The

Arctic ice cap has thinned by 40% over the past 40 years, according to preliminary findings presented at a May meeting of the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States. Climate changes will make it difficult for native Alaskans to maintain subsistence life-styles, say researchers, because of declines in walrus seal populations... Read more

Nearly two-thirds of all roofs, both new and existing, are clad in asphalt shingles. The potential uses of... Read more

A study released in May by the Harvard School of Public Health links

air pollution from two coal-fired power plants—in Salem and Somerset, Massachusetts—to 43,000 asthma attacks and 159 premature deaths. More than 32 million people in New England, New York, and New Jersey are exposed to plant emissions. Both plants are owned by PG&E... Read more

by Daniel D. Chiras, 2000. Chelsea Green Publishing Co., White River Jct., Vt. Paperback, 470 pages, $35.

... Read more

An EPA assessment scheduled for release in June will conclude that dioxin is a human carcinogen, according to a May 16 article in the

Washington Post. While dioxin emissions are way down from peak levels in the 1970s, reflecting the impact of a series of regulations on dioxin-emitting industries such as incinerators... Read more

A proposal has been submitted in the Canadian House of Commons for a

nationwide ban on “cosmetic” pesticides for residential lawns—those used to get rid of dandelions or make the grass look greener. Dozens of small communities in Canada have already banned or severely limited use of such chemicals, according to a June 5... Read more

Vol. 7, No. 1) with introduction of 100% certified-wood trusses.

William E. Hayward, President and CEO of the company, called this is a “landmark event in the construction industry... Read more

Previously, the FTC maintained two categories for measuring energy... Read more

BP Amoco and an unnamed group of other investors announced in May that they will invest up to $100 million in

GreenMountain.com, which sells green power to customers in California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The financing will help the company expand into Ohio, Texas, and other states that are deregulating their energy markets.

Federal minimum standards for the energy efficiency of domestic clothes washers are to increase by 35%. The two-step process requires manufacturers to meet new modified energy factor (MEF) standards. MEF calculates energy used while accounting for remaining moisture content in the clothes—the drier the... Read more

has left his longtime post as The American Institute of Architects’ staff member responsible for the Committee on the Environment (COTE), for a position with broader authority and more growth potential as Director of Convention Programs for the Institute. At a time when many AIA Professional Interest Areas struggled to get... Read more

The LEED Green Building Rating System™ has only been officially “on the street” for a month, but it is already being used informally as a framework for green design of hundreds of projects. It is officially referenced in the building guidelines of several local governments and federal agencies, and unofficially used by many more. What is this... Read more

On May 6, 2000 in Philadelphia, members of The American Institute of Architects formally passed a resolution entitled “Sustainable Design.” This resolution was sponsored by John Corkill, Jr., AIA, a member of the Board of Directors, and the AIA’s National Committee on the Environment (COTE). Its stated... Read more

In the words of architect Rolf Kielman, AIA, a principal with Truex Cullins & Partners Architects, the 24,000 ft2 (2,200 m2) building “fits in quietly behind the historic fabric that is both the... Read more

A crew of five works steadily —lowering rafters, pulling nails, cleaning mortar off bricks, bundling oak strip flooring—turning an old building into carefully stacked lumber, palleted bricks, and windows organized by size. They call themselves a deconstruction services team. They take buildings apart in pretty much the reverse order of their... Read more

by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins. Little, Brown & Company, Boston, 1999. Hardcover, 396 pages, $26.95, or free online at

www.natcap.org.

As I was returning to the U.S. from a recent trip to Vancouver,

Natural Capitalism, sticking out of my shoulder bag, caught the attention of the... Read more

In the

New Commercial Construction category, the winner was the Vermont Law School’s Oakes Hall designed by Truex... Read more

US Century, the manufacturer of FlexShake, is no longer in business.

On May 15, the first-in-the-nation, comprehensive green building tax credit was signed into New York state law (see

EBN

Vol. 8, No. 5). A modest fund—$25 million over nine years—has been established to support the program. “The significance does not lie in the amount, it lies in the... Read more

With some tree and shrub species, whether you specify males or females can make a huge difference for allergy sufferers. This point is one of the most intriguing to emerge from recent work of Thomas Ogren, a San Luis Obispo, California-based expert on flowering plants and pollen-related allergies.... Read more