The Chicago architecture firm

Solomon Cordwell Buenz & Associates won a recent competition to design a large “sun wall” for the south-facing rear wall of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Washington headquarters. The winning design, if built, will span two-thirds of an acre (0.27 ha) (see rendering below) and generate enough electricity to... Read more

Termi-Mesh

, reviewed in the September issue of

EBN (Vol. 9, No. 9) is now available in Austin, Texas. For information, contact Manny Martinez at Termi-Mesh, LLC, a joint venture company formed per the marriage between Termi-Mesh Australia and ABC Pest & Lawn Services of Austin (512/997-0066).

New York’s First Green Residential High-Rise at Battery Park City

A residential tower now being designed for the southern tip of Manhattan will be the first to implement a comprehensive set of green guidelines established for such projects by the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA). To create the building, a team led by Albanese Development... Read more

The Brookings Institute reported in August that 18 acres (7.3 ha) of open fields or woodland in North Carolina are

being developed every hour. Most of this development is occurring around the state’s seven largest metropolitan areas.

Awards & Competitions

The American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment has announced a juried design competition for the

2001 Earth Day Top Ten green building awards. (In past years the Committee has used a less formal process to select projects for this recognition.) Entries will be reviewed for architectural... Read more

Cotton Insulation is Back!

The allure of a building material made from blue jeans is undeniable. One of the new cotton insulation products we field-tested attracted attention even at its 6:45 a.m. delivery here at the

EBN office. Peering into the blue bundles of batts, passersby peppered us with questions: what is this stuff, how does... Read more

Ten Shades of Green, a highly acclaimed exhibit

of green buildings from the U.S. and Europe, will be traveling from its New York City origin to several other locations over the next year. The exhibit was organized by the Architectural League of New York and curated by Peter Buchanan. Details may be found online at www.archleague.org. At press... Read more

DOE Promotes High-Performance Buildings

At an October 3 reception on Capitol Hill and an October 4 press conference, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will roll out the initial results of its roadmapping initiatives for promoting high-performance commercial buildings. The series of roadmapping efforts to be featured involve broad-based... Read more

Errata on BEES Review

In our review of the BEES 2.0 software (EBNVol. 9, No. 9), we made two unfortunate errors:

1. When we expressed skepticism about the installed costs of vinyl siding and stucco, we reversed the numbers. BEES uses $1.29/ft2 ($13.89/m2) for stucco and $2.07/ft2 ($22.39/m2). for vinyl. We have also learned that these... Read more

Builder John Abrams of Martha’s Vineyard is a storyteller. One of his favorite stories is about Gandhi:

A woman approaches the well-known visionary seeking help with her son’s addiction to sweets. He listens to her concerns but does not meet with the child. Over the following weeks she asks him several more times for help. Each time he... Read more

Regulations on Lead Paint in Salvaged Materials

A well-intentioned lead-based paint disposal rule proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has inadvertently caused confusion and concern in the building materials recycling and salvage industries, but the situation is improving. EPA intended to facilitate lead abatement by... Read more

Newsbriefs

The

City of Portland, Oregon has hired two well-known experts, architect Greg Acker and green building consultant Michael O’Brien, to provide services to the design and construction community as part of its Green Building Initiative. The City’s programs are expected to become available in late fall of 2000. For details,... Read more

There’s No Lack of Engineers Who Know Buildings!

I disagree with the reported remark concerning the mechanical engineering community and education in building design (“What the U.S. design profession really lacks is creative mechanical engineers!” in

EBN

Vol. 9, No. 7/8, p. 8). Yes, a mechanical engineer from one of the many... Read more

The

Permaculture Credit Union, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, opened this summer. The Credit Union will operate on the ethics of permaculture: care of the earth, care of people, and reinvestment of surplus. Membership in this credit union will be limited to those persons who have completed a Permaculture Institute-recognized... Read more

Newsbriefs

84 Lumber has just joined the ranks of Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Menard’s as the largest home improvement retailers to commit to some type of certified lumber policy (stores rank in total U.S. sales: Home Depot–#1, Lowe’s–#2, Menard’s–#3, and 84 Lumber–#6). The details and level of specificity of each store’s policy and plan vary—84... Read more

TXU Electric

, the largest electric utility in Texas, has entered into a “sell all, buy all” wind power contract with FPL Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of Florida Power and Light, a $6 billion national provider of electricity-related services (15% of FPL’s energy portfolio comes from wind power, with 85% coming from renewables or natural gas). FPL... Read more

Awards & Competitions

On June 15, 2000,

Collins & Aikman Floorcovering was presented with one of six Corporate Conscience Awards from the New York City-based Council on Economic Priorities. C&A was recognized for its ER3® carpet products, made largely from old carpet; for its take-back program for old carpet; and for its... Read more

Greenguard

trademark symbol Lists

IAQ-Rated Products

A new Web-based product registry from Air Quality Sciences, Inc. (AQS) offers product manufacturers an opportunity to promote products that meet widely referenced indoor air quality (IAQ) guidelines. While the number of building materials listed currently is small, it is... Read more

Capstone Microturbine: Opening Up Cogeneration Opportunities

Looking a bit like an oversized computer tower, the Model 330 Capstone MicroTurbine™ is paving the way for cost-effective cogeneration in commercial and industrial buildings. While state-of-the-art power plants can achieve a conversion rate for source energy to electricity as high as... Read more

Savings from T-5s Questioned

Your publication is at the very top of my periodical reading list. I am concerned, however, about the article regarding HID vs. T-5 fluorescent lighting (July/August 2000). While I’m totally in agreement with the concept, it appears to me that the 1st Source lighting analysis may be flawed. It is very risky to... Read more