BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

May 1, 2005
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has selected eight

Green Projects and one

Special Recognition from among more than 60 entries. This year’s jury included Bob Berkebile, FAIA, of Berkebile Nelson Immerschuh McDowell (BNIM) Architects; Daniel Nall, FAIA, of Flack & Kurtz, Inc.; Henry Siegel, FAIA, of Siegel & Strain... Read more

News Analysis

May 1, 2005
Heather Winters, owner and president of AC Lighting Design in Coolidge, Arizona, is passionate about cleaning up light pollution. “It just makes sense, even for people who are not astronomers,” she told

EBN. “These are things that the average Joe can connect with: ‘Hey, my neighbor’s lights are blazing into my window,’ or ‘I’d like to go out... Read more

News Brief

May 1, 2005

U.S. net imports of petroleum reached a record level in 2004, coming in at 57.8% of all petroleum used, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy. Just over 19% of those imports came from the Persian Gulf countries. EIA is online at www.eia.doe.gov.

News Brief

May 1, 2005
by John Abrams; Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, VT, 2005; 328 pages, $27.50, hardcover

South Mountain Company, cofounded by EBN advisory board member John Abrams, has been a pioneer in democratizing the workplace. The Martha’s Vineyard design-build firm, founded in 1975, became an employee-owned company in 1987. Not only is... Read more

News Brief

May 1, 2005

The North Carolina State Energy Office named Raleigh-based Innovative Design, Inc.,

North Carolina’s Energy Champion in March 2005. Led by Michael Nicklas, FAIA, Innovative Design has been incorporating active and passive solar design, energy efficiency, and other green features into its buildings since its beginnings in 1977. More... Read more

Feature

May 1, 2005
Building materials have undergone a breakneck evolution in the past century. Standard dimensions and shapes, predictable qualities, and manufactured precision make it quicker and easier to design and construct new buildings with laser-flat walls, straight and sharp corners, and glass-smooth floors. For most people, the more crisp, precise, and... Read more

News Brief

May 1, 2005
The Boulder Community Foothills Hospital, designed by Boulder Associates, Inc., and OZ Architecture, has been given the

Vista Award for excellence in the design and construction of environmentally sustainable healthcare facilities from the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE). The Boulder Community Foothills Hospital became the... Read more

News Brief

May 1, 2005
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has dropped a pending requirement that only certified contractors using workers trained in lead-safe practices be allowed to remodel or renovate buildings constructed before 1978, when lead paint was banned. Voluntary compliance is more cost-effective, especially in light of the decentralized nature... Read more

News Brief

May 1, 2005
The Green Dollhouse Project has announced the winners in its competition “to build dollhouses that would inspire children and adults to make their homes a little greener.” The 26 entries were judged by two criteria: “Are they ‘dishy doll dwellings’ that hold up to active play and delight both children and adults?” and “Do they offer ‘great green... Read more

News Analysis

May 1, 2005
In March 2005, Harvard University launched a Green Building Loan Fund. This $3 million fund for new construction projects is modeled on an existing fund that supports retrofits and renovations—the Green Campus Loan Fund. Both are revolving funds that provide capital for investments in energy and resource efficiency and get repaid by claiming a... Read more

News Brief

April 1, 2005
The Building Materials Reuse Association (formerly the Used Building Materials Association, see

EBN

Vol. 13, No. 3) is seeking presentation proposals for its upcoming conference, Building Materials Reuse and Recycling: Decon ’05. The conference will be held November 7 and 8, 2005, in Atlanta, just before the U.S. Green Building Council’... Read more

News Analysis

April 1, 2005
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has begun awarding pre-certification through the pilot program of the LEED® Rating System for Core and Shell Development, which began accepting applications in late 2003. In recognition that LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations (LEED-NC) does not apply to most speculative office, retail, or mixed-... Read more

News Brief

April 1, 2005

The Marco Island City Council voted four to two in March 2005 to ban artificial turf, in response to a dispute between homeowner Ed Ehlen and his neighbors (see

EBN

Vol. 14, No. 2). While Ehlen argued that his synthetic lawn’s water savings made it environmentally friendly, the city council countered that the lawn’s rubber... Read more

Feature

April 1, 2005
To those of us entrenched in the green building world the benefits seem obvious. Why would anyone choose to build in a way that isn’t comfortable, healthy, and energy efficient? In the process of designing and building green, however, we keep running into others who are not yet as convinced. For those situations, it’s useful to be able to spell... Read more

News Brief

April 1, 2005

With the March 2005 approval of Resolution 6644, Scottsdale, Arizona, became the first city in the nation to require that all new city-owned buildings achieve a LEED® Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The resolution applies to buildings of any size, as long as the green features have an anticipated payback period... Read more

News Analysis

April 1, 2005

The third-party certifier Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) confirmed in March 2005 that Owens Corning has increased the average recycled content of its fiberglass insulation from 30% to 35%. The insulation now includes 9% post-consumer and 26% post-industrial recycled content. (For more information about insulation, see

EBN

... Read more

News Brief

April 1, 2005
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has approved a $70,000, 15-month study of the effects of noise on productivity. “Indoor background noise can dramatically impact occupants by causing annoyance, affecting productivity, hindering speech communication, impacting sleep, and degrading overall... Read more

Product Review

April 1, 2005
Cooling towers dissipate heat through evaporation, using large thermal transfer areas wetted by recirculating water. They often provide the most cost-effective option for removing heat generated in manufacturing, power generation, and large, refrigerant-based air-conditioning systems; but the combination of heat, expansive moist areas, and... Read more

News Analysis

April 1, 2005

At press time, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire was expected within days to sign into law a bill passed on March 30, 2005, by the Washington State legislature requiring Silver-level certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® Rating System for all major construction projects built with public funds. Executive orders and... Read more

News Brief

April 1, 2005
One year after the Kresge Foundation announced its Green Building Initiative (see

EBN

Vol. 13, No. 1), the foundation has released new guidelines for the grant program. These new guidelines reflect the foundation’s two goals for the Initiative: to help nonprofit organizations without an explicitly green agenda meet their facility needs... Read more