BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

June 1, 2002
U.S. energy consumption declined 1.8% in 2001

, compared with 2000, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data from the U.S. Department of Energy. Consumption totaled 96.96 quads (102.3 x 1018 J). Nuclear power production climbed 1.8% to 8.15 quads (8.6 x 1018 J), while solar and wind power output grew by 20.6% to 0.146 quads (0.... Read more

News Analysis

June 1, 2002
In an upset for property-rights supporters, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that the Constitution does not stipulate governmental compensation to landowners for the temporary halting of development on their property. The debate over what constitutes a “taking” of land has raged for decades, with most decisions in the past 15 years supporting... Read more

News Brief

June 1, 2002
Jubilee Campus of the University of Nottingham in England received the

2002 Sustainability Award from Civic Trust.

Located between an industrial area and suburban housing, the campus features energy-efficient, mixed-use buildings with green roofs. The buildings’ energy efficiency is due in part to a close collaboration between the... Read more

News Brief

June 1, 2002

DuPont Commercial Flooring has created the DuPont™ Antron® Sustainability Advisory Council, a volunteer network of multidisciplinary experts who will help the company understand and manage the total environmental impact of its Antron fiber over the entire life cycle of commercial flooring applications. Members of the Council are: Penny Bonda of... Read more

News Brief

June 1, 2002

Portland, Oregon voters have spoken out against modifications to an

Oregon state law restricting urban sprawl. A ballot measure brought by Portland developers called for stripping the local governing body, Metro, of its ability to mandate land-use patterns within Portland. According to the state law, Oregon urban areas must define... Read more

News Brief

June 1, 2002
On Earth Day, April 22, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors dedicated

the nation’s largest rooftop solar electric system—located atop the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California.

The 1.18 MW photovoltaic (PV) system is an expansion of a 640 kW PV system that was completed in the summer of 2001. The PowerGuard® system, which covers... Read more

News Brief

June 1, 2002

The Los Angeles City Council agreed in April to commit to sustainable building techniques by adopting LEED™ certification standards for all new public works projects of 7,500 ft2 (700 m2) or larger. Council members hope the initiative will not only improve environmental performance of the city’s buildings, but also benefit taxpayers—largely... Read more

Feature

Today's dominant lighting technologies are either woefully inefficient or reliant on the toxic heavy metal mercury, but significant improvements are occurring all the time.

June 1, 2002

Electric lighting has advanced tremendously in the past few decades, yet the leading technologies in use today still generate 90% of their output as heat (incandescent lighting), or rely on the toxic heavy metal mercury to operate (fluorescent and nearly all HID light sources). Clearly there is still progress to be made.

This article... Read more

Op-Ed

May 1, 2002

Thank you for your comparison article on non-water using urinals (“Falcon Waterfree Urinals Compete with Waterless,”

EBN

Vol. 11, No. 2). It is great to see you bringing this very viable technology to your readers. I would like to respond with some additional facts your readers may be interested in.

First of all, we really... Read more

News Analysis

May 1, 2002
Energy consumers across the country can now confidently purchase all the benefits of green power regardless of whether local utilities can provide the electricity itself. The Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) announced in March the availability of Green-e certification for

tradable renewable energy certificates (TRCs), allowing consumers... Read more

News Brief

May 1, 2002

A new online tool, produced jointly by the Earth Day Network and Redefining Progress, allows individuals in 58 countries to

calculate their impact on the planet. After completing the 15-question survey, participants learn the size of their ecological footprints in global acres (or hectares), each of which corresponds to one acre (or... Read more

News Brief

May 1, 2002
On May 29, the 2002

Pritzker Architecture Prize will be bestowed upon Australian architect

Glenn Murcutt, who is highly regarded for his ability to integrate the spare beauty of modernism at its best with great sensitivity to site, climate, and culture. Although he travels widely to teach and lecture, he has never accepted a commission... Read more

News Brief

May 1, 2002

by F. Kaid Benfield, Jutka Terris and Nancy Vorsanger; foreword by Maryland Governor Parris Glendening. Natural Resources Defense Council, New York, 2001. Paperback, 212 pages, $20.00.

It’s easy to get depressed reading about sprawl. Dozens of books paint a bleak picture of the impact of automobiles and sprawl on our environment and well-... Read more

Feature

May 1, 2002
Providing a healthy building is a team effort, involving participation on all levels—from initial design right through to building operation and maintenance. Sometimes overlooked in indoor air quality planning are measures that must be implemented during the process of construction or renovation to prevent the introduction of air quality problems... Read more

Op-Ed

May 1, 2002

After seven months of making herself invaluable as an intern,

Jessica Boehland (pronounced “BEE-lend”) has agreed to accept a permanent position as

EBN’s

Associate Editor. Originally from Duluth, Minnesota, Boehland graduated in 2001 from Oberlin College, where she was a student in Dr. David Orr’s Environmental Studies... Read more

News Analysis

May 1, 2002
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has just unveiled a public database of high-performance building projects. The database features innovative work in such fields as energy efficiency, materials use, and water conservation. “We’re excited to be able to provide this resource to the community as a clearinghouse of information about high-performance... Read more

News Brief

May 1, 2002

Atrazine, America’s most common herbicide,

disrupts hormones in frogs, according to findings published in the April 16 issue of

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The University of California–Berkeley team found lowered testosterone levels and hermaphroditism (possessing both male and female sex organs) in frogs... Read more

Product Review

May 1, 2002
The latest major paint company to offer a zero-VOC interior latex paint, PPG Architectural Finishes, is now selling the “Pure Performance” line under its Pittsburgh Paints brand. PPG’s commitment to this product is evidenced by the fact that Pure Performance is replacing an established paint line called Wallhide. Positioned just below its top-... Read more

News Brief

May 1, 2002

On Earth Day, The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) announced this year’s Top Ten Green Projects. The winning projects represent a wide range of function and location, and employ an array of environmental strategies. This year’s awards program was juried, for the first time, by invited jurors from... Read more

News Brief

May 1, 2002

Edited by Joseph F. Kennedy, Michael G. Smith, and Catharine Wanek. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada, 2002. Paperback, 288 pages, $26.95.

“Natural building is nothing new,” begins

The Art of Natural Building: Design, Construction, Resources. Nor is it obsolete, argue editors Joseph F. Kennedy, Michael G.... Read more