BuildingGreen Report

News Analysis

July 1, 2003
Owens Corning and CertainTeed, leading manufacturers of building materials and systems, have joined Masco Contractor Services in sponsoring Environments for Living™, a program that guarantees energy efficiency and comfort in new homes. One among a number of residential energy-guarantee programs (see

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 10), Environments... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003
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by Leonard R. Bachman; John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, 2003. Hardcover, 479 pages, $75.

Integrated Buildings is an amazing book.... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003

The Emerging Green Builders subcommittee of the USGBC is steering the

first annual USGBC Design Competition. Participation is limited to current students of all disciplines and graduates with no more than three years’ experience in the industry. Winners will be announced at USGBC’s Greenbuild conference this November. Watch for details... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003

The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) has developed a voluntary

certification program for installers of photovoltaic (PV) systems. NABCEP plans to hold its first exam on October 25; in order to participate, candidates must complete their applications by July 31. For details or to apply for certification,... Read more

News Analysis

July 1, 2003

A manufacturing facility built with great green hopes is now spending most of its time making a more conventional product. Great Lakes MDF, LLC has purchased the Lackawanna, New York medium-density fiberboard (MDF) plant formerly owned by The CanFibre Group, Ltd. The plant initially relied on phenol-formaldehyde binders in place of conventional... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003

Sunlight can convert triclosan, a disinfectant used in antibacterial and antimicrobial soaps and other products, into dioxin, according to a paper in the May 30, 2003 issue of the

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry. Photodegradation of triclosan in the absence of chlorine can produce a relatively benign form of... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003

A number of state legislatures are reviewing

bills related to indoor air quality this session. Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Virginia are considering legislation specifically addressing mold contamination.

News Analysis

July 1, 2003
Residential carbon monoxide detectors are unreliable, concluded a study commissioned by the Gas Research Institute (now part of the Gas Technology Institute, GTI) and performed by Mosaic Industries, Inc. Mosaic’s study was the most recent in a decades-long chain of damning reports on the safety devices. According to the Consumer Products Safety... Read more

News Analysis

July 1, 2003
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Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities, the first national conference on green roofs, was held May 29–30 in Chicago, drawing more than 500... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003

The IRS has approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit status for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Until now, USGBC has been a 501(c)(6) “trade association,” but in October 2001 the Board decided to pursue a shift in status. President and CEO Christine Ervin believes the new designation ”will communicate to the public and potential funders that our... Read more

News Brief

July 1, 2003

In late May 2003, winners of the first annual Green Roof Awards of Excellence were announced during the first national green roofs conference (see page 3). Award recipients and their projects are described below:

•  Katrin Scholz-Barth Consulting,  green roof consultant – Montgomery Park Business Center, Baltimore, Maryland: 30,000 ft2... Read more

Feature

Water in all forms threatens buildings. 

July 1, 2003

I am continually surprised by how little emphasis the green building movement places on building science. As we examine the many priorities of green building—from land-use planning to energy efficiency, material selection, and indoor air quality—the basic science of how we design and build structures to ensure long life and healthy indoor... Read more

News Analysis

June 1, 2003

PPG Coil and Extrusion Coatings has released a variant of its Duranar® coatings for metal roofs that contains special pigments to reduce solar gain. With these new “Duranar SPF” coatings, 98% of PPG’s standard colors meet the EPA Energy Star steep-roof threshold of 25% total solar reflectivity, whereas with standard Duranar coatings about half... Read more

News Brief

June 1, 2003

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Research Center has announced the winners of its third annual National Green Building Awards, “to honor and encourage builders, programs, advocates, and products in the advancement of environmentally friendly residential construction.” This year’s winners are:

•Green Advocate of the Year:... Read more

News Analysis

June 1, 2003
The Mirra chair from Herman Miller, Inc. is the first product designed entirely in accordance with the company’s Design for the Environment protocol, which it developed in partnership with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC (MBDC). Created for Herman Miller by Studio 7.5 Berlin, the chair is attractive and highly functional, in addition to... Read more

News Brief

June 1, 2003

In our listing of green champions who were inducted into The American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows this year, we unfortunately omitted

Fulton (Tony) Gale, FAIA. Gale has been a stalwart champion of energy efficiency and sustainable design for decades and, as Seattle’s City Architect, was a driving force behind Seattle’s... Read more

News Analysis

June 1, 2003

On May 9, 2003, the Board of Directors of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) unanimously passed a resolution titled “Support for Green Building.” The resolution lays out a number of issues and goals, which boil down to two primary objectives: to acknowledge and support the interest in green building among many builders and local... Read more

News Brief

June 1, 2003
Richard Haag

is the winner of this year’s

ASLA Medal, bestowed by the American Society of Landscape Architects. Haag was instrumental in saving Seattle’s Pike Place Market, now one of the city’s most popular attractions. A complete list of ASLA award winners is online at

www.asla.org.

Product Review

June 1, 2003

A Quebec-based manufacturer of contract fabrics is the first to offer a line of polyester textiles that meet a stringent set of ecological criteria developed by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). The Eco Intelligent™ fabrics from Victor Innovatex are made in accordance with MBDC’s “cradle-to-cradle” protocol. In this protocol, each... Read more

Op-Ed

June 1, 2003

Thanks to your great article on biodiesel (

EBN

Vol. 12, No. 1), we are now the proud owners of a 2001 Jetta TDI, running on biodiesel. We have found several local sources for B100, 30 gallons [115 liters] of which we now have under our back stairs. No more fossil fuels! I love using a renewable, even “waste,” fuel. It just makes... Read more