On June 1

commercial clothes washers with volumes of 3.5 ft

3 (100 l) or less were added to the list of Energy Star®-qualified products. Until then, the program was limited to residential washers. To qualify, a washer must have a Modified Energy Factor (MEF) of 1.26 or higher—the same as the standard for residential washers. This... Read more

The Sustainability Subcommittee (E06.71) of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Committee E06 on Performance of Buildings has released two Standards documents and is preparing others. Under the leadership of subcommittee chair Dru Meadows, Standard E 2114-01, “Standard Terminology for Sustainability Relative to the Performance... Read more

I read with interest and concern your article on Plastics in Construction (

Vol. 10, No. 7/8). As always, EBN goes out of its way to present an even and fair picture of the issues and alternatives. Emphasis in the article was on alternatives and LCA, which are important areas for exploration. I think, however, that in this case, you were... Read more

Centex Homes, one of the nation’s largest home builders, announced in October

one of the biggest corporate gifts ever to The Nature Conservancy, which celebrated its 50th anniversary on October 22. Centex will provide $2.25 million over three years to support preserves in the states of Texas, Florida, and California. This pledge amounts... Read more

Certification Resource Center by the

Certified Forest Products Council

www.certifiedwood.org

www.forestworld.com

Gypsum Construction Handbook (see page 145 in the 90th anniversary edition), there is a completely impractical detail for depressing and subsequently hiding wallboard butt joints. But in the head and hands of a craftsman, this detail has been transformed into the ButtHanger, an elegant (despite the name) materials and labor-... Read more

Ross Spiegel, president of Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and a board member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), has established a new

Environmental Task Team within CSI. The team aims to incorporate environmental considerations into CSI’s operations and format documents. Among its tasks are:

Design Sense 2001 award of £40,000 for their work on Sainsbury’s supermarket on the Greenwich Peninsula. The Studio eg Ecowork furniture line (see

EBN

Vol. 9, No. 9) was recognized in the same September 26, 2001 program with the

Corporate Prize for Sustainable Design.... Read more

Mayor Richard Daley saw his first planted roofs several years ago while visiting Chicago’s sister city of Hamburg, Germany. At the same time, he was learning about urban heat islands (in which our urban areas maintain temperatures considerably higher than surrounding suburban and rural areas). He was particularly attuned to the urban... Read more

A $150,000 grant from the U.S. EPA is funding research by the New Buildings Institute (NBI) of White Salmon, Washington, to

assess actual energy use of newly constructed buildings. NBI will work with subcontractors Eley Associates of San Francisco and Architectural Energy Corporation of Boulder, Colorado on the project. Using the Energy... Read more

When we reported in

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 4 that annual energy use in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s recently constructed Cambria office building was coming in at 62,300 kWh, or $0.18/ft2 ($1.94/m2), we noted that this seemed too good to be true. Alas, this suspicion has been borne out. The incorrect energy... Read more

The tragedies of September 11th are almost too horrible to comprehend. We were fortunate at

EBN that no close friends or family members were killed or injured at the World Trade Center or the Pentagon. Our staff joins the millions around this country and the world in mourning the loss of life that occurred that day. We hope and pray... Read more

The Devens Enterprise Commission, the permitting authority for redevelopment of the former Fort Devens army base in north central Massachusetts, has created

a green building incentive program tied to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED™ rating system. The program offers a 15% reduction in development permit fees, up to $10,000 per... Read more

Arsenic has taken a big hit recently—from studies showing elevated levels in school playgrounds in Florida to public outcry about President Bush’s decision to relax drinking water standards for the element. Not surprisingly, product manufacturers are getting the message. In the July/August issue of

EBN (

Vol. 10, No. 7/8) we... Read more

Kudos for tackling the heavy issue of life-cycle analysis in plastic building materials in your article “Plastics in Construction” (Vol. 10, No. 7/8). Although we agree that a “full discussion of LCA” and other comparative analysis would require far more than a nine-page article, it concerns us nonetheless that your readers may interpret some... Read more

guaranteed that every one of his homes would have annual heating costs less than $100. “My competitors just tore us up over this, claiming it must be bogus because it just could not... Read more

by Guy Dauncey with Patrick Mazza, 2001. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, British Columbia. Paperback, 270 pages, $19.95.

Stormy Weather begins with an introduction providing clear and engaging explanations of global... Read more

At the August 2001 National Hardware Show in Chicago the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced the latest Energy Star®-labeled product: residential ceiling fans. Working closely with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Ecos Consulting, and the residential fan industry, EPA developed airflow efficiency, controls, and... Read more