Lighting for Tomorrow, organized by the American Lighting Association, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, has officially launched its 2005 Design and Technology Competition. The competition is designed “to stimulate the market for high-efficiency residential lighting fixtures” and “to increase market... Read more

NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines. Austin, Texas, homebuilder Ray Tonjes, chair of NAHB’s Green Building Subcommittee, presented the Guidelines as “a milestone in our efforts to provide safe,... Read more

Boosting the rate of recycling in this country and increasing the use of recycled material in building products has remained an uphill challenge for one primary reason: we undervalue energy and virgin resources. Leading-edge “green” companies that strive to maximize use of recycled content do so for many reasons: because it helps them meet... Read more

In December 2004, the nonprofit Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability approved version 2.0 of the Unified Sustainable Textile Standard, designed “to provide a market-based definition for sustainable textile, establish performance requirements for public health and environment, and address the triple bottom line (economic,... Read more

The member nations of the European Union (EU) have begun trading the right to emit carbon dioxide (CO

2), a global-warming gas and the chief culprit in climate change. The Emissions Trading Directive, begun in a pilot phase on January 1, 2005, was planned as a keystone in the EU’s bid to comply with the Kyoto Protocol. Industry critics... Read more

Cartoonist Scott Adams has announced the completion of Dilbert’s Ultimate House (DUH), an online, virtual Silicon Valley home for his most famous character. DUH was created by Heartwood Studios, a 3D animation and multimedia studio, with suggestions from more than 3,000 Dilbert fans and energy consultation from Pacific Gas & Electric. The... Read more

by Robert H. Falk and G. Bradley Guy, 2004. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-150, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin. 113 pages, softcover.

Developed by the USDA Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in cooperation with the Powell Center for Construction and Environment at the University of Florida,... Read more

Following its July 2004 declaration of Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see EBN

Vol. 13, No. 9), U.S. Plastic Lumber (USPL) has announced that it will discontinue its composite lumber product lines and focus exclusively on 100%-plastic products as part of its restructuring plan. The decision means that USPL will discontinue composite decking and... Read more

Following the recommendations of the green building task force formed in 2003, Boston mayor Thomas Menino has announced that all new and renovated city-owned buildings must achieve a Silver or higher rating in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED

® Rating System. Furthermore, the city will amend Article 80 of the Boston Zoning Code to... Read more

Voters in 111 communities in 25 states approved $11 billion in new public funding for conservation in the November 2004 elections, representing a 76% passage rate. “American voters are remarkably consistent in approving three out of every four funding measures for land conservation, both before 9/11 and after, whether in recession or recovery... Read more

by Jerry Yudelson, 2004. Green Building Marketing, 4727 S.W. Vesta Street, Portland, OR 97219, 503-246-4111. Three-ring binder, 206 pages, $79.95.

The Insider’s Guide to Marketing Green Buildings is a no-frills book that delivers. Author Jerry Yudelson, a professional engineer with a master’s degree in business administration and... Read more

A CD-ROM promoting the recycling of lamps containing mercury is available at no charge from the Lamp Recycling Outreach Project, a cooperative agreement between the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers (ALMR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to Paul Abernathy, executive director of ALMR, the recycling rate for... Read more

As 2004 winds down and we prepare to go to press with the first issue of 2005, recent global, national, and local events give us pause and an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to people and the planet. Globally, we’re still reeling from accounts of the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunamis in South Asia. For nearly a week the... Read more

Shaw Industries, Inc. and Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. have announced a plan to generate steam energy from carpet and wood waste resulting from Shaw’s manufacturing processes. The plan will save energy while lowering Shaw’s plant emissions and reducing the amount of waste it sends to landfills. Siemens will build and service a conversion... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council’s Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee (TSAC) has released a public comment draft of its long-awaited report on polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Commissioned to determine “the availability and quality of the evidence as a basis for a reasoned decision about the inclusion of a PVC-related credit in the LEED Rating... Read more

® in 1969 and since then has developed a wide range of wall, corner, and door guards. In 2002, one of Acrovyn’s biggest customers—Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest health maintenance organization—announced that it would begin requiring... Read more

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Green Building Initiative in December 2004, mandating that all new and renovated state-owned facilities achieve a LEED

® Silver or higher rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Initiative, part of executive order S-20-04, was made in recognition that state-owned buildings... Read more