Product Review
News Brief
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority released two
Program Opportunity Notices announcing nearly $2 million in funding for high efficiency lighting products and demonstrations (PON 629-01, $1.2 million) and heating and cooling (PON 649-01, $750,000). Proposals for both are due in late November. Details are... Read more
Product Review
Gypsum Construction Handbook (see page 145 in the 90th anniversary edition), there is a completely impractical detail for depressing and subsequently hiding wallboard butt joints. But in the head and hands of a craftsman, this detail has been transformed into the ButtHanger, an elegant (despite the name) materials and labor-... Read more
News Brief
by Dan Imhoff, forewords by Randy Hayes and Sim Van der Ryn, 2001. Watershed Media, Healdsburg, CA; 707/895-3490,
www.watershedmedia.org. Paperback, 136 pages, $22 plus shipping.
Building With Vision is a rare mix of philosophy, practical information on building materials and practices, and superb visual presentation. Following... Read moreNews Analysis
EcoTimber, of Berkeley, California, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected distributors of FSC-certified wood products, was sold in October to Hayward Lumber, headquartered in Monterey. Actually, at the time of closing, EcoTimber represented only the flooring and decking division of the original company; the company’s hardwood lumber... Read more
News Brief
David L. Crawford is a recipient of the
2001 Presidential Award from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), for his work in creating awareness of sky brightness and light pollution, and leadership in promoting outdoor lighting to reduce sky brightness. The award was presented at the August 6, 2001 Honors Luncheon... Read more
News Brief
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation headquarters, previously cited in
EBN as the first (so far, the only) building to earn a LEED™ Platinum rating, now has more high-profile kudos. The building is one of 11 winners of the
5th Annual Business Week
/Architectural Record Awards, selected from among 192 applicants and 19 finalists... Read more
News Analysis
Feature
These roofs are not just green, they're alive.
Mayor Richard Daley saw his first planted roofs several years ago while visiting Chicago’s sister city of Hamburg, Germany. At the same time, he was learning about urban heat islands (in which our urban areas maintain temperatures considerably higher than surrounding suburban and rural areas). He was particularly attuned to the urban... Read more
News Brief
Kompan, Inc., the nation’s largest manufacturer of commercial wooden playground equipment, is
the latest manufacturer to abandon CCA-treated wood. Citing concern on behalf of customers, the company completed the switch to nonarsenic, nonchromium pressure-treated wood on September 15. Kompan is using Natural Select™ wood treated with... Read more
News Analysis
At the August 2001 National Hardware Show in Chicago the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced the latest Energy Star®-labeled product: residential ceiling fans. Working closely with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Ecos Consulting, and the residential fan industry, EPA developed airflow efficiency, controls, and... Read more
Product Review
Arsenic has taken a big hit recently—from studies showing elevated levels in school playgrounds in Florida to public outcry about President Bush’s decision to relax drinking water standards for the element. Not surprisingly, product manufacturers are getting the message. In the July/August issue of
EBN (
Vol. 10, No. 7/8) we... Read more
News Brief
CD-ROM of 46 technical papers, 2001. Send a check (made out to “Tides Center/Ecological Building Network”) to: Bruce King, Ecological Building Network, 209 Caledonia Street, Sausalito, CA 94965. Price: $70 + $10 shipping
The First International Conference on Ecological Building Structure, held July 5-9, 2001 in San Rafael, California,... Read moreNews Analysis
Evergreen Nylon Recycling, the joint venture between Honeywell and DSM Chemicals (see
EBN
Vol. 8, No. 9), has ceased operations indefinitely. The facility was slated to process 200 million pounds (90 million kg) of used carpet annually, producing 100 million pounds (45 million kg) of caprolactam, the building block of nylon 6.... Read more
News Brief
Edited by Lynne Elizabeth and Cassandra
Adams, 2000. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
New York. Hardcover, 392 pages, $70.
Alternative Construction provides aterrific overview of various methods
for building with earth, straw, and
bamboo. With writings from over 30
authors—many of them experts or
... Read more
News Analysis
Op-Ed
mourns the loss of friend and green building champion David Kibbey, of Berkeley, California, who died on August 9, 2001 after a long battle with cancer. A native of Vermont, Kibbey was an artist, craftsman, scientist, and counselor. He designed and built beautiful spaces, edited the
Architectural Resource Guide product directory,... Read more
News Brief
A $150,000 grant from the U.S. EPA is funding research by the New Buildings Institute (NBI) of White Salmon, Washington, to
assess actual energy use of newly constructed buildings. NBI will work with subcontractors Eley Associates of San Francisco and Architectural Energy Corporation of Boulder, Colorado on the project. Using the Energy... Read more
News Analysis
Product Review
Vol. 10, No. 6). We are pleased to report that we were off by at least one! E-Crete, whose plant is located in Casa Grande, Arizona (near Phoenix), has been producing AAC blocks since December 2000. The... Read more






