Amoco Foam Products Company has added the new Amofoam-RCX™ to its existing Amofoam-RCY™ line of recycled-content extruded polystyrene insulation. The RCX products, aimed at residential markets, are laminated on both sides with a polyethylene film to protect them from damage during handling and construction, and they are configured in thinner... Read more

Regarding your article entitled “Steelcase Providing Detailed Emissions Data,” published in the May/June 1995 issue of

Environmental Building News: I first want to commend you on the article and discussion regarding Steelcase’s efforts to reduce emission of VOCs and formaldehyde from its products. I also want to... Read more

In recent years, responsible recycling of nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cad) batteries, mercury thermostats and a few other wastes has been hampered... Read more

The Passive Solar Industries Council and the American Solar Energy Society will announce the first pilot sites for their Buildings for a Sustainable America: Education Campaign at the annual ASES conference in July. The campaign hopes to demonstrate the potential of passive solar and renewable energy strategies in buildings. For... Read more

The May/June issue of

Environmental Building News was of particular interest to us, with its focus on the use of straw in building. We were especially interested, of course, in your comments on Agriboard.

While we were impressed with the article’s clear, accurate and objective overview, the comments on R-... Read more

Center for Resourceful Building Technology, PO Box 100, Missoula, MT 59806; 406/549-7678. 112 pages, paperback, $25.

Wesley A. Groesbeck and Jan Striefel, ALSA. Environmental Resources, Inc., 2041 E. Hollywood Ave., Salt Lake City, UT 84108-3148; 801/485-0280 (phone & fax). 368 pages, $37.50 postpaid.

... Read more

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) 1995 Honor Awards were presented on May 5 at the Institute’s annual convention in Atlanta. Many of the projects recognized this year exhibited a sensitivity to the environment, suggesting that environmental criteria may have carried more weight with the... Read more

The National Material Exchange Network is now online. In May the materials exchange, which links generators of industrial “waste” with users of those materials (see EBN

Vol. 2, No. 3), became an interactive, free Web page with participation of 51 regional waste exchanges throughout North America. The Web page address is www.earthcycle.... Read more

With this issue we begin our fourth year of publishing EBN. The milestone gives me an opportunity to reflect back over our short history and tell you about some developments for the future. It has been a good three years—no, make that great. We’ve had our share of ups and downs and financial struggles, to be sure, but positive... Read more

In a statement released this April, The American Physical Society argued that the electromagnetic fields (EMF) emanating from power lines and appliances do not show a consistent, significant link with cancer. APS, the world’s largest organization of physicists with over 43,000 members, argues that the... Read more

GreenStone Industries, the nation’s largest producer of cellulose insulation, just announced the acquisition of Pacific Rim Recycling, a curbside recycling business in Benicia, California. Entering the recycling business is an effort to deal with the rapidly rising cost of recycled newspaper. Eric Oganesoff, chairman and CEO of GreenStone... Read more

[enlarge image]Notes:

One and Two Family Dwelling Code is likely to spur adoption... Read more

Bruce K. Ferguson. 1994, CRC Press, 2000 Corporate Boulevard, NW, Boca Raton, FL 33431; 407/994-0555. 270 pages, hardcover, $77.45.

This is a technical book—much more than most designers and builders think they need to know about the topic—but it is reviewed here because of the significance of good... Read more

Of all the common materials used in construction, none poses quite the challenges of roofing—particularly from an environmental standpoint.

Roofs provide one of the most fundamental functions of a building: shelter from the elements. Roofs must endure drastic temperature swings, long-term exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light, high winds,... Read more

David Engwicht. 1993, New Society Publishers, 4527 Springfield Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19143; 800/333-9093. 180 pages, paperback, $12.95; cloth, $39.95.

Reclaiming Our Cities & Towns is the sort of book one wishes everyone would read. It is relevant whether you design communities,... Read more

Dianna Lopez Barnett with William D. Browning. Rocky Mountain Institute, 1739 Snowmass Creek Road, Snowmass, CO, 81654-9199; 970/927-3851, 970/927-4178 (fax); 1995. 135 pages, spiral-bound, $16.95 ($20.34 with shipping).

This Primer from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) is the most complete... Read more

It has been widely reported in building trades magazines that the wood preservative ACQ Preserve™ (see EBN,

Vol. 2, No. 1) has been certified for its environmental features by Scientific Certification Systems, Inc. (SCS). That is not true. A study is being conducted by SCS that compares ACQ and CCA preservative, but that study has not... Read more

Forintek Canada Corp., 2665 East Mall, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6T 1W5, 604/222-5743, 604/222-5690 (fax). CDN$250-320 for entire set (depending on affiliation).

Funded primarily by Natural Resources Canada, the Sustainable Construction Materials Project aims to provide a computer model that... Read more

In October 1994 the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) announced its Sustainable Forestry Initiative. The Initiative is based on a set of “Sustainable Forestry Principles and Implementation Guidelines,” which all member companies are expected to adopt. Since October the... Read more