Great Lakes Chemical Corporation, the sole manufacturer of the two forms of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants that are considered most toxic—penta-BDE and octa-BDE—ceased production of those chemicals at the end of 2004. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Great Lakes Chemical announced the voluntary phaseout of... Read more

NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines. Austin, Texas, homebuilder Ray Tonjes, chair of NAHB’s Green Building Subcommittee, presented the Guidelines as “a milestone in our efforts to provide safe,... Read more

Recycled content is the most widely cited attribute of green building products. Numerous federal, state, and local government agencies have “buy recycled” programs aimed at increasing markets for recycled materials—these programs typically have an explicit goal of supporting recycling programs to reduce solid-waste disposal. A handful of... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council Board voted at its Portland, Oregon, meeting in November 2004 to create a Research Committee. The committee will identify research priorities in the green-building field, educate policy makers and funding agencies regarding green-building research needs, expand the scientific basis of the LEED

® Rating... Read more

The member nations of the European Union (EU) have begun trading the right to emit carbon dioxide (CO

2), a global-warming gas and the chief culprit in climate change. The Emissions Trading Directive, begun in a pilot phase on January 1, 2005, was planned as a keystone in the EU’s bid to comply with the Kyoto Protocol. Industry critics... Read more

Lighting for Tomorrow, organized by the American Lighting Association, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, has officially launched its 2005 Design and Technology Competition. The competition is designed “to stimulate the market for high-efficiency residential lighting fixtures” and “to increase market... Read more

In the wake of the U.S. Green Building Council’s April 2004 decision not to allow trade associations to become full members (see EBN

Vol. 13, No. 6), the snubbed organizations have banded together to create “The North American Coalition on Green Building.” This group, which at last count had 34 members but no single point of contact,... Read more

Following its July 2004 declaration of Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see EBN

Vol. 13, No. 9), U.S. Plastic Lumber (USPL) has announced that it will discontinue its composite lumber product lines and focus exclusively on 100%-plastic products as part of its restructuring plan. The decision means that USPL will discontinue composite decking and... Read more

During the international climate change conference in Buenos Aires in December 2004, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), representing the 155,000 Inuit, or Eskimo, peoples, announced plans to demand a ruling from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that by contributing to global climate change, the U.S. is threatening Inuit... Read more

® in 1969 and since then has developed a wide range of wall, corner, and door guards. In 2002, one of Acrovyn’s biggest customers—Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest health maintenance organization—announced that it would begin requiring... Read more

A new website is focusing on the market for buying and selling homes that were built or remodeled to be green or healthy. “Although some real estate professionals may be familiar with the concept of green and healthy homes, many are not knowledgeable about the inherent extra value of a specialty home,” according to Roy Prince of Green and... Read more

Aluminum and packaging manufacturer Alcan, Inc. and the International Business Leaders Forum have awarded their first-ever

Alcan Prize for Sustainability to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Alcan created the $1 million prize “to recognize outstanding contributions to the goal of economic, environmental, and social sustainability by... Read more

Cartoonist Scott Adams has announced the completion of Dilbert’s Ultimate House (DUH), an online, virtual Silicon Valley home for his most famous character. DUH was created by Heartwood Studios, a 3D animation and multimedia studio, with suggestions from more than 3,000 Dilbert fans and energy consultation from Pacific Gas & Electric. The... Read more

Following the recommendations of the green building task force formed in 2003, Boston mayor Thomas Menino has announced that all new and renovated city-owned buildings must achieve a Silver or higher rating in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED

® Rating System. Furthermore, the city will amend Article 80 of the Boston Zoning Code to... Read more

by Robert H. Falk and G. Bradley Guy, 2004. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-150, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin. 113 pages, softcover.

Developed by the USDA Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in cooperation with the Powell Center for Construction and Environment at the University of Florida,... Read more

Voters in 111 communities in 25 states approved $11 billion in new public funding for conservation in the November 2004 elections, representing a 76% passage rate. “American voters are remarkably consistent in approving three out of every four funding measures for land conservation, both before 9/11 and after, whether in recession or recovery... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council’s Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee (TSAC) has released a public comment draft of its long-awaited report on polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Commissioned to determine “the availability and quality of the evidence as a basis for a reasoned decision about the inclusion of a PVC-related credit in the LEED Rating... Read more

A CD-ROM promoting the recycling of lamps containing mercury is available at no charge from the Lamp Recycling Outreach Project, a cooperative agreement between the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers (ALMR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to Paul Abernathy, executive director of ALMR, the recycling rate for... Read more

by Jerry Yudelson, 2004. Green Building Marketing, 4727 S.W. Vesta Street, Portland, OR 97219, 503-246-4111. Three-ring binder, 206 pages, $79.95.

The Insider’s Guide to Marketing Green Buildings is a no-frills book that delivers. Author Jerry Yudelson, a professional engineer with a master’s degree in business administration and... Read more