We've been writing about the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in Environmental Building News since the organization was created in 1993. We've watched as FSC pushed the mainstream forest products industry toward more responsible forestry practices even as that industry fought to prevent or slow the adoption of the U.S. Green Building Council's... Read more

The Seattle city council in late January 2010 approved an ordinance requiring nonresidential and multi-family residential buildings within the city to benchmark (using Portfolio Manager or a similar tool) and report their energy use.

The ordinance will be implemented in phases, with nonresidential buildings over 50,000 ft2 (4,650 m2)... Read more

As part of a freshwater conservation initiative, American Standard recently committed $1 million to The Nature Conservancy to raise consumer awareness of saving water at home.

The funds, which will be endowed over a two-year period, will be dedicated to projects that educate consumers about water-efficient, low-consumption fixtures.... Read more

Martin Melaver, CEO of Georgia real estate firm Melaver Inc., and Patty McIntosh, formerly vice president in charge of coastal programs for the Georgia Conservancy, have teamed up to create a new development company that they say will add value to communities by reducing what is built.

Melaver McIntosh will offer services in... Read more

I've got questions. Is it worth opting in to the new system of LEED AP + a.k.a. LEED AP "with specialty"? GBCI is allowing legacies to opt into the... Read more

Here's how it works: Sunlight is... Read more

By Jane F. Kolleeny

The City of Vancouver had been contemplating expansion of its convention center since the mid-1990s, when the original building reached capacity. Years later in 2003, the city was selected to host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Having a new convention center completed and opened in 2009 turned... Read more

In July 2008, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg called on the Urban Green Council (formerly the New York chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council) to convene a task force to advise the City on future changes to municipal codes that would shrink the city’s carbon footprint and improve public and environmental health. Some 18 months... Read more

The Los Angeles Department of Public Works (LADPW) has approved an ordinance that would require the capture and reuse of stormwater by new homes, large developments, and certain redevelopments in the city. If signed into law, the ordinance would apply to runoff from ¾-inch (or greater) rainstorms, requiring 100% reuse or infiltration, thereby... Read more

Now we can see at... Read more

Joe Van Belleghem, the visionary developer of Windmill West Group who launched Dockside Green in Victoria, British Columbia, and his partner, Jack Julseth of Three Point Properties, have sold their 25% interest in the project to the credit union Vancity, which had already owned a 75% share. The 15-acre (6 ha) Dockside Green project, one of the... Read more

The company purchases used plastics bound for municipal recycling and industrial waste streams, such as milk jugs, detergent bottles, and car bumpers. The collected... Read more

Financing home or business energy improvements has always been a challenge, in part because available loans are relatively short-term and there is often uncertainty about whether the property will be sold. In a few places—and soon to be many more—it’s now possible to secure energy-improvement loans and pay them back through property taxes.... Read more

As reported in our last issue of

EBN and on BuildingGreen.com, Dow Styrofoam extruded polystyrene (XPS) has recently been Cradle to Cradle Certified by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) at the Silver level (see

EBN Feb. 2010). At first blush, this was shocking. How could a product that contains the brominated flame... Read more

In response to Congress’ current focus on energy policy, climate policy, and job creation, the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA), which focuses on fiberglass and mineral wool insulation, has created a special council to engage with legislators. Chaired by industry leaders and operating within the trade association, the... Read more