

1997 Builder’s Choice Design and Planning Awards, sponsored by Buildermagazine and the American Institute of Architects' Housing Committee. The "Project of the

Year" is a community of mixed housing types in downtown Foster City, California,... Read more

Interface, Inc.’s subsidiary

Interface Architectural Resources and Herman Miller are forming a joint venture to produce integrated office interiors. The carpet company and the furniture manufacturer will design products to work together, offering more design and layout options for users. Both companies have been leaders in green... Read more

EBN Product Catalog

Jump start (or enhance) your green products files with the new

Environmental Building News Product Catalog, a joint venture of E Build, Inc. and What’s Working of Boulder, Colorado.

The

Product Catalog is a showcase and listing of green building products in 3-ring binder format... Read more

3rd edition, by John Bower. 1997, The Healthy House Institute, 430 N. Sewall Rd., Bloomington, IN 47408. Paperback, 650 pages, $23.95.

by John and Lynn Marie Bower. 1997, The... Read more

In 1965, 54% of the world’s

registered cars were in the United States. By 1995 this number had increased by 80% to 135 million, but our share of the world’s total had dropped to 28%. Source: U.S. Department of Energy

Transportation Energy Databook, Edition 17 (August 1997).

A new 20-page fact sheet on insulation, published by the U.S. Department of Energy, recommends that when steel framing is used for new construction, a layer of rigid foam sheathing be installed

in all U.S. climates. The

Insulation Fact Sheet includes a map of the U.S. showing nine different insulation zones, which factor in both... Read more

by Urban Ecology, Inc., 405 14th Street, Suite 900, Oakland, CA 94612; 510/251-6332, 510/251-2117 (fax), ueblueprint@igc.apc.org (e-mail). 1996, paperback, 144 pages, $27.

Blueprint for a Sustainable Bay Area is... Read more

King County, Washington is among the more aggressive counties in the use of recycled-content products. The

Recycled Product Procurement Program’s 1997 Annual Report provides an overview of recent accomplishments. Among building-related products, the County used 20,500 tons (18,600 tonnes) of aggregate made from recycled concrete with a... Read more

As we note in our feature article, certification of well-managed forests and the products made from them has gone a long way towards raising the level of debate about forest management practices around the world. In terms of changes to on-the-ground practices, however, the impact of this movement is still... Read more

The halogen torchiere light fixtures that have been sweeping the lighting world over the past few years are bad news. Not only do they have about the lowest usable-light efficacy (lumens per watt) of any common lighting source—their widespread use in recent years has erased all of the energy savings achieved to date through the use of compact... Read more

I read with great interest your article titled “New Life for Old Carpets” in the June issue (

EBN

Vol. 6, No. 6). It was one of the more comprehensive and accurate articles on the subject of carpet recycling.

However, I would like to point out that AlliedSignal does have a very active... Read more

The

1997 Architecture + Energy Awards from the American Institute of Architecture/Portland Chapter have gone to:

•Pacific Gas Transmission Building in Portland, for energy efficiency;

•Widmer Bros. Brewing Co. Expansion 2, for reuse and renewal;

•... Read more

For over six years, a committee of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has been working to revise the society’s Standard 62-1989, “Ventilation for Acceptable Air Quality.” While the public review draft of the revision was widely felt by practicing engineers to be a big... Read more

A new North American organization,

The Cohousing Network, was officially established on September 21 at the third North American Cohousing Conference in Seattle. The Cohousing Network will take over many of the activities of regional associations, such as the Rocky Mountain CoHousing Association. It will produce

CoHousing: The... Read more

Building products database on CD-ROM for Windows™. The Associa-tion for Environment Conscious Build-ing, Nant-y-Garreg, Saron, Llandysul, Carmarthenshire, SA44 5EJ, UK; 01559 370908 (phone), buildgreen@ aol.com (e-mail). Requires Windows 3.1 or later, 8 MB RAM. £31.50 postpaid (about $19.50).