Plans for construction of the world’s largest PV manufacturing plant—a 25 MW polycrystalline facility to be built in Gelsenkirchen, Germany—were announced on November 4, 1997. The plant will be built by Royal Dutch Shell, Pilkington Solar International, and Bayer Solar and is expected to be completed by mid-1999. This news comes on the heels of... Read more

New York and California have recently passed legislation allowing the use of unvented gas appliances, according to the November 1997 issue of

Energy Design Update (EDU). The legislation in both states has been signed by the governors, but will not go into effect until after review by the state health agencies. New York passed similar... Read more

Cellulose insulation should now be easier to specify in wall cavities with the release of a new “Standard Practice for the Installation of Sprayed Cellulosic Wall Cavity Insulation” from the Cellulose Industry Manufacturers Association. Until now each manufacturer had its own guidelines, varying in length and quality, according to the December... Read more

The widely used plasticizer DEHP (di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate) might be causing asthma, according to a recent study by Norwegian and Danish scientists published in the September 1997 issue of

Environmental Health Perspectives. DEHP is used extensively as a plasticizer in PVC building products. Vinyl sheet flooring, for example, contains... Read more

Your July/August cover article (EBN

Vol. 6, No. 7), “Residential Siding Options,” characterizes vinyl siding as “inexpensive, easy to install, virtually maintenance-free, and generally quite durable.” My members, producers of vinyl siding and suppliers to our industry, are pleased that

EBN recognizes these important benefits of... Read more

Roughly four billion pounds (1.8 billion kg) of old carpeting are landfilled each year. Comprised of different materials—nylon, polyester, latex backing, etc.—the stuff is inherently difficult to reprocess back into carpet (see

EBN

Vol. 6, No. 6). So how ‘bout simply shredding the stuff and turning it into a fiber insulation... Read more

Interface, Inc., Atlanta, GA, November 1997. Copies available at no cost by contacting the company at 770/437-6810. Oversized paperback with the cover printed on a distinctive recycled banana fiber stock, 34 pages.

Interface Sustainability Report is a different type of corporate report. Much more than an environmental progress report... Read more

As we begin the new year, there is a sense of optimism that green building is on the upswing. There aren’t any real surveys to point to, but you could “feel” the tremendous energy at the string of green building conferences last fall. The environment is back in the mainstream press. Oil companies are admitting that there is an end in sight for... Read more

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a recent

New York Times poll found that a majority of Americans believe that measures to alleviate climate change will actually help the economy and save money. This is in marked contrast to the message being delivered “by polluting energy industries and their puppets in... Read more

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. has sold its Fiberbond gypsum panel product to USG, and has put a number of other divisions, including Nature Guard Roofing Shakes, on the auction block. These sales are part of a large-scale restructuring initiative intended to focus the company more strongly on building products with a national market, according to... Read more

The design firm Conger Fuller Architects of Aspen, Colorado has taken a unique approach to addressing resource consumption of its residential building projects. At the end of 1997 the company donated enough money to the Oregon Forest Resources Trust to replenish 6.5 acres of trees—the amount they calculated were used to build the houses they... Read more

Agriboard Industries’ widely publicized R-values of its compressed-straw panels—R-14 (RSI-2.5 for 43⁄8”-thick (110 mm) panels and R-28 (RSI-4.9) for its 77⁄8”-thick (200 mm) panels—are more than 55% inflated according to unpublished information EBN has obtained. In an article on straw as a building material published in May 1995 (EBN Vol. 4, No... Read more

by Jane Holtz Kay. Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, 1997. Hardback, 418 pages, $27.50.

Asphalt Nation is a powerful book—intense, eye-opening, depressing, scary. Very simply, the book is a searing indictment of the automobile. Page after page explains how automobiles are killing and maiming us, inflicting untold damage on our... 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

About the time you receive this, the

EBN staff will be settling into our new Brattleboro digs. We’ve outgrown the space above Alex’s garage and are moving to one of several renovated industrial buildings that once housed the world-renowned Estey Organ Company. Our corporate name has also been changed from West River... 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

As Greenstone Industries and Louisiana-Pacific did in the cellulose insulation industry, U.S. Plastic Lumber (USPL) is now buying up local manufacturers and creating the first truly national brand in recycled plastic lumber. Since acquiring Earth Care Global Holdings, Inc. in March 1996, USPL has been... 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