Silver Lining

As I sit here a few days away from Earth Day 1995, it is hard not to be discouraged at the prospect that three decades of progress in environmental protection could come to an end. As we have stated in this column in the past, the Republican Party’s Contract With America seeks to block most new... Read more

John Tillman Lyle. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1994. 340 pages, hardcover, $49.95.

“Post-consumer recycled” is a term we generally associate with consumer products like paper and plastic, but now a wood flooring has that designation, too, with official, third-party certification. International Wood Products, Inc., of Queen Anne, Maryland has been certified by Scientific Certification Systems for 100 percent post-consumer... Read more

The AIA/Portland Chapter office is accepting submittals for the 1995 Architecture + Energy Design Awards. The competition covers completed nonresidential buildings in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana that highlight sustainable architecture and energy efficiency. Jurors include Robert Berkebile, FAIA, Susan Maxman, FAIA, and David Houghton... Read more

In October 1994 the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) announced its Sustainable Forestry Initiative. The Initiative is based on a set of “Sustainable Forestry Principles and Implementation Guidelines,” which all member companies are expected to adopt. Since October the... Read more

Perhaps most significant is the increased sense of health and well-being that building occupants reportedly experience with natural light. Of course, daylighting can also reduce the... Read more

Dianna Lopez Barnett with William D. Browning. Rocky Mountain Institute, 1739 Snowmass Creek Road, Snowmass, CO, 81654-9199; 970/927-3851, 970/927-4178 (fax); 1995. 135 pages, spiral-bound, $16.95 ($20.34 with shipping).

This Primer from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) is the most complete... Read more

It has been widely reported in building trades magazines that the wood preservative ACQ Preserve™ (see EBN,

Vol. 2, No. 1) has been certified for its environmental features by Scientific Certification Systems, Inc. (SCS). That is not true. A study is being conducted by SCS that compares ACQ and CCA preservative, but that study has not... Read more

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Forintek Canada Corp., 2665 East Mall, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6T 1W5, 604/222-5743, 604/222-5690 (fax). CDN$250-320 for entire set (depending on affiliation).

Funded primarily by Natural Resources Canada, the Sustainable Construction Materials Project aims to provide a computer model that... Read more

A new series of case studies is providing evidence that efforts to make buildings more energy efficient may also enhance the built environment in ways that are economically much more significant than the energy savings. While scientifically valid data about occupant well-being and performance is extremely... Read more

Well, I’ve been putting off subscribing; getting by on other peoples’ back issues, sneaking down to the periodical room at the Conway School to catch up on the latest-breaking motions in the sustainable building world. It’s a bit like listening to Public Radio without ever sending in a contribution, an easy pattern to slide into,... Read more

Dr. Christian Meyer of Columbia University has signed a 2-year, $230,000 research contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to test concrete masonry units made with recycled glass as the aggregate. Glass will be provided by the New York City Department of Sanitation, which will soon be collecting over... Read more

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A jury in DuPage County, Illinois ruled on December 30, 1994 that the architects, engineers, and general contractor were not responsible for the extreme case of sick building syndrome experienced in the County’s new courthouse. While the County blamed faulty design and installation for the problems, the jury found that it was poor operation and... Read more

The new Southern California Gas Energy Resource Center in Downey, California has many features one might expect of a “green” building. It is constructed around an existing structure, it is highly energy efficient, and many recycled materials were used in its construction. Perhaps the most... Read more

Meanwhile, engineers at... Read more

When the idea of building houses out of straw bales began gaining popularity about ten years ago, you could hardly mention the idea without generating a plethora of jokes about the three little pigs. Today—hundreds of houses later—straw is being taken a little more seriously. Books on the subject are selling like hotcakes, and even code... Read more

The Center for Resourceful Building Technology (CRBT), which built the ReCRAFT 90 house in Missoula, Montana, is planning to build a second demonstration house in 1995: the Timber-Tech House. This will be a small, 925 ft2 (86 m2), resource-efficient, urban in-fill house in downtown Missoula that is designed for affordability and easy... Read more