Buildings of

Earth and Straw:

by Bruce King, P.E.

1996, Ecological Design Press, Sausalito, California (distributed by Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River Junction, Vermont). Paperback, 170 pages, $25.

No definitive research has yet determined the cause of the oddball humor that invariably accompanies straw... Read more

Building Rating System Reaches Canada

The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) developed in the U.K. is now available in Canada. BREEAM is a voluntary rating system that assesses the energy and environmental performance of commercial buildings. The program has been available since 1993 in the U.K. and since... Read more

CORRECTIONS for the “Resources on Environmental Impacts of Materials” table on page 11 of our last issue:

The Green Guide to Specification is published by:

GTI Specialist Publishers

6 Hithercroft Court

Lupton Road

Wallingford, OXON OX10 9BT, U.K.

+44 1 4091 826401 (fax)

And we... Read more

An innovative

employee-satisfaction-based compensation contract for a new $40 million, 165 million square-foot (15 million m2) Ciba Geigy laboratory in Tarrytown, New York proved successful for the architecture and construction firms that risked part of their profits. Designers HLW International and contractor Sordoni Skanska agreed to... Read more

Handbook of

Sustainable Building:

by David Anink, Cheil Boonstra, and John Mak.

1996, James & James (Science Publishers) Limited.

Paperback, 175 pages, $40.

With their National Green Plan, the Dutch have long been leaders in their environmental thinking, and this book shows that the same applies to their... Read more

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Newsbriefs

A scientific panel convened by the

National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, reports that after surveying hundreds of studies, it found no clear and convincing evidence that exposure in the home to electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) causes any human disease. The panel determined that research... Read more

In the Old World, humans and animals have been adapting to each other for a long time, so it should come as no surprise that the owl habitat protected by new local regulations in Britain is of human construction. According to the Autumn 1996 issue of

Building for a Future, the North Cornwall and Derbyshire Dales District Councils now... Read more

The Ridgehaven Building:

Lean and Green for a Municipal Office Building

Many commercial buildings that have received attention over the past few years for environmental features are beautiful, high-end corporate buildings, or attractive demonstration buildings for utility companies or environmental organizations. The Ridgehaven Building... Read more

Residential Windows

by John Carmody, Stephen Selkowitz, and Lisa Heschong.

W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1996. Softcover, 214 pages, $22.

Simply put, this is one of the best books on energy to come out in recent years. The authors have done a superb job of clearly and accurately describing the complex developments in window... Read more

Halogen Torchieres:

Not a Bright Idea

Halogen torchieres, those highly popular, low-cost, dimmable, standing light fixtures that provide brilliant uplighting, have turned out to be one of the worst lighting products available. First introduced in the 1980s but only gaining widespread use in the past few years, these 300- to 600-... Read more

Submission deadline for the 1997

Quality Building Conference Design Competition is February 15, 1997. Prizes will be awarded to projects that incorporate cost-effective energy and resource conservation systems into their buildings. A range of categories will be judged, including both built and unbuilt projects. Awards will be presented... Read more

Awards & Competitions

Among the recipients of the first

Building Innovation in Home-ownership Awards was the Super-Insulated Straw Bale Affordable Housing Project of Tucson, Arizona. Project organizers receiving the award included Judy Knox and Matts Mhyrmann of Out On Bale, (un)Ltd., David Eisenberg of the Development Center for... Read more

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Sydney’s Olympic Village Goes Solar…

A plan including photovoltaics, extensive energy conservation measures, and reduced environmental impacts helped a team led by Lend Lease Corp. Ltd. and Mirvac Ltd. win the contract to build the Olympic Village for the year 2000 Games. The Village, which will likely support the largest residential PV system... Read more

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George Brewster

, a long-time advocate for environmental responsibility in the developer community, has been selected as executive director of the California Center for Land Recycling (CCLR), a new project of the Trust for Public Land. CCLR’s goal is to facilitate the redevelopment of brownfields. Brewster is cofounder of BayGroup... Read more