Pentstar Corporation of Minneapolis, Minnesota has developed a new building system based on their patented Concrete Form Masonry Unit (CFMU). Think of the system as a hybrid of masonry block and cast-in-place concrete construction. Recycled-content plastic webs connect inner and outer finished masonry faces and an inner layer of 2” (50 mm)... Read more

On June 11, Governor George Pataki signed an executive order that has the potential to make New York State facilities among the greenest in the country over the next decade. Executive Order No. 111, “Green and Clean State Buildings and Vehicles,” affects buildings owned, leased, or operated by state agencies. Its requirements include reducing... Read more

a survey to assess the regulatory barriers to more sustainable building and development.... Read more

Nice job on the mold article (

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 6 – June 2001). I do have a question on the checklist for minimizing mold risk that perhaps has more to do with the difficulties in using checklists as well as life-cycle assessment (LCA) approaches. Under the building operation section, one of the points is “avoid surrounding... Read more

The fifth Annual

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Environmental Awards ceremony took place in Washington, D.C. on April 19, 2001. Among the 14 winning projects and initiatives were:

At the recent Affordable Comfort Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) indoor air quality presentation delivered some surprising new information on building material emissions, ventilation rates, and the impacts of occupant activities. While quite a bit of information has been gathered on building... Read more

The

Architecture + Energy: Building Excellence in Sustainable Design 2001 Awards were announced in July. This year the program was open to projects from outside the Pacific Northwest for the first time, and jurors noted that the entries were the best they had seen in a competition. The four winners were:

Whenever the term “plastics” is used, a whole generation of Americans immediately thinks of Dustin Hoffman in the 1967 movie classic,

The Graduate. Hoffman portrays Ben, a promising but largely directionless college graduate, whom one family friend cannot help but enlighten with the following advice: “Plastics.”

Indeed, the... Read more

What used to be a trickle of finished wood products from Asia to the United States is now a flood. Furniture imports from China alone have risen from approximately $21 million in 1989 to nearly $1 billion in 1999. For environmental groups such as the Rainforest Action Network, the trend may be a golden opportunity to alter forestry practices in... Read more

It’s never good to misquote a source, but it’s especially embarrassing when that source is one’s own research! In our “Buildings and the Environment: The Numbers” feature article (

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 5) we listed the amounts of paved area in the U.S. in millions instead of thousands. The correct values are:

Entering the U.S. market with autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) has not been easy. North American Cellular Concrete made a go of it in 1992 (see

EBN

Vol. 1, No. 2) but got no further than a pilot plant. In 1996, the German Hebel Group built a manufacturing plant in Adel, Georgia through its subsidiary Hebel USA (see

EBN... Read more

In addition to the two honorees for whom we had advance notice, Gail Lindsey and Mike Nicklas, two other champions of sustainable design were designated “Fellows” of The American Institute of Architects at a May 18, 2001 ceremony in Denver. They are Gregg Ander of Southern California Edison, and Marsha Maytum of Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects in... Read more

The

American Tree Farm System has engaged PriceWaterhouseCoopers to review its certification and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses in relation to the American Forest & Paper Association’s (AF&PA) Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). The Tree Farm System is a program of the American Forest Foundation, providing technical... Read more

Solar electric buildings researcher, designer, and advocate Steven Strong was the recipient of this year’s prestigious Charles Greeley Abbot Award from the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). The award is given for significant contributions to the Society or to the field of solar energy. Strong is principal of Solar Design Associates in... Read more

W. R. Grace & Company is the latest casualty in asbestos-related lawsuits. The company, which has received over 325,000 personal injury claims related to asbestos and paid out $1.9 billion to resolve suits to date, has filed for Chapter 11 protection. W. R. Grace joins Owens Corning, Armstrong Industries, and more than 20 other companies in... Read more

The American Lung Association reports that in a nationwide random sample of office workers, 24% felt that there were air quality problems in their work environment and 20% believed that poor air quality affected their work performance. Sources of indoor air pollution include biological agents, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, radon, secondhand... Read more

Our Newsbrief on page 5 of

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 4 about the Maine Hospital Association incorrectly identified the Natural Resources Council of Maine as the Natural Resources

Defense Council of Maine. Our apologies.

... Read more