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

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

, 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

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

William Bobenhausen, Director of Sustainability at Steven Winter Associates (SWA) of Norwalk, Connecticut, was conferred the honor of “Fellow” by the American Institute of Architects at the May 2000 AIA Convention in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, SWA has received an official citation from the Connecticut General Assembly for “exemplary efforts to... Read more

Ecowork by Studio eg

Software from the Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). No charge. Download from the Web at

www.bfrl.nist.gov/oae/bees.html or order from the U.S. EPA’s Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse, 202/260-1023, ppic@epamail.epa.gov. Information: Barbara C. Lippiatt, 301/975-... Read more

In what EPA is calling the “largest enforcement penalty ever taken against a single ‘smokestack’ company under the Clean Air Act,” Portland, Oregon-based Willamette Industries is expected to spend in excess of $90 million in fines and pollution controls. The company violated the Clean Air Act by failing to install proper pollution controls or... Read more

Ocean

surface waters near the equator are warming at an “alarming” rate, according to analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released on July 28. Between 1984 and 1996, water temperatures have risen approximately 0.1°F (0.056°C) per year, which the researchers say is far more than can be explained by... Read more

Hilliard House is also a distinctly green project. The $1.2 million... Read more

On August 1, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation merged its GreenStone cellulose insulation division with the U.S. Fiber division of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. to form U.S. GreenFiber, LLC. With the creation of this 50:50 joint venture, both U.S. Fiber and GreenStone have ceased to exist. The new company will... Read more

Champion Enterprises and the U.S. Department of Energy have partnered to produce

the first HUD-code (mobile) home made entirely of structural insulated panels (SIPs). The 1,384 ft2 (129 m2) home, built in Silverton, Oregon, uses SIPs in the walls, floors, and ceilings. Two SIP manufacturers, Premier Building Systems and Precision Panel... Read more

Urban Options, a nonprofit organization in East Lansing, Michigan that is dedicated to improving the quality of the urban environment, is sponsoring its Second Annual

Tour de Sprawl—a bicycle and/or bus tour of Meridian Township—on October 8. For details, call Urban Options at 517/374-4444. This should be a companion to the... Read more

Just as common window screening keeps airborne pests out of buildings, Termi-Mesh keeps out subterranean termites. But that is where the analogy ends. If you are going to bury a screen underground, build walls on top of it, wrap it tightly around pipes, make it “chew-proof”... Read more

On August 8, after lengthy consultation with a number of environmental groups,

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. released a progressive statement on its wood purchasing policies. Among other measures, the policy aims to identify ancient forests and eliminate wood purchases from them, and to discourage conversion of native forests to... Read more

Few efficiency standards have generated as many jokes and complaints as the 1.6 gallons per flush (6 liter) toilet requirement. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 required manufacturers to reduce the quantity of water per flush to 1.6 by 1994. Some say the industry was caught off guard and was given insufficient time to... Read more

A study conducted for the Federal Energy Management Agency (FEMA), reported in the

New York Times on June 28, has concluded that at least a quarter of the

houses within 500 feet of U.S. coastlines may be lost to erosion during the next 60 years. If sea levels rise due to global warming, coastline erosion could be even worse.... Read more

In announcing a

Global Coal Initiative to research clean coal technologies, the Electric Power Research Institute forecasts a fourfold increase in worldwide power demand by 2050. “Meeting this estimated demand will require the equivalent of building a new 1,000-megawatt power plant somewhere in the world every two days for 50 years,”... Read more