Florida developer Kitson & Partners has announced plans to build a new city powered entirely by solar energy. The proposed development, Babcock Ranch, would include 19,500 homes on 17,000 acres (6,900 ha)—much of which would remain protected green space—northeast of Fort Myers, Florida. A 75-megawatt photovoltaic plant, the largest in the... Read more

Some leaders of the green building industry have moved... Read more

Like a growing number of municipalities that are concerned about algae growth in freshwater reservoirs, Westchester County, north of New York City, has banned all phosphate-based fertilizers, effective January 2011. The law also imposes restrictions on all fertilizer use between April and December, effective in 2009, and prohibits most use of... Read more

The factory in Electra, Texas, where Agriboard Industries has made straw-core structural insulated panels (SIPs) since 2000 (see

EBN July 2002) was destroyed by a wildfire on April 9, 2009, when strong, shifting winds burned 4,500 acres (1,800 ha) in Wichita County. The loss is estimated at $20 million. The company is now operating in... Read more

Shaw Industries Group, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, and DAK Americas, the nation’s second-largest maker of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin and its largest producer of polyester staple fiber, are building a PET container recycling plant that the companies expect to be the largest in the U.S.

The textile maker Invista recently reached a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which sued the corporation for environmental noncompliance at 12 facilities that Invista acquired from the chemical giant DuPont in 2004.

It’s the year 2060. A developer has gathered a group of designers to answer a request for proposals for a 250,000 ft2 building in Portland, Oregon, built entirely with natural materials and without mechanical systems, plumbing, or electric lighting. The developer represents a company that will profit from the ecosystem services the building... Read more

2030e2.perkinswill.com

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in April 2009 that it would step up its regulation of emissions from cement kilns, including the first-ever regulations for existing facilities. In response to a lawsuit brought against the agency in 2006 by environmental groups and nine states, EPA is drafting a rule that would set... Read more

Cutting carbon, saving money, and creating green jobs were the leading themes in April 2009 announcements from Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle. Each city plans to use federal stimulus funds for building retrofit programs.

A celebration of the life and work of Gail Lindsey, FAIA, will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, on June 20, 2009. All are welcome to come to share memories of Gail and meet others whose lives were impacted by her (see

EBN Mar. 2009 for our memories). More details and contact information are available at www.celebratinggail.com or... Read more

The 2008 John Wiley & Sons book

Biophilic Design, edited by Stephen Kellert, Judith Heerwagen, and Martin Mador (with a chapter by

EBN executive editor Alex Wilson), has received the 2008 American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in the Architecture and Urban Planning category. The book addresses... Read more

Achieving necessary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will require almost every home in colder climates of the U.S. to undergo a deep-energy retrofit, often increasing wall insulation to R-30 or more and attic insulation to R-50. Although these retrofits are not technically challenging, they are extraordinarily expensive, running... Read more

Keeping things from catching fire and burning up is a good idea, especially when those things are parts of our buildings or the furnishings we put in our buildings. Flame retardants—chemicals added to products either during manufacture or afterwards—are one of the ways we make products more resistant to igniting or burning (see EBN June 2004... Read more

Whenever we reduce water use, we also save energy. In fact, several of the most cost-effective energy saving strategies -- projects with the quickest "payback" -- are water conservation improvements that reduce hot water use. I'll cover some of these strategies here, but first I want to explain why even reducing our cold water use saves energy... Read more

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