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The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) awarded this year’s

Environmental Sensitivity Awards to two architecture firms that specialize in... Read more

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

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Vol. 11, No. 10 and

Vol. 6, No. 8). We recently discovered another such product—made by Bricor Analytical, Inc. in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While quite different from the ETL products technologically, Bricor... Read more

On May 29, 2003, the Resilient Floor Coverings Institute (RFCI) withdrew a lawsuit challenging New York State’s Green Building Tax Credit regulations (see

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Vol. 9, No. 5) for excluding vinyl as an approved flooring material. The lawsuit, which was initiated in October 2000, was withdrawn just days before hearings were... Read more

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

, executive director of Red Feather Development Group, has been named

Greatest American Hometown Hero in the first

Volvo for Life Awards. Struck by reports of poverty on America’s Indian reservations, Young founded the Red Feather Development Group in 1995 to teach Native American communities to construct energy-... Read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

The

University of Cincinnati invites applications for a tenure-track position in the School of Architecture and Interior Design (SAID) in the area of environmental technologies. For further information, contact: David Lee Smith, Professor of Architecture, david.smith@uc.edu, 513-556-5291.

One hundred thousand homes have earned the Environmental Protection Agency’s

Energy Star® designation. Each home that meets the voluntary criteria uses an average of 30% less energy for heating, cooling, and water heating than a conventional home, saving homeowners about $200 to $400 annually. According to EPA, the program saves... Read more

The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), created last year by members of the carpet industry, government entities, and nonprofit organizations, has released its first annual report on progress toward the goal of diverting 40% of America’s post-consumer carpet from landfills by 2012. As a first step in the ten-year plan, CARE had hoped to... Read more

Growing its collection of innovations in the flooring industry, Interface, Inc. has introduced FLOR™, a modular flooring system designed for use in homes. FLOR’s ten product lines represent a variety of fabrics, colors, textures, and patterns. According to Chip DeGrace, InterfaceFLOR’s vice president of marketing, “FLOR bridges hard surface and... Read more

Thanks to your great article on biodiesel (

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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

, a Martha’s Vineyard design/build firm, seeks a residential architect and/or designer committed to ecological design. For details, visit

www.somoco.com or e-mail John Abrams at jabrams@vineyard.net.

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

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: