Perfluorooctanoic acid (also called PFOA or C8), a chemical DuPont uses to make Teflon® and other products (see

EBN

Vol. 13, No. 3), is “likely to be carcinogenic to humans,” according to a draft report from an advisory board to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). If EPA accepts the designation, it will conduct a... Read more

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has published detailed case studies of the energy performance of six buildings as part of its evaluation for the U.S. Department of Energy. Each case study compares measured energy use to the project’s design goals and identifies successes and lessons learned. The six projects are the Zion... Read more

The European Parliament voted in July 2005 to make permanent a temporary ban on the use of phthalates in toys. Phthalates have been linked to reproductive abnormalities in the development of boys. Three types of phthalates were banned from all toys and three others were banned from only those toys that children can put in their mouths. The... Read more

Maine Governor John Baldacci signed a bill in June 2005 establishing rebates for homeowners and business owners who install photovoltaic (PV) systems and solar thermal systems used to heat water or air. PV systems installed before 2007 qualify for a rebate of $3 per watt for the first 2,000 watts and $1 per watt for the next 1,000 watts, capped... Read more

Busby Perkins+Will Architects Co. was awarded an

Architectural Firm Award. Every principal and... Read more

Update, August 2008: The article below was originally published in August 2005. The patented transpired collector, branded as SolarWall®, is no longer legally available under any brand other than SolarWall. According to Conserval Engineering, previous license agreements are no longer in place for the production or sale of the SolarWall air-... Read more

The nonprofit Healthy Building Network (HBN) has released a Guide to Plastic Lumber, rating the environmental and health performance of 38 types of plastic and composite lumber from 30 companies. Fourteen products were considered “most environmentally preferable” for containing only high-density or low-density polyethylene and 50% or more post-... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Environmental Protection Agency have teamed up to create the Partnerships for Home Energy Efficiency, an initiative aimed at cutting household energy costs by 10% over the next decade. “It seems to me that one of the greatest untapped sources of energy we have in... Read more

Ten years ago we covered sulfur lighting, then a new light source that offered promise for high efficacy (about 100 lumens per watt), good color rendition (CRI of 80), highly concentrated light (130,000 lumens from a light source the size of a golf ball) lending itself to light-tube distribution, very long lamp life, and avoidance of mercury (... Read more

“There is unbelievable carnage taking place,” says Daniel Klem Jr., Ph.D., a biology professor at Pennsylvania’s Muhlenberg College and the world’s foremost expert on the phenomenon of birds colliding with buildings. “If you take the number of birds killed from the Exxon Valdez oil spill and compare it to my lowest estimate of the number of... Read more

Two dozen U.S. and European institutional investors managing more than $3.2 trillion have joined with the United Nations in calling on U.S. companies, Wall Street firms, and the Securities and Exchange Commission to analyze and disclose the financial risks posed by climate change. The investors also pledged to invest $1 billion in clean... Read more

Royal Philips Electronics and Novaled GmbH have reached a new record in the efficiency of high-brightness, white, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs, or light-emitting polymers). The companies have achieved 25 lumens per watt at a brightness of 1,000 candela per square meter. “This is an encouraging result that clearly demonstrates the... Read more

Although it may look the same, the

EBN you hold in your hands—unless you are reading this online or printed it out yourself—is printed on a new (well, sort-of new) paper. New Leaf Opaque, the paper we’ve used since February 2002, is now made from 100% post-consumer recycled material. The prior formulation was 60% post-consumer content,... Read more

In a June 13, 2005, decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals’ Seventh Circuit upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Construction General Permit (CGP). This permit streamlines the permitting process, allowing property owners and contractors to discharge stormwater runoff from their sites without obtaining individual permits or undergoing... Read more