during 2000 reached an all-time high at 57.0% total imports (up from 56.6% in 1998 and 55.6% in 1999), according to the February 2001 edition of

Monthly Energy Review, published by the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy (

www.eia.doe.gov). Net petroleum imports (... Read more

, according to a story on MSNBC (January 20). More than a quarter of China is already desert, and sand dunes are now within 60 miles (96 km) of Beijing —and moving closer as quickly as 15 miles (24 km) per year! Last year many Beijing residents were hospitalized with... Read more

The

Northeast Green Building Awards, sponsored by the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, were announced at the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s (NESEA) Building Energy 2001 conference in Medford, Massachusetts on March 23, 2001. Listed below are the First Prize winners in each of the professional categories. Other winning... Read more

Oregon’s controversial

Measure 7, which requires payments to landowners when state or local government regulations reduce property value, has been declared unconstitutional. An Oregon Circuit Court judge ruled in February that Ballot Measure 7 violates Oregon’s Constitution. This ruling is expected to be appealed, and the Oregon... Read more

The Energy Star® program, a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has named

Johnson Controls among its 2001 Award Winners. Recognized for its commitment to pollution prevention by improving the energy performance of buildings throughout the U.S., the company provides building control... Read more

EBN

Vol. 4, No. 3). That product was based on the British product Stramit, which was invented in the 1940s and has been in... Read more

The Maine Hospital Association, in partnership with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Natural Resources Council of Maine, just signed an agreement to voluntarily eliminate the use of most mercury-containing supplies and medical equipment, as well as continuously reduce the use of

plastics containing PVC. The... Read more

We are saddened to note the passing of two mavericks in the world of sustainability. On February 20, Donella (Dana) Meadows died suddenly of bacterial meningitis at age 59. In her late 20s, Dana was principal author of

Limits to Growth (1972), one of the first books to address the limits of population growth and resource extraction.... Read more

Beginning in January of this year, all new

homes sold in England and Wales have to display energy ratings. The ratings are required by the revised Building Regulations and Approved Inspectors Regulations 2000, which was formally approved last October. Home ratings are based on the Standard Assessment Procedure for Energy Rating of... Read more

On March 13, Governor Parris Glen-denning’s Executive Order made Maryland the first state to mandate sustainability measures for all government operations in clean energy, green buildings, pollution prevention, and alternative fuel vehicles (www.gov.state.md.us/gov/execords/2001/html/0002eo.html). The order features a new High Efficiency Green... Read more

by Jennifer Corson, 2000. Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River Junction, Vermont. Paperback, 157 pages, $24.95

Every once in a while, a book comes our way about building and the environment that just about anyone will find practical and delightful—Sarah Susanka’s most recent book, Creating The Not-So Big House, comes to mind.... Read more

world’s first commercial wave-power plant began operation in late November on the Scottish island of Islay, feeding approximately 500 kW of power into the United Kingdom power grid.

The technology was jointly developed by Wavegen, which built and owns the power station, and Queens University Belfast. The technology employed is known... Read more

U.S. Green Building Council board member

Drew George was promoted on January 15, 2001 to Environment Manager – Americas of Bovis Lend Lease. George now oversees environmental programs and green construction projects for the company’s 26 offices in North and South America, with a mandate to make BLL the leading green provider of... Read more

The February 2001 issue of the influential publication

I.D.: The International Design Magazine focused on socially conscious design for its annual “

I.D. Forty” selection. Among the many inspiring designers featured were a number of architects and other professionals recognized for their ecological vision. They are (in order of... Read more

The February [

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 2] cover story on site restoration and the editorial on hospice ecology in Hawaii were excellent. In the piece on Hawaii and its loss of habitat and native species, your question of how this relates to green building is so important. It goes to the heart of what is “green” and what is “sustainable... Read more

is a new company created to provide intelligence on the distributed generation industry, with a particular focus on financial issues and investing. Technologies covered include fuel cells, photovoltaics, microturbines, and cogeneration. Among the company’s three principals are two leading advocates of energy efficiency in buildings... Read more

, Senior Associate of the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Green Development Services, has been named an honorary member of The American Institute of Architects—an honor bestowed on a few non-architects who have made a significant contribution to the architectural profession and to the AIA.