BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

November 1, 2001

by Dan Imhoff, forewords by Randy Hayes and Sim Van der Ryn, 2001. Watershed Media, Healdsburg, CA; 707/895-3490,

www.watershedmedia.org. Paperback, 136 pages, $22 plus shipping.

Building With Vision is a rare mix of philosophy, practical information on building materials and practices, and superb visual presentation. Following... Read more

News Analysis

November 1, 2001

EcoTimber, of Berkeley, California, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected distributors of FSC-certified wood products, was sold in October to Hayward Lumber, headquartered in Monterey. Actually, at the time of closing, EcoTimber represented only the flooring and decking division of the original company; the company’s hardwood lumber... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2001

David L. Crawford is a recipient of the

2001 Presidential Award from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), for his work in creating awareness of sky brightness and light pollution, and leadership in promoting outdoor lighting to reduce sky brightness. The award was presented at the August 6, 2001 Honors Luncheon... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2001

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation headquarters, previously cited in

EBN as the first (so far, the only) building to earn a LEED™ Platinum rating, now has more high-profile kudos. The building is one of 11 winners of the

5th Annual Business Week

/Architectural Record Awards, selected from among 192 applicants and 19 finalists... Read more

Product Review

November 1, 2001

While green roofs can be created using a wide range of components and configurations, nearly all involve an integral relationship between the roof membrane and the growing medium—typically through an intermediate drainage layer. Often, green roof systems are sold as part of a new roofing package. Introduced in August, GreenGrid™ takes a... Read more

News Analysis

November 1, 2001
Effective October 8, 2001, businesses in Oregon can get a tax credit for buildings that achieve a Silver rating or higher under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED™ Rating System. These substantial tax credits, amounting to as much as $142,900 for a 10,000 ft2 (930 m2) Platinum-rated project (see table), “should be enough to pay extra initial... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2001

On June 1

commercial clothes washers with volumes of 3.5 ft

3 (100 l) or less were added to the list of Energy Star®-qualified products. Until then, the program was limited to residential washers. To qualify, a washer must have a Modified Energy Factor (MEF) of 1.26 or higher—the same as the standard for residential washers. This... Read more

Feature

These roofs are not just green, they're alive.

November 1, 2001

 

Mayor Richard Daley saw his first planted roofs several years ago while visiting Chicago’s sister city of Hamburg, Germany. At the same time, he was learning about urban heat islands (in which our urban areas maintain temperatures considerably higher than surrounding suburban and rural areas). He was particularly attuned to the urban... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 2001

CD-ROM of 46 technical papers, 2001. Send a check (made out to “Tides Center/Ecological Building Network”) to: Bruce King, Ecological Building Network, 209 Caledonia Street, Sausalito, CA 94965. Price: $70 + $10 shipping

The First International Conference on Ecological Building Structure, held July 5-9, 2001 in San Rafael, California,... Read more

News Analysis

October 1, 2001

Evergreen Nylon Recycling, the joint venture between Honeywell and DSM Chemicals (see

EBN

Vol. 8, No. 9), has ceased operations indefinitely. The facility was slated to process 200 million pounds (90 million kg) of used carpet annually, producing 100 million pounds (45 million kg) of caprolactam, the building block of nylon 6.... Read more

Product Review

October 1, 2001
We recently reported in an article on autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) that there appeared to be just two such manufacturers in the U.S. (EBN

Vol. 10, No. 6). We are pleased to report that we were off by at least one! E-Crete, whose plant is located in Casa Grande, Arizona (near Phoenix), has been producing AAC blocks since December 2000. The... Read more

News Analysis

October 1, 2001
The benefits of gypsum (CaSO4 · 2H2O) as a soil amendment are well established: gypsum improves soil tilth, particularly in clayey soils, and effectively displaces the sodium in soils that have high salt content. Research has shown that applying ground-up scrap gypsum board gives the same benefits as agricultural-grade gypsum at rates of up to 22... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 2001

Edited by Lynne Elizabeth and Cassandra

Adams, 2000. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

New York. Hardcover, 392 pages, $70.

Alternative Construction provides a

terrific overview of various methods

for building with earth, straw, and

bamboo. With writings from over 30

authors—many of them experts or

... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 2001

A $150,000 grant from the U.S. EPA is funding research by the New Buildings Institute (NBI) of White Salmon, Washington, to

assess actual energy use of newly constructed buildings. NBI will work with subcontractors Eley Associates of San Francisco and Architectural Energy Corporation of Boulder, Colorado on the project. Using the Energy... Read more

News Analysis

October 1, 2001
The most common gas fill in high-performance windows is argon. One problem with this odorless, colorless, chemically inert gas is the difficulty of detecting it. The folks that make—and for that matter, evaluate—high-performance windows have long sought a nondestructive method for determining the gas fill content of sealed insulated glazing units... Read more

Op-Ed

October 1, 2001
EBN

mourns the loss of friend and green building champion David Kibbey, of Berkeley, California, who died on August 9, 2001 after a long battle with cancer. A native of Vermont, Kibbey was an artist, craftsman, scientist, and counselor. He designed and built beautiful spaces, edited the

Architectural Resource Guide product directory,... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 2001

The Devens Enterprise Commission, the permitting authority for redevelopment of the former Fort Devens army base in north central Massachusetts, has created

a green building incentive program tied to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED™ rating system. The program offers a 15% reduction in development permit fees, up to $10,000 per... Read more

News Analysis

October 1, 2001

At its August 19, 2001 meeting the Board of the U.S. Green Building Council voted unanimously to set a new course for updates to the LEED™ Rating System. “What we realized is that we’re overwhelmed by LEED’s popularity,” said LEED co-chair Rob Watson of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “We wanted to ensure that LEED has a really solid... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 2001

by Guy Dauncey with Patrick Mazza, 2001. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, British Columbia. Paperback, 270 pages, $19.95.

For anyone interested in nuts-and-bolts strategies for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, this is a must-read.

Stormy Weather begins with an introduction providing clear and engaging explanations of global... Read more

Product Review

October 1, 2001
The importance of a good track-off entryway system cannot be overemphasized (see feature article, page 1). Even better, from a green building standpoint, is when the entryway products are themselves green by virtue of their composition. In the commercial entryway track-off area, Arden Architectural Specialties, Inc. offers just such a product:... Read more