On January 21 the State of New York gained SmartWood certification for all of its “multiple-use” public forest lands. These are state forest lands outside of the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves that are managed for timber, wildlife, water quality, and recreation—a total of more than 700,000 acres (283,000 ha). In so doing, the state... Read more

In the not-so-distant past, buildings were simpler than they are now, and the roles of building professionals were less specialized and fragmented. Architects could effectively oversee the construction process, and contractors understood all the systems they were installing. Buildings were expected to provide basic shelter. If they had comfort-... Read more

by Jeff Gersh and Chelsea Congdon, 1999. Bullfrog Films, Inc., P.O. Box 149, Oley, PA 19547, 800/543-3764,  www.bullfrogfilms.com. Video, 57 or 27 mins., $29.95+$5 S&H for home use; with public performance rights: $250 for long version, $195 for short version. Rentals available.

This high-quality, compelling video is both a... Read more

In response to a recent advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to gather input on potential changes to the existing testing and labeling requirements for cellular plastic insulation, the expanded polystyrene (EPS) molders association is pushing for labeling requirements that better represent... Read more

The City of Seattle has adopted a Sustainable Buildings Policy for all municipal projects over 5,000 ft2 (465 m2) in size, with reference to environmental performance in general, life-cycle costing, and the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system. The policy states: “All facilities and buildings over 5,000 gross square feet of occupied... Read more

was declared the most popular home product of 1999 by

American Homestyle & Gardening magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards. Trex is a composite of recycled polyethylene and wood fibers (see EBN

Vol. 2, No. 2).

energy performance reporting for windows. Most recently, the Council has determined that, as of January 2000, participating manufacturers will be required to certify solar heat gain coefficient and visible light transmittance... Read more

by John and Lynn Bower, 2000. The Healthy House Institute, 430 North Sewell Road, Bloomington, IN 47408; 812/332-5073,

www.hhinst.com. Five-video set, $99.95

Inno-Therm Products, LLC has purchased the equipment and technology for manufacturing batt insulation of recycled cotton fabric from Greenwood Cotton Insulation Products, which ceased production of the insulation in 1997 (see EBN

Vol. 7, No. 2, page 10). Inno-Therm expects to begin commercial production of the insulation by March of... Read more

I’d like to offer a minor correction to your otherwise excellent article “Structural Engineered Wood: Is it Green?” (EBN

Vol. 8, No. 11). You stated that interior-grade softwood plywood uses a urea-formaldehyde (UF) binder. While that was once the case, all construction-grade plywood (both interior- and exterior-grade) now uses a phenol... Read more

According to an article in the January 4 edition of the

New York Times, the

backyard burning of household trash may release more dioxins and furans into the atmosphere than are released by all of the nation’s municipal incinerators. An estimated 20 million people in the U.S. burn their trash in uncontrolled backyard incinerators... Read more

A solar house in Hanover, New Hampshire—designed by

Marc Rosenbaum, P.E. and featured in EBN

Vol. 7, No. 2 —is a winner of this year’s National Technology Awards from the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Other winners will be announced at the Society’s Winter Meeting in Dallas... Read more

The Emeryville Resourceful Building project consists of one two-unit and one single-family dwelling on a tight, infill site.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was created in the early 1990s to establish worldwide, environmentally sound standards for forest management practices and to monitor the agencies that choose to certify forestry programs to those standards (see EBN

Vol. 6, No. 10). Although some forest industry groups participated in the FSC’s... Read more

After a year-and-a-half as EBN’s able products editor, Dwight Holmes plans to get back into

working with products instead of writing about them. As a result, we’re looking for someone to fill his shoes—both in helping track products for EBN and in maintaining our

GreenSpec directory. It’s an exciting time in the green products... Read more

Final details are expected in February on how over $1 billion that will be collected by the New Jersey electric utility industry over the next eight years from “

Societal Benefits Charges” will be spent. The electric restructuring legislation passed in 1999 calls for about three-quarters of the money to go to energy efficiency measures... Read more

has left her position as Managing Director of the U.S. Green Building Council to take over as editor of

Environmental Design and Construction magazine. Douglas replaces John Sailor, who initiated the magazine and led it through its successful first two years.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) has signed up more than 20,000 customers for its

green power program. Participating customers pay 6% more for green electricity (generated from wind, solar energy, and other renewables), but the higher costs are offset, according to the utility, by savings from compact fluorescent... Read more

, who, as chief architect for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), was instrumental in the adoption of a comprehensive sustainable design policy (see EBN

Vol. 7, No. 10), has now moved to the National Park Service. Effective December 20, 1999 Emmons became associate director for professional services,... Read more

The

rate at which open space is being lost to development has more than doubled since 1992, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in early November. During the decade 1982 to 1992 and excluding Alaska, 13.9 million acres (5.6 million ha) were converted from... Read more