BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

March 1, 2003

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Document 220/K-02-001, Sandra Mendler, HOK, principal author. Available at no charge from: US EPA, Office of Administration and Resources Mgmt., MD-C-604-05, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; or as a PDF file from:

www.epa.gov/rtp/new-bldg/environmental/environmental.htm. Paperback, 75 pages

The... Read more

Product Review

March 1, 2003
Architectural cast stone is traditionally a highly customized product. The 34 member companies of the Cast Stone Institute use custom molds to make concrete “stone” veneers in the style and dimensions needed for each project. The molds are often used once for a project and then discarded. With LodeStone™, Dan Fette of Texas Cast Stone is... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2003

Edited by David Gissen. Princeton Architectural Press, New York, and National Building Museum, Washington, D.C., 2002. Hardcover, 192 pages, $40

Princeton Architectural Press and the National Building Museum have jointly published

Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century, a bound version of the museum... Read more

News Analysis

March 1, 2003

Children who play on wooden playsets treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) may face an increased risk of cancer, according to a study just released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). In the federal government’s first recognition of health risks resulting from CCA-treated wood, the study estimates that between 2 and 100... Read more

Op-Ed

March 1, 2003
Greening Federal Facilities

is a free resource from the Feds that provides information on technologies and processes for improving the sustainability of large buildings. We at BuildingGreen edited the 2nd Edition (see review, EBN

Vol. 10, No. 7/8).

We are now collecting feedback and suggestions to inform its potential future... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2003

Report from Buildings magazine and Corporate Realty, Design & Management Institute, 2002, 46 pages. Order at

www.squarefootage.net or by calling 800-452-4480, $495 + $7.50 s+h

Measuring the Success of Greenis a report documenting the results from an online survey of a broad range of building professionals conducted in the 3rd... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2003

The Boston Society of Architects (BSA) and New York chapter of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) are

looking for outstanding sustainable design projects. Co-sponsored by the groups’ Committees on the Environment, this biennial contest is open to designers practicing anywhere in the world and for any type of project located... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2003

The

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has moved its headquarters from Oaxaca, Mexico to Bonn, Germany. FSC plans to use the new International Center to coordinate FSC activities worldwide. The Oaxaca office will serve Latin America, joining a network of regional offices that will eventually include hubs in Asia, Africa, Europe, the... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2003

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has selected its 2003 Honor Award recipients. The esteemed awards will be presented at the AIA National Convention and Expo, to be held in San Diego, California this May. This year’s selections, chosen from nearly 600 submissions, include 15 whole buildings, 11 interiors, and 5 urban design projects.... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2003

The Portland, Oregon-based Bonneville Environmental Foundation has announced an impressive

increase in support of Northwest wind and solar energy production. Due largely to new commercial accounts, Bonneville’s Green Tag renewable energy sales were 471% higher in 2002 than in the previous year! These sales represent the avoidance of... Read more

News Analysis

March 1, 2003

Five additions to the federal government’s list of “known human carcinogens” and ten “reasonably anticipated carcinogens” debuted in the tenth

Report on Carcinogens, recently released by the National Institutes of Health. The biennial report was presented to Congress in December by the National Toxicology Program, a branch of the... Read more

Feature

March 1, 2003
Before 1997, the intersection at 25th Avenue and N.E. 127th Street in Seattle had a problem. Over the previous three years, at least a dozen collisions had occurred there, and speeding was an increasing problem. Concerned residents contacted the Seattle Department of Transportation, whose engineers suggested the installation of a mini traffic... Read more

News Analysis

March 1, 2003
In January 2003 Knoll®, Inc. became North America’s largest furniture manufacturer with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certification. The certification of Knoll’s manufacturing plants in East Greenville, Pennsylvania; Toronto, Ontario; and Grand Rapids, Michigan was performed by Scientific Certification Systems, Inc. (SCS) of... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2003

The

U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has put out the call for presenters for its

2003 International Conference and Expo, to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this November 11–15. The Council is seeking proposals and abstracts for both formal presentations and poster sessions in four categories: design and case studies,... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2003

The American Society of Landscape Architects will celebrate the second annual

National Landscape Architecture Week April 19 to 27. The week, which encompasses both Earth Day (April 22) and the birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted (April 27), will be marked by public events across the nation. Information on chapter events will be posted at... Read more

Op-Ed

March 1, 2003

In Volume 11, No. 12, EBN included Kalwall® R-20 (RSI-3.1) with Nanogel in its list of ten best new green building products. Certainly the first commercial use of aerogel is a remarkable milestone. It is very worthy of an EBN award.

However, what is not worthy of the award is the R-20 claim. The R-20 claim is almost certainly only for the... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2003

Proton Energy Systems, Inc. has been awarded a $375,000 contract to develop a solar-powered fuel-cell system for the U.S. Navy. During daylight hours, the one-kilowatt demonstration system will supply solar power while also generating hydrogen fuel through electrolysis of water. When the sun is not shining, the system will rely on the stored... Read more

News Brief

March 1, 2003

In related news, USGBC has awarded Meeting Strategies Worldwide the challenge of “greening” the 2003 Conference. The Portland, Oregon consulting firm will work with local hotels, food and beverage caterers, the city of Pittsburgh, the Lawrence Conference Center, and the exhibit hall decorating company to incorporate sustainable practices into... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003

New York State’s Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) is offering $1 million for development and demonstration of

innovative heating and cooling technologies for residential and commercial buildings in the state. NYSERDA expects to give out multiple awards of up to $250,000 each to support new technologies or... Read more

News Brief

February 1, 2003

by Daniel D. Chiras. Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River Junction, VT, 2002. Softcover, $29.95

At first glance, passive solar design might seem simple: put most of a building’s windows on the south side, minimize north-facing windows, and add thermal mass to store solar heat. But, as Daniel Chiras’s latest book,

The Solar House... Read more