BuildingGreen Report

News Analysis

January 1, 2005
Following two years of development and review, the Green Guide for Health Care™ (GGHC) has been released in version 2.0 pilot form. Modeled closely on the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED

® Rating System, GGHC identifies and quantifies environmental and health concerns in the planning, design, construction, operations, and maintenance of... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 2005

During the international climate change conference in Buenos Aires in December 2004, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), representing the 155,000 Inuit, or Eskimo, peoples, announced plans to demand a ruling from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that by contributing to global climate change, the U.S. is threatening Inuit... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 2005

A new website is focusing on the market for buying and selling homes that were built or remodeled to be green or healthy. “Although some real estate professionals may be familiar with the concept of green and healthy homes, many are not knowledgeable about the inherent extra value of a specialty home,” according to Roy Prince of Green and... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 2005

Aluminum and packaging manufacturer Alcan, Inc. and the International Business Leaders Forum have awarded their first-ever

Alcan Prize for Sustainability to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Alcan created the $1 million prize “to recognize outstanding contributions to the goal of economic, environmental, and social sustainability by... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 2005
Worldwide solar-thermal energy capacity far exceeds that of other renewable sources, such as wind and photovoltaics, according to a new report. To make it easier to compare these energy sources, a team of experts representing seven countries, including the U.S., Canada, and several European nations, agreed on a new methodology—replacing square... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 2005

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

Op-Ed

January 1, 2005

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

News Brief

January 1, 2005

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

News Brief

January 1, 2005

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

News Analysis

January 1, 2005

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

Product Review

January 1, 2005
C/S Group began offering polyvinyl chloride-based (PVC) wall protection systems under the name Acrovyn

® 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

News Brief

January 1, 2005

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

News Brief

January 1, 2005

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

News Brief

January 1, 2005

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

News Analysis

January 1, 2005
Falcon Waterfree Technologies, LLC has introduced a new cartridge design for its nonflushing urinals. The new design, which is compatible with the company’s existing urinals, includes a protective shield over the cartridge orifice to reduce the amount of sealant fluid lost to splash-out. The shield will result in a “more durable cartridge life... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 2005
“Builders and consumers are realizing that by reducing a home’s footprint through better design, they can put the savings into details that are high-quality, energy-efficient, and environmentally sound,” says Sarah Susanka, whose books started the Not So Big™ movement. A showhouse built according to Susanka’s principles debuts January 13–16, 2005... Read more

Product Review

Toto has expanded its hands-free EcoPower line to include flush valves for toilets and urinals.

January 1, 2005

Toto, the world’s largest manufacturer of toilets and a significant product innovator, has expanded its hands-free EcoPower™ product line to include flush valves for toilets and urinals. EcoPower sensor-activated faucets, introduced in late 2002, use a tiny hydropower turbine generator for operating and back-up power.

Toto’s EcoPower... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 2005

In a unanimous vote from the Victoria city council, Windmill Development–VanCity Enterprises has won a bid to redevelop Dockside, an 11.6-acre (2.85 ha) brownfield site in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. The CA$300 million development, expected to take a decade to complete, includes 1 million ft2 (93,000 m2) of residential, commercial,... Read more

Feature

January 1, 2005

We last took a broad look at insulation materials exactly ten years ago: in the January/February 1995 issue. A lot has happened since then—manufacturers have introduced new insulation materials, new product formulations have eliminated problem materials such as HCFCs, and improved understanding of performance and health risks has informed our... Read more

Product Review

December 1, 2004
Update: (March 22, 2011)

To the best of our knowledge, Humabuilt no longer exists, and the products it previously produced are unavailable.

Update: (July 27, 2006)

To the best of our knowledge, Humabuilt no longer offers FSC-certified veneers.

The Lake Oswego, Oregon company Humabuilt™ is marketing Wheatboard™-core... Read more