BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

January 1, 1999
Architecture and the Environment

by David Lloyd Jones. The Overlook Press, Woodstock, N.Y., 1998 (distributed by Penguin Putnam, Inc.). Hardcover, 250 pages, $65. Note: Sometimes listed with the sub-title “Contemporary Green Buildings”

Several books published in the past decade have claimed to provide an overview of ecologically... Read more

Explainer

January 1, 1999
Small House, Big View

When most highly successful corporate executives set out to build a new home, it is pretty much a given that the house will be over 10,000 square feet (929 m2). The operative questions might be whether a four-car garage is big enough, how many guest suites to include, and whether the master bedroom suite should be its... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 1999
Newsbriefs

Maureen McIntyre, longtime editor of the acclaimed

Solar Today magazine (the publication of the

American Solar Energy Society—ASES), has been hired by the Society to organize renewable energy policy activities at the state level. As coordinator of ASES’s “Empowering the States” program, McIntyre will help renewable... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 1999
Wood-Plastic Composite Lumber Expands

Trex Co. LLC is building a manufacturing facility in Fernley, Nevada to serve customers in the West with its recycled wood-plastic composite decking. The company plans to begin operations in the Fall of 1999, according to

Plastics News (December 14, 1998), with two around-the-clock production lines... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 1999

Organizers of the annual H.O.P.E.S. Eco-Design Arts Conference (see Calendar) are sponsoring a “Design Challenge” on the theme of this year’s conference: Equity and Ecology. Entries in the form of display boards and written explanations must be received by March 26. For details, contact H.O.P.E.S. at 541/346-0719, hopes@laz.uoregon.edu, or on... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 1999
Armstrong to Distribute DLW Linoleum

The re-entry of Armstrong World Industries, Inc. into the North American linoleum market is now official—as of July 1, 1999 Armstrong will have exclusive rights to market and sell DLW Linoleum and most other DLW products. As reported in

EBN

Vol. 7, No. 9, Armstrong now owns DLW... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 1999
C&A Goes with Recycled Backing Only

On November 10, 1998 Collins & Aikman Floorcoverings (C&A) ended 29 years of use of virgin materials in the backing of its modular carpet tile.

C&A has had great success, both in terms of performance and sales, with its POWERBOND® ER3™ backing (see “New Life for Old Carpets” in

... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 1999
Mid-Course Correction

by Ray C. Anderson. The Peregrin-zilla Press, Atlanta, 1998 (distributed by Chelsea Green Publishing Co.). Paperback, 200 pages, $17.95

Mid-Course Correction is a very important book. Author Ray Anderson, CEO of the carpet company Interface, Inc., has for several years been inspiring audiences with his personal... Read more

Op-Ed

January 1, 1999
Time to Act on Global Warming

The evidence on global warming has become increasingly hard to dispute: 20 consecutive years with above-average global temperatures, 18 consecutive months that set new all-time monthly temperature records, 1998 temperatures almost three-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit higher than the previous record (page 3). Most... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 1999
Owens Corning Miraflex Now Available for Walls

Owens Corning’s breakthrough binder-free fiberglass insulation, Miraflex® (see

EBN

Vol. 4, No. 1) is now available with a stapling flange for use in 2x4 and 2x6 stud walls. The new wall products were introduced in August 1998 and became available nationally in the fall. Miraflex was... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 1999
The Not So Big House

by Sarah Susanka. Taunton Press, Newtown, Connecticut, 1998. Hardcover, 200 pages, $30

The Not So Big House is a gorgeous book, full of inspiring photographs and imaginative floor plans, that conveys both the how’s and the why’s of designing smaller, more compact houses. Author Sarah Susanka is principal of a 35-... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 1998
Newsbriefs

As noted in

EBN

Vol. 6, No. 9 (October 1997), the

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is now updating its indoor air quality Standard 62-1989 incrementally in a “continuous maintenance process.” The first significant changes are open for public review from... Read more

Op-Ed

October 1, 1998
Coming Soon—the Green Building Advisor

We at

EBN have been working over the past year on an exciting new computer program that provides suggestions for improving the environmental performance of buildings, and case studies to illustrate the results. The

Green Building Advisor prompts the user for some basic information about a... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 1998

Architect and specifier

Dru Meadows has left her position as leader of the Green Team at BSW Architects. In that capacity she worked on the design of several high-profile eco-stores for Wal-Mart. Meadows has also been a leader in efforts to have green building practices recognized appropriately by standards organizations such as the... Read more

Op-Ed

October 1, 1998
Correction:

Our news story in

EBN

Vol. 7, No. 9 (October 1998) on Oakes Hall at the Vermont Law School incorrectly stated the estimated cooling load benefits of the enthalpy wheel. While the article described a two-ton reduction in peak cooling load from the enthalpy wheel, engineer Marc Rosenbaum estimates the actual peak load... Read more

Product Review

October 1, 1998
A New Chlorine-free Competitor to Vinyl Flooring

If linoleum represents the “back-to-nature” alternative to vinyl flooring, then Stratica is the

Brave New World option.

This new resilient flooring product from the U.K. uses high-tech engineering polymer resins to provide a durable surface and sophisticated patterns similar to... Read more

News Analysis

October 1, 1998
Navy at the Leading Edge of Green Design

In what may be one of the most significant developments in green building in recent years, the Department of the Navy has become the first Federal agency requiring all facilities and infrastructure-related design and construction to incorporate sustainable design principles. While energy efficiency and... Read more

News Analysis

October 1, 1998
Everyone Wins the Green Building Challenge

Figure 1 – Annualised Life-Cycle Energy Components

Per Square Metre of Floor Area

This chart from a paper by Roger Baldwin of the British Research Establishment in the U.K. shows overall energy use associated with two actual office buildings, one in a... Read more

Feature

October 1, 1998

From an environmental standpoint, the low-slope roofing on commercial and industrial buildings is a big problem. (“Low-slope” roofing is often incorrectly called

flat roofing—it nearly always has a slight pitch). For starters, there is a lot of it. No one in the industry seems to know how much low-slope roofing exists in the United... Read more

News Brief

October 1, 1998

The

Rocky Mountain Institute is seeking a consultant to join its influential Green Development Services research group. The position requires extensive client interaction, management of multiple projects, and travel. Contact Jen Uncapher at 970/927-3807 or jenu@rmi.org for details.