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Vol. 14, No. 1).

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm issued an executive directive in April 2005 requiring that all new buildings for state agencies, universities, and community colleges be certified according to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® Rating System. The directive also requires that all buildings owned or operated by the state reduce their... Read more

A bill being debated in the California legislature would ban both bisphenol-A and certain phthalate plasticizers in baby products. Bill AB 319, introduced in the California legislature in February 2005 by Assemblywoman Wilma Chan of Oakland, would ban, effective January 1, 2007, the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of any product... Read more

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has signed into law a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requiring public utilities to purchase at least 5% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2008. Eligible technologies include wind, solar, geothermal, small hydropower, most biomass, and fuel cells using one of these fuel sources. The RPS... Read more

Ecotone Publishing has announced plans to publish

Who’s Green?, envisioned as “the preeminent resource book for locating firms, organizations, and institutions that are actively participating in the growth of the sustainable design and construction field,” according to Ecotone. It will include architecture, engineering, interior design... Read more

The organizers of the Rethinking Sustainable Construction 2006 (RSC06) conference, set for Sarasota, Florida, in September, are calling for “creative content” proposals, ranging from research papers to problem-solving workshops. The international conference is intended to “produce an agenda for the future of green buildings,” as described in... Read more

Lewis Mumford Award winners. The award for Peace went to Architecture for Humanity for its “passion and dedication connecting architects and designers with communities in need around the world.” The award for Development went to United Indian Health... Read more

The U.S. distributor of the Uridan® nonflushing urinal, USA-GDK International, has abandoned the product, citing the relatively high price point (exacerbated by the recent drop of the dollar against the euro) and the unavailability of a vitreous china model as reasons for the slow sales. Uridan is seeking a new U.S. distributor. For more on... Read more

What we do to our environment, we do to ourselves, the saying goes. Nowhere is this principle played out more dramatically than in our hospitals, where doctors and nurses work the front lines against environmental illness, treating patients for cancers caused by exposure to toxic materials, asthma triggered by breathing dirty air, and heat... Read more

Not So Big House series, was named a 2005 Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Along with 65 other architects, Susanka will be invested during a ceremony on May 20. The complete list of 2005 Fellows is online at www.aia.org/fellows_default/.

A class-action lawsuit against DuPont was finalized in February 2005, resulting in a $108 million settlement (see

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Vol. 13, No. 11 for more on the tentative settlement). DuPont was charged with polluting the drinking water of several Ohio and West Virginia communities with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C8,... Read more

Green Projects and one

Special Recognition from among more than 60 entries. This year’s jury included Bob Berkebile, FAIA, of Berkebile Nelson Immerschuh McDowell (BNIM) Architects; Daniel Nall, FAIA, of Flack & Kurtz, Inc.; Henry Siegel, FAIA, of Siegel & Strain... Read more

EBN. “These are things that the average Joe can connect with: ‘Hey, my neighbor’s lights are blazing into my window,’ or ‘I’d like to go out... Read more