The City of Seattle has adopted a Sustainable Buildings Policy for all municipal projects over 5,000 ft2 (465 m2) in size, with reference to environmental performance in general, life-cycle costing, and the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system. The policy states: “All facilities and buildings over 5,000 gross square feet of occupied... Read more

In the not-so-distant past, buildings were simpler than they are now, and the roles of building professionals were less specialized and fragmented. Architects could effectively oversee the construction process, and contractors understood all the systems they were installing. Buildings were expected to provide basic shelter. If they had comfort-... Read more

by Jeff Gersh and Chelsea Congdon, 1999. Bullfrog Films, Inc., P.O. Box 149, Oley, PA 19547, 800/543-3764,  www.bullfrogfilms.com. Video, 57 or 27 mins., $29.95+$5 S&H for home use; with public performance rights: $250 for long version, $195 for short version. Rentals available.

This high-quality, compelling video is both a... Read more

In response to a recent advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to gather input on potential changes to the existing testing and labeling requirements for cellular plastic insulation, the expanded polystyrene (EPS) molders association is pushing for labeling requirements that better represent... Read more

The European Space Agency reported in early December that

stratospheric ozone levels over parts of Belgium, Britain, The Netherlands, and Scandinavia have dropped significantly—though not as low as levels above the Antarctic. Measurements taken in The Netherlands found localized ozone levels to be two-thirds below the norm for this time... Read more

by John Bower, 2000. The Healthy House Institute. Paperback, 416 pages, $21.95

The Healthy House video series described above. Bower has by now published a handful of titles on healthy houses, and each is better than the last. This book is no exception—well organized,... Read more

In the next few months the U.S. Department of Energy is expected to issue a long overdue energy efficiency standard for fluorescent lamp ballasts. This new standard is the result of a negotiated agreement between energy conservation interests, ballast manufacturers, and other stakeholders. According to this Joint Agreement, the new standard... Read more

The City Design Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago is seeking entries for Design Matters, an Internet catalog of

affordable housing projects built since 1985 that demonstrate high quality and value to their occupants and to society at large. Projects will be selected by the Center and its nationwide advisory team based on a... Read more

More than half of the

world’s rivers are either going dry or are polluted, according to the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century. During 1998, for the first time ever, more people were displaced for want of useable water (“environmental refugees”) than those displaced by war: 25 million vs. 21 million war-related... Read more

by David Johnston, 2000. Home Builder Press, Washington, D.C. Paperback, 175 pages, $45

I’d like to offer a minor correction to your otherwise excellent article “Structural Engineered Wood: Is it Green?” (EBN

Vol. 8, No. 11). You stated that interior-grade softwood plywood uses a urea-formaldehyde (UF) binder. While that was once the case, all construction-grade plywood (both interior- and exterior-grade) now uses a phenol... Read more

AllGreen® MDF, a new medium-density fiberboard (MDF) product made from 100% post-consumer wood fiber and phenol-formaldehyde binders, is nearing production by The CanFibre Group Ltd. The company’s new Riverside, California plant is continuing to fine tune its production process to improve face characteristics of its standard MDF board. CanFibre... Read more

A survey of

comments from key players in the IAQ industry published in the January 2000 issue of

IEQ Strategies reveals some interesting trends. Asthma, especially in children, is seen as an increasingly important health issue related to IAQ. Overall, the importance of VOCs and tobacco smoke as air quality issues is declining,... Read more

In other

green power news, the city of Palmdale, California has announced that it is following Santa Monica’s lead (see EBN

Vol. 8, No. 6, p. 3) in purchasing its municipal power from renewable sources. Green electricity will be purchased from Commonwealth Energy Corporation in Tustin, California.

, LLC, which provided consulting and marketing services for green building in the commercial and hospitality sectors and operated a showroom for green products on Wall Street in New York City, has ceased operations. At press time, details about the reasons for the closure and possible future plans were unavailable.... Read more

was declared the most popular home product of 1999 by

American Homestyle & Gardening magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards. Trex is a composite of recycled polyethylene and wood fibers (see EBN

Vol. 2, No. 2).

energy performance reporting for windows. Most recently, the Council has determined that, as of January 2000, participating manufacturers will be required to certify solar heat gain coefficient and visible light transmittance... Read more

by John and Lynn Bower, 2000. The Healthy House Institute, 430 North Sewell Road, Bloomington, IN 47408; 812/332-5073,

www.hhinst.com. Five-video set, $99.95

Inno-Therm Products, LLC has purchased the equipment and technology for manufacturing batt insulation of recycled cotton fabric from Greenwood Cotton Insulation Products, which ceased production of the insulation in 1997 (see EBN

Vol. 7, No. 2, page 10). Inno-Therm expects to begin commercial production of the insulation by March of... Read more

According to an article in the January 4 edition of the

New York Times, the

backyard burning of household trash may release more dioxins and furans into the atmosphere than are released by all of the nation’s municipal incinerators. An estimated 20 million people in the U.S. burn their trash in uncontrolled backyard incinerators... Read more