•urethane-reinforced... Read more

Trus Joist MacMillan has broken ground for a second manufacturing facility for its Timberstrand™ laminated strand lumber product (see EBN

Vol. 1, No. 3 for product review). The new plant, scheduled to open late in 1995, is in eastern Kentucky. Locally available yellow poplar will be used instead of the aspen used at TJM’s Minnesota... Read more

by Joseph M. Tibbets. 1989, Southwest Solaradobe School, P.O. Box 153, Bosque, NM 87006. $20.35. Paperback, 196 pages.

The Earthbuilders’ Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive reference we’ve seen on the various construction techniques that fall under the umbrella of earthbuilding, especially adobe and... Read more

I enjoyed your article on cellulose insulation in the September/October ‘93 issue of EBN. In general, I thought the article was very well done, but felt that your recommendations on the health concerns left a bit to be desired. First of all, your recommendation not to eat it is obvious, yet by stating it, you seem to... Read more

Green Seal, a nonprofit environmental labeling organization, certifies products that cause significantly less harm to the environment... Read more

American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment, 1735 New York Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20006; 800/365-ARCH, 202/626-7300.

Last winter and spring the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment organized a series of three video teleconferences entitled “Building Connections.” The... Read more

Energy use is arguably the most significant environmental impact of buildings. Residential and commercial buildings in the U.S. use about 29 quads (quadrillion Btus) of energy each year, 35% of total energy consumption. That energy used for space heating and cooling in residential buildings (just over 7 quads per year) produces 420 million tons... Read more

A study done at the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, concluded that ground drywall applied to soils in test plots increased crop yield by 25% over untreated soil. This result was similar to the benefits of applying limestone or agricultural gypsum to the soil in equivalent quantities (11... Read more

Lumber Certification

My compliments to you for an excellent publication. I just received my first issue and am glad I subscribed.

I’m not sure how you interpreted my comments from the Sustainable Forest Products Conference, but The Home Depot is not for, but against, a simple stamp or seal. We fully support the SCS... Read more

On August 24 the Clinton Administration announced a policy for the nation’s wetlands that aims to end years of confusion and infighting among various federal agencies with overlapping jurisdictions. Initial reaction to the plan from all sides was mixed, although most people are waiting to see how things... Read more

ReClaim, Inc., a fast-growing company that recycles old asphalt shingles into pothole patching material, has received a patent for its product. RePave™ is used by municipalities and homeowners to repair roadways and driveways. ReClaim processes about 300 tons per day of roofing debris at its two New Jersey plants to make its paving products (... Read more

Some thoughts on the May/June ‘93 issue:

On More Efficient Wood Use (p. 18):

We must conduct a massive educational campaign to wean the majority of builders and building inspectors (architects, too) away from their obsession with what I label 11th commandment framing. A recent poll by the NAHB shows 67... Read more

The world's most productive geothermal electrical generation site, Geysers geothermal field in Lake County, California, has been running out of steam. And Lake County Sanitation officials were facing expensive options for disposing of their partially treated wastewater. Now it appears that they have solved both... Read more

In July the Construction Specifications Institute appointed an Ad Hoc Environmental Issues Committee to promote awareness of environmental matters among CSI members and the construction industry. In its mission statement, CSI includes a commitment to “encourage the use of construction materials that will ensure the health, safety, and welfare... Read more

Here at EBN, we’re as guilty of it as anyone. We’ve tended to give short shrift to energy conservation in part because there are other excellent publications that focus just on energy. But we did put energy at the top of our

Checklist for Sustainable Design and Construction. And that's... Read more

by Kim Leclair and David Rousseau. 1992, Hartley & Marks, Inc., 79 Tyee Dr., Point Roberts, WA 98281. $19.95 U.S.; $24.95 Canada.

Environmental by Design, the field of environmentally sustainable design and construction took a significant step forward.... Read more

Pamela Winthrop Lauer, project director. 1993. Free. 36 pages. Order from: Metropolitan Council, Attn: Data Center, Mears Park Center, 230 E. Fifth St., St. Paul, MN 55101; 612/291-8140.

Although designed for use by contractors in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, this guidebook has lots of... Read more

As reported in a Congressional hearing in June, the EPA has so far been unable to duplicate the results of carpet toxicity studies done by Anderson Labs of Dedham, Massachusetts (see EBN

Vol. 2, No. 2, “Mouse-Killing Carpets”). For reasons that remain unclear, the EPA used different test procedures that included percolating the exposed... Read more

I recently received a copy of the May/June issue of

Environmental Building News and wanted to respond to the article “Problems with PVC” that covered Greenpeace’s campaign to eliminate chlorine-based compounds, and vinyl in particular.

Although Greenpeace has alleged that vinyl presents a threat to human health... Read more