A new report from Oceana, “Toxic Burden: PCBs in Marine Life,” compiles information from 40 studies relating to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in humans and marine animals. Over 1.5 billion pounds (680 million kg) of PCBs were produced in the U.S. for industrial and commercial applications, most notably in electrical, heat-transfer, and... Read more

Kevin Hydes, president of Keen Engineering and USGBC board member, is moving from the West Coast to Montreal, Quebec, where Keen is opening a new office this month. While operating from Keen’s new Montreal office, Hydes plans to further his involvement in the Canadian government’s greenhouse action plan as Canada moves to meet its Kyoto... Read more

The National Energy Affordability and Accessibility Project (NEAAP) has developed a Web site that explains the impacts of energy restructuring and market changes on households with low and moderate incomes. It features state-by-state overviews on the status of restructuring, news and analysis on consumer-related restructuring activity, consumer... Read more

California’s former Governor Davis signed the bill AB 1685 in October, extending the California Public Utilities Commission’s Self-Generation Incentive Program for an additional four years. The bill allocates roughly $500 million through 2008 for businesses and local governments to install distributed electricity-generation systems. Over the... Read more

The Council also announced a new fellowship at Greenbuild, named in honor of Mark Ginsberg, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Building Technologies State and Community Programs. In recognition of Ginsberg’s lifetime contribution to green building, the fellowship will allow one intern to work at USGBC in... Read more

EPA announced in early November that it will drop investigations into 50 power plants accused of violating the Clean Air Act. Under the new policy, EPA will pursue only those investigations in which the plants are accused of violating new, more lenient standards set to take effect in December (see EBN Vol. 12, No. 10). The change could also... Read more

FPL Energy, LLC recently dedicated two new wind farms in the western U.S. The New Mexico Wind Energy Center, near Fort Sumner, is the world’s third-largest wind farm, producing 204 MW of electricity—enough to power 94,000 homes. The High Winds Energy Center, located along the Montezuma Hills in Solano County, California, is the largest wind... Read more

BuildingGreen is honored to be among the winners of the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) Best Practice Sustainability Awards, announced at Greenbuild:

• Special Achievement in Communications: BuildingGreen, Inc.;

•  Innovative Daylighting System: Solar Components Corporation and  Kalwall Corporation;

•  ... Read more

In the run-up to the Greenbuild conference, USGBC and The Pittsburgh Project, a Christian community-development organization that operates after-school and summer programs for Pittsburgh children, collaborated on a straw-bale construction clinic. Led by David Eisenberg, author of The Straw Bale House Book and executive director of the... Read more

The Boston City Council unanimously passed a resolution in October establishing city purchasing guidelines that favor materials that do not produce dioxin, a potent human carcinogen and endocrine disrupter. Dioxin is released when chlorinated products, including chlorine-bleached paper and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), are manufactured and... Read more

The Sustainable Industries Journal, a monthly publication focusing on economic gain through environmental innovation in the Pacific Northwest, has recognized its top-ranked businesses in a number of sustainable industries. Among the winners are:

• Forest Stewardship Council-Certified Forest: Collins Lakeview Forest in Lakeview, Oregon... Read more

EPA unveiled at Greenbuild a plan for greening landscaping by using biobased, recycled-content, and otherwise environmentally preferable products, and named USGBC as a Charter Ally in the initiative. The GreenScapes Alliance aims to combine the influence of government and industry to green large-scale landscaping efforts, such as roadside... Read more

The Portland Cement Association (PCA) announced at Greenbuild the proposed allowance of up to 5% ground limestone in the portland cement standard ASTM C150, a change that would bring U.S. standards in line with those in Europe and Canada, where limestone has been used successfully for decades. If approved, the standards will allow a reduction... Read more

One closely watched election disappointed smart-growth advocates across the country. Loudoun County, Virginia, a national model of environmentally friendly urban planning (see EBN Vol. 9, No. 3, p. 5), voted in November to replace six of its eight left-leaning county board members with Republicans. The newly elected board members have vocally... Read more

The world’s largest photovoltaic acoustic highway barrier was inaugurated in October in Munich, Germany. Stretching over one kilometer (0.6 miles) along the A92 freeway, the barrier produces 500 peak kW of solar electricity while protecting the nearby Freisinger commercial zone from traffic noise.

In presenting their second annual Leadership Awards during Greenbuild, the U.S. Green Building Council recognized five companies and individuals “who signify the vision, leadership, and commitment to the evolution of green building design and construction”:

• Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. received the Green Building Business Award for... Read more

“Action for Sustainability,” the

2005 World Sustainable Building Conference following in the footsteps of Sustainable Building 2002 in Oslo, Norway, is set to take place September 27–29, 2005 in Tokyo, Japan. The conference will be hosted by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, and co-hosted by the International... Read more

A group of institutions, including the National Center for Atmospheric Research, has begun a three-year project to model air quality in the U.S. over the next 50 years. Through the study, funded by the National Science Foundation, EPA, and Forest Service, researchers will examine how air quality will be affected by climate change, wildfires,... Read more

The Emerging Green Builders chapter of the Council hosted the first annual USGBC Design Competition this year. The challenge was to design an 18,000 ft2 (1,675 m2), $2 million addition to the nonprofit Pittsburgh Project. The designs, including classroom space and housing, were required to qualify for a LEED Platinum rating. Over 125 teams of... Read more

Desert Moon Productions has begun filming the first home-improvement show with a green emphasis.  The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) will air 26 episodes of the 30-minute television show, Build it Green! Set to begin running next July.

Build it Green! will be hosted by contractor Charlie Popeck and architect Jill Burtin and will... Read more