News Brief
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News Brief
George Brewster
, a long-time advocate for environmental responsibility in the developer community, has been selected as executive director of the California Center for Land Recycling (CCLR), a new project of the Trust for Public Land. CCLR’s goal is to facilitate the redevelopment of brownfields. Brewster is cofounder of BayGroup... Read more
Product Review
Some 500 million tons (450 million tonnes) of concrete are used each year in the United States. Most of that is poured into forms or molds, which are removed to expose the hardened concrete. To help get the forms off, they are usually coated with a petroleum-based form-release agent. Light-bodied, low-... Read more
News Brief
The Good Wood Alliance, 289 College Street, Burlington, VT 05401; 802/862-4448, 802/658-4443 (fax); warp@together.net (e-mail), www.goodwood.org. 30 pages, $15 postpaid (free to Alliance members).
Since its founding in 1989, the Woodworkers Alliance for Rainforest Protection (WARP) has established itself as a... Read more
News Brief
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News Brief
The
United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) is now working on promoting the use of environmentally sustainable practices, products, and technologies in building systems within the U.N. Among other initiatives, a pilot demonstration project involving the greening of UNEP’s Regional Office for North America is now underway. A... Read more
Feature
Choosing the right materials for a building is no easy task under any circumstances. Just meeting the conventional criteria, such as performance, cost, and aesthetics, can be a challenge; the addition of an environmental agenda further complicates the picture. The good news is that more tools and resources are becoming available to help... Read more
News Brief
Annette Osso, Project Manager; David A. Gottfried, Managing Editor. 1996. Public Technology, Inc., 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washing-ton, D.C. 20004; 202/626-2441; 202/626-2498 (fax); osso@pti.nw.dc.us (e-mail). Also available from the U.S. Green Building Council, 290 Alhambra #11, San Francisco, CA 94123; 415/543-3001; 415/957-5890 (fax);... Read more
Feature
The search is on for an American home. The goal is a home with the look and feel of a traditional suburban house, which the buying public demands, yet one that is at least twice as efficient in its use of energy and other resources. And, it must cost no more than the competition—less, if possible.
Spurred by government grants,... Read moreNews Brief
New York City’s Tiffany Street Pier, one of the largest plastic lumber structures, was damaged by lightning recently, according to the October 14, 1996 issue of
Plastics News. About one-third of the plastic lumber deck and the gazebo were melted. Most of the plastic hardened in place, albeit in a deformed state. City officials are quite... Read more
Product Review
News Brief
by The Results Center, IRT Environment, Inc. Paperback, 28 pages, $75.
Editor’s note: IRT Environment, Inc. has unfortunately discontinued operations since this review was written. This report is now available at the bargain rate of $15 from Ted Flanigan at P.O. Box 2239, Basalt, CO 82621; 970/927-3155.One recent report in IRT... Read more
News Analysis
An “emergency” amendment to the Ontario Building Code, which took effect on August 20, 1996, eliminates the requirement for full-height foundation insulation. The measure rolls back the code to what it was from 1990 to 1993—requiring foundation insulation only to a depth of two feet (0.6 m) below grade—the same as other building codes in Canada... Read more
Op-Ed
is pleased to announce the addition of architect Chris Liddle to our staff. Chris has experience in passive solar and sustainable design, as well as accessible design. His initial responsibilities at
EBN will focus on increasing circulation.
News Brief
Whirlpool Corporation has suspended nationwide sales of its super-efficient “Energy-Wise” refrigerators, according to the 23 August issue of Global Environmental Change Report. This refrigerator was introduced in 1995 and is virtually identical to the “golden carrot” refrigerator developed through the utility-funded Super Efficient Refrigerator... Read more
News Analysis
The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has come under fire for its Sustainable Forestry Initiative because it does not include independent certification of forestry practices (see
EBN
Vol. 4, No. 3). The association’s just-issued first annual progress report on the Initiative, however, illustrates the delicate... Read more
News Brief
by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers. Dutton, 1996. Hardcover, 306 pages, $24.95.
We knew that this was an important book when, not long after we got a copy, a report from the right-wing Competitive Enterprise Institute attempting to discredit it arrived in theEBN mailbox. The basic thesis of
Our Stolen... Read more
News Analysis
Designers of the high-profile Audubon Headquarters in New York City, together with National Audubon Society scientists, took great pains to minimize the use of toxic and environmentally damaging building materials. Among the choices they made in renovating the 100-year-old building was to use undyed, 100% wool carpet throughout the space... Read more
Op-Ed
I’d like to clarify some of the statements made in your construction detail “Using Air to Build Rammed Earth Walls” (Vol. 5, No. 5).
The promise inherent in TERRA Group and David Easton’s PISE™ wall-building system is the ability to go beyond the limited volume market of custom homes and owner-builders, and to become a feasible alternative... Read moreCase Study
The Prairie Crossing project, described below, was well underway as a leading-edge development before the Building Science Consortium was formed to redirect some of its strategies. The other two projects profiled below are unrelated to... Read more



