Thirty plants across the U.S. are now producing Energy Star® manufactured homes, according to the Manufactured Housing Research Alliance. A complete list is available at www.mhrahome.org/pages/es_plant_list.htm. Encouraging further development, the Internal Revenue Service has ruled that the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (see

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CD-ROM released in 2005 by ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA; 610-832-9585; www.astm.org; $193.

ASTM International has released an updated version of its “Sustainability in Buildings” CD-ROM (see

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Vol. 12, No. 7 for a review of the first version). Sponsored by ASTM’s Subcommittee on Sustainability, the CD... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has approved tighter standards for dishwashers that carry the Energy Star® label. The new standard, which requires Energy Star dishwashers to be 41% more efficient than minimum federal standards, will take effect January 1, 2007. Current standards require Energy Star dishwashers to be 25% more efficient than... Read more

A study sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found no safe level of ground-level ozone, a component of smog linked to respiratory problems. The study, carried out by researchers at Yale and Johns Hopkins universities and published by

Environmental Health... Read more

BuildingGreen, Inc., is pleased to announce an agreement with McGraw-Hill Construction through which we will provide editorial guidance and articles for an upcoming magazine called

GreenSource. In addition to content for the magazine, BuildingGreen will provide strategic consulting and information to McGraw-Hill Construction’s Web-based... Read more

A Rhode Island court found Sherwin Williams Co., Millennium Holdings, and NL Industries liable in February 2006 for creating a public nuisance by making lead-based paint before it was banned in 1978. Although the judge dismissed punitive damage claims, the jury ordered the companies to abate lead-based paint on an estimated 240,000 Rhode Island... Read more

Recognizing the role of construction in the global economy and planetary ecology, in February 2006 the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) launched the Sustainable Building and Construction Initiative (SBCI). Part of UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry, and Economics (DTIE), SBCI will establish global baselines for green building,... Read more

Global Green USA, the U.S. affiliate of Green Cross International, has awarded two of its annual Millennium Awards to green building champions: William McDonough, FAIA, founding principal of William McDonough+Partners and cofounder of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, and Thomas C. Leppert, chair and CEO of Turner Construction. Also... Read more

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) has developed the Zero-Energy Building Award program to recognize energy-efficient projects designed for the Northeast climate. To be eligible, buildings must be located in the Northeast (including New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland), be occupied, and... Read more

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Center for Communities by Design has selected six communities and two regions to receive technical assistance in 2006 under the Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) program. The towns are New Orleans, Louisiana; Syracuse, New York; Longview, Washington; Guemes Island, Washington; Lawrence, Kansas... Read more

Looking back at the stories we covered in our March/April 1996 issue (Vol. 5, No. 2), we were disappointed by the slow progress, and even backsliding, in the intervening decade. Here’s where four of those stories stand today. We’ll hope for a happier update in our next Then & Now column.

Windows—Ten years ago this month,

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The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) plans to air a new television series called Building Green, beginning in spring 2006. Billed as a “home improvement program about building gorgeous homes that are healthier, more energy efficient, and better for the environment,” the show’s first season documents the creation of a 4,500 ft2 (420 m2)... Read more

As early as 2007, there may be a new minimum standard for green buildings. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) announced in February 2006 that they will cosponsor the development of ASHRAE... Read more

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signed an executive order in January 2006 requiring all executive branch state agencies, including the Higher Education Department, to adopt the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® Rating System. New buildings 15,000 ft2 (1,400 m2) or larger and those with over 50 kW of peak electricity demand are required to... Read more

The argument is really fairly simple. Fossil fuel supplies are limited. World oil production will soon peak—if it has not already—beginning an inexorable decline in output and increase in cost. The same goes for natural gas, though its transition from plenitude to shortage may be even more abrupt.

The best way to extend the availability... Read more