Motorists in Germany can now save on their auto insurance rates if they use public transportation. As reported in the February 23rd issue of

Global Environmental Change Report the German insurance company Rheinland (Neuss) has begun offering a 10% discount for policyowners who hold annual passes for the national railway system or for a... Read more

It was discovered in 1914 in Sweden that adding aluminum powder to cement, lime, water, and finely ground sand caused the mixture to expand dramatically. The Swedes allowed this “foamed” concrete to harden in a mold, and then they cured it in a pressurized steam chamber—an

autoclave.

In a move that would appear to reinforce the National Association of Home Builders’ anti-environmental policies, the Association’s Committee on Energy was voted out of existence at the January 29 Board of Directors’ meeting. Ironically, the decision was made just a day after the First Annual Energy Value Housing Awards were presented, with the... Read more

Joseph Demkin, editor. The American Institute of Architects. Published annually by John Wiley & Sons, 1996. Three-ring-bound. $150 + $2.50 for handling. Call 800/225-5945 to order.

Environmental Resource Guide (ERG) uses an effective combination of text and graphics to convey the environmental implications of building... Read more

You’re on the cutting edge again! We’ve been grumbling for the last couple of years about “Eco” homes carved out of the forest whose residents are forced to drive cars every day. Yours is the first article I’ve seen in green building literature that tackles transportation. Congratulations.

Energy Outreach Center

Olympia... Read more

Willammette Industries, Inc. has just retooled a particleboard mill in Eugene, Oregon to produce a higher-quality medium-density fiberboard (MDF) using at least 50% recycled wood. The mill will use wood waste from construction sites, pallets, and packing crates.

Anderson has set the company on the path toward sustainability. Awakened only within the past two years to... Read more

Submissions are being accepted until February 15 for the 1996 Quality Building Conference Design Competition. New to this year’s competition is an Unbuilt Projects/Proposals category. Contact JoAnn Lawrence at the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), 50 Miles Street, Greenfield, Massachusetts 01301, 413/774-6051, 413/774-6053 (fax... Read more

A government program to promote high-performance commercial buildings in Canada now has three buildings under construction. In two of these cases, program administrators were surprised to discover that their stringent criteria are being met using only conventional technologies, with little or no increase in building costs. They credit this... Read more

Real Goods has decided that it will no longer sponsor the National Tour of Independent Homes and is looking for another organization to take over the event. During its first three years, the Tour has been a big success, with 25,000 people having visited hundreds of homes and seeing first-hand the potential of renewables. Organizations... Read more

Thanks for your article on “Establishing Priorities.”

A bill to create the National Institute for the Environment (see

EBN

Vol. 4, No. 5) has finally been introduced in the current Congress by Representative Jim Saxton (R-NJ) and twenty cosponsors. The Institute is widely supported by business leaders, scientists, and environmentalists.

by Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan. Island Press, Washington, D.C., 1996. 200 pages; hardcover $40.00; paperback $19.95.

Cork has been used as a flooring material for more than one hundred years. Cork flooring is durable, it provides acoustical and thermal insulation, it cushions the foot, it is resistant to moisture damage and decay, it is fairly easy to clean, and it is harvested from trees in a sustainable manner. Though imported and thus energy-intensive to... Read more

Two small stands within a government-managed forestry operation in central British Columbia were certified in November 1995 by the Silva Forest Foundation. The 25- to 30-hectare (60- to 75-acre) stands in the Vernon Forest District are part of a larger area run by the Ministry of Forests Small Business Programme, which is collecting and sorting... Read more

Tax cuts and tax reform are getting lots of attention as we enter this election year, but a proposal that really makes sense is being heard only on the fringes.

Real Goods’ new “Solar Living Center” in Hopland, California will demonstrate the philosophies of energy independence and living in harmony with nature that the company preaches. Real Goods hired Sym Van der Ryn’s... Read more

Americus, Georgia-based Habitat for Humanity International is well-known for its coordination of locally based affordable housing projects. Working largely with donated materials and volunteer labor, Habitat (with its many local affiliates) is now one of the nation’s twenty largest homebuilders. Minimizing environmental impact has not... Read more

At a workshop sponsored by Environment Canada’s Winnipeg, Manitoba office, participants decided to establish the Used Building Materials Association as a networking forum and common voice for the salvage and reuse industry. With a core group of twelve American and Canadian nonprofit and for-profit salvage and reuse organizations, the... Read more