BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

July 1, 2003

The American Solar Energy Society has named

Ralph Knowles a “Passive Solar Pioneer.” Distinguished Professor Emeritus Knowles has spent the past 40 years at the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture. Among Knowles’ contributions to passive design is the “solar envelope,” a zoning concept that ensures city buildings... Read more

News Analysis

July 1, 2003
Owens Corning and CertainTeed, leading manufacturers of building materials and systems, have joined Masco Contractor Services in sponsoring Environments for Living™, a program that guarantees energy efficiency and comfort in new homes. One among a number of residential energy-guarantee programs (see

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 10), Environments... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003

Applications are now being accepted for the first

Sustainable Design Leadership Awards, sponsored by the International Interior Design Association, the American Institute of Architects Interiors Committee, CoreNet Global, and Tandus™. The Operational Leadership Award is open to any business or organization and the Design Leadership... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003
function pop(URL){

win = window.open(URL, "win", "toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,width=740,height=500");

win.focus();

}

The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) awarded this year’s

Environmental Sensitivity Awards to two architecture firms that specialize in... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003
function pop(URL){

win = window.open(URL, "win", "toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,width=740,height=500");

win.focus();

}

by Leonard R. Bachman; John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, 2003. Hardcover, 479 pages, $75.

Integrated Buildings is an amazing book.... Read more

Product Review

July 1, 2003
We have long been fans of the venturi-effect showerheads made by Energy Technology Laboratories (ETL) (see

EBN

Vol. 11, No. 10 and

Vol. 6, No. 8). We recently discovered another such product—made by Bricor Analytical, Inc. in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While quite different from the ETL products technologically, Bricor... Read more

News Analysis

July 1, 2003

A manufacturing facility built with great green hopes is now spending most of its time making a more conventional product. Great Lakes MDF, LLC has purchased the Lackawanna, New York medium-density fiberboard (MDF) plant formerly owned by The CanFibre Group, Ltd. The plant initially relied on phenol-formaldehyde binders in place of conventional... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003

The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) has developed a voluntary

certification program for installers of photovoltaic (PV) systems. NABCEP plans to hold its first exam on October 25; in order to participate, candidates must complete their applications by July 31. For details or to apply for certification,... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003

The IRS has approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit status for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Until now, USGBC has been a 501(c)(6) “trade association,” but in October 2001 the Board decided to pursue a shift in status. President and CEO Christine Ervin believes the new designation ”will communicate to the public and potential funders that our... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003

In late May 2003, winners of the first annual Green Roof Awards of Excellence were announced during the first national green roofs conference (see page 3). Award recipients and their projects are described below:

•  Katrin Scholz-Barth Consulting,  green roof consultant – Montgomery Park Business Center, Baltimore, Maryland: 30,000 ft2... Read more

Feature

Water in all forms threatens buildings. 

July 1, 2003

I am continually surprised by how little emphasis the green building movement places on building science. As we examine the many priorities of green building—from land-use planning to energy efficiency, material selection, and indoor air quality—the basic science of how we design and build structures to ensure long life and healthy indoor... Read more

News Analysis

June 1, 2003

The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), created last year by members of the carpet industry, government entities, and nonprofit organizations, has released its first annual report on progress toward the goal of diverting 40% of America’s post-consumer carpet from landfills by 2012. As a first step in the ten-year plan, CARE had hoped to... Read more

News Brief

June 1, 2003

SunPower Corporation has announced that their new A-300 crystalline-silicon solar cell converts over one fifth of the sunlight hitting it into electricity. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has verified a

20.4% conversion efficiency for the 125-millimeter, single-crystal A-300 cell, making it likely to become the most efficient... Read more

News Analysis

June 1, 2003

PPG Coil and Extrusion Coatings has released a variant of its Duranar® coatings for metal roofs that contains special pigments to reduce solar gain. With these new “Duranar SPF” coatings, 98% of PPG’s standard colors meet the EPA Energy Star steep-roof threshold of 25% total solar reflectivity, whereas with standard Duranar coatings about half... Read more

News Brief

June 1, 2003

The

University of Cincinnati invites applications for a tenure-track position in the School of Architecture and Interior Design (SAID) in the area of environmental technologies. For further information, contact: David Lee Smith, Professor of Architecture, david.smith@uc.edu, 513-556-5291.

News Brief

June 1, 2003

One hundred thousand homes have earned the Environmental Protection Agency’s

Energy Star® designation. Each home that meets the voluntary criteria uses an average of 30% less energy for heating, cooling, and water heating than a conventional home, saving homeowners about $200 to $400 annually. According to EPA, the program saves... Read more

News Analysis

June 1, 2003
The Mirra chair from Herman Miller, Inc. is the first product designed entirely in accordance with the company’s Design for the Environment protocol, which it developed in partnership with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC (MBDC). Created for Herman Miller by Studio 7.5 Berlin, the chair is attractive and highly functional, in addition to... Read more

Product Review

June 1, 2003

Growing its collection of innovations in the flooring industry, Interface, Inc. has introduced FLOR™, a modular flooring system designed for use in homes. FLOR’s ten product lines represent a variety of fabrics, colors, textures, and patterns. According to Chip DeGrace, InterfaceFLOR’s vice president of marketing, “FLOR bridges hard surface and... Read more

News Brief

June 1, 2003
South Mountain Company, Inc.

, a Martha’s Vineyard design/build firm, seeks a residential architect and/or designer committed to ecological design. For details, visit

www.somoco.com or e-mail John Abrams at jabrams@vineyard.net.

Feature

June 1, 2003
My first experiences with lighting controls weren’t good. In the 1980s, a cousin of mine, knowing that I’d be interested, was showing off the new occupancy sensors he had just installed in his Providence, Rhode Island home. We were sitting in the living room chatting quietly when—you guessed it—the lights went out. Throughout the evening, if one... Read more