Product Review
Update: EcoPanels are no longer available.
EcoPanels™ from Buchner Panel Manufacturing in San Francisco are hardwood veneers from forests certified by Scientific Certification Systems, Inc. (SCS) or the Rainforest Alliance’s Smartwood Program.The veneers are applied to substrates with... Read more
News Brief
To the best of our knowledge, this product is now being marketed under the name Rauhsaser by Better Wall System of Kenora, ON.
CoverAge, a wallpaper made from recycled paper and wood chips (see EBNVol. 1, No. 1), is no longer available. The Providence, Rhode Island-based importers of this European product... Read more
Product Review
Running water down the drain while waiting for hot water to get to the tap wastes over 10,000 gallons (38,000 l) each year in an average American household. The most common strategy for reducing this tremendous waste is a hot water recirculation system, which keeps hot water moving through the pipes, so... Read more
News Brief
Less than two years after the completion of its highly touted “EcoMart” in Lawrence, Kansas, Wal-Mart is continuing to experiment with energy-efficient technologies and design. A huge “Supercenter” in Moore, Oklahoma, has been announced as the next environmental demonstration store, and plans are reportedly in the works for a third in southern... Read more
News Brief
on Eco-Cities
The Urban Ecologist: The Journal of Urban EcologyStephen Wheeler, Editor, Urban Ecology, 405 14th Street, Suite 701, Oakland, CA 94612; 510/251-6330; urbanecology@igc.apc.org. Quarterly subscription with Urban Ecology membership, $30/year.
EcoCity Cleveland: Ideas and Tools and a Sustainable... Read more
Feature
Separating graywater from sewage and using it for landscape irrigation makes a lot of sense.
Separating graywater from sewage and using it for landscape irrigation makes a lot of sense. The practice conserves potable water, allows irrigation during droughts, and increases the life of in-ground septic systems. Unfortunately, use of untreated graywater for irrigation has long been illegal in most of the U.S. Finally, that is beginning to... Read more
News Brief
Produced and directed by Claude Beller, running time 28 minutes. Available from the National Audubon Society, 700 Broadway, NY, NY 10003; 212/979-3000.
This high-quality, fast-moving video is clearly aimed at the general public. The video succinctly spells out the problems with conventional buildings... Read more
Product Review
Strikes Back
Update: (October 24, 2005)To the best of our knowledge, this product is no longer available.
Owens Corning, long famous for its pink fiberglass, has just introduced a new fiberglass. And it’s white. The company calls their revolutionary Miraflex™ fiber “the first new form of glass fiber in... Read moreNews Brief
Environmental issues are not considered a significant factor for 1995 by carpet industry analysts, according to an extensive collection of industry trends and predictions published in
Carpet & Rug Industry, November 1994. Of the fourteen featured consultants and executives from all segments of the carpet industry, only Mac Bridger,... Read more
News Analysis
The National Association of Home Builders released in November the results of an environmental survey filled out by about 400 members. Among 17 environmental issues impacting builders, stormwater discharge topped the list with 47% affected, followed in order by building codes (46%), wetlands (46%),... Read more
Product Review
Glidden’s Spred 2000 and Lifemaster 2000 lines, introduced in 1993, were the first such paints from a mainstream paint company (see EBN... Read more
News Brief
A personal note: The people perhaps most responsible for the recent resurgence of interest in straw-bale construction, Matts Myhrman and Judy Knox, are facing a severe medical situation. Due to this problem and our country’s unresolved health-care needs, they also have a financial crisis to contend with. A group of their friends have organized... Read more
Op-Ed
I would like to offer some comments about your recent Carpeting article (EBN, November/December 1994). First of all, there seems to be a movement afoot in some circles to discredit the work of Dr. Anderson. She and her work have been well respected since she founded her laboratory in 1987. Suddenly, rumors are circulating... Read more
News Analysis
On December 19 NASA provided the most conclusive evidence yet that chlorine molecules from CFCs are responsible for ozone destruction in the stratosphere. Mark Schoeberl, project scientist with NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, was quoted in the 23 December 1994
Global Environmental Change... Read more
News Brief
Environmental Code of Practice for Buildings and Their Services by S. P. Halliday. Published May, 1994 by The Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA), Old Bracknell Lane West, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 7AH, United Kingdom; 44-344-426511, 44-344-487575 (fax). Cost is £45 (about $70)... Read more
News Brief
Carrier Corporation is the only building products manufacturer to receive a 1994 Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award from the U.S. EPA. Carrier won the award for developing the first residential central air-conditioner to run on a chlorine-free refrigerant, HFC-134a (a hydrofluorocarbon). The company was simultaneously cited for its new... Read more
News Analysis
A number of home rating and home certification programs for environmentally sound construction are now in place across the country. The City of Austin’s Green Builder Program and the Good Cents Environmental Homes program were described in previous issues of EBN. New to the field are the E Seal program from... Read more
Product Review
To the best of our knowledge, this product is no longer available.
Considered just a futuristic technological curiosity a few short years ago, vacuum panel insulation is now a reality.Owens Corning (OC) began manufacturing its new AURA™ vacuum insulation panels at a brand... Read more
News Brief
A new efficiency record has been set for the commercial-scale conversion of sunlight into electricity. Efficiency over 20% was achieved in a 2 kW installation near Atlanta, Georgia using a system called Integrated High-Concen- tration Photovoltaics (IHCPV). Built by AMONIX, Inc. of Torrance, California, the system uses low-cost... Read more
News Analysis
According to a market study of cellulose insulation in the November issue of
Resource Recycling, manufacturers have been struggling to keep up with the demand for cellulose insulation over the past year, even as the price of recycled newspaper has skyrocketed. Because of price increases,... Read more






