by Kathryn Houser and Michael Myers, 2002. Published by Sustainable Living Alliance, PO Box 33368, Austin, TX 78764, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The manual and CD-ROM are available free of charge while supplies last. E-mail your request with contact information to rainfall@swbell.net or call 512-326-4636.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) signed an agreement in October formalizing their

partnership in the promotion of energy-efficient, environmentally responsive buildings. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) extends and expands on a 1996 MOU that had been allowed to expire. In listing... Read more

2002 Best Practice Sustainability Awards. Awards were made in five categories—details at www.sbicouncil.org:

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Sustainable Policy Initiatives:

The Cool Metal Roofing Coalition, a nonprofit organization founded last year... Read more

For years, advocates of sustainable design have argued that interest in green building will take off when it stops being just about values and starts making good business sense. Thanks to LEED™ and the astounding success of the U.S. Green Building Council, that day seems to have arrived. The Council’s Austin conference was flooded by a wave of... Read more

BuildingGreen, Inc. and the editors of

Environmental Building News announced at the USGBC conference in Austin our pick of the ten best new green building products. The first-ever award recognizes the most exciting products added to the

GreenSpec Directory during the past year (though some products may have been on the market... Read more

The cement industry has announced the merging of two major organizations. The

American Portland Cement Alliance (APCA) will continue its work in government affairs as a division of the newly expanded trade group, the

Portland Cement Association (PCA). In conjunction with its reorganization, the PCA is launching a new logo and... Read more

In September, Global Green USA presented the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Rating System with a

2002 Building Design Award for Designing a Sustainable and Secure World. Global Green USA is online at www.globalgreen.org.

The Oregon chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has recognized Portland-based

Walker Macy landscape architects and planners with their first

Honor Award for Environmental and Sustainable Design. The firm was chosen for its work on Lewis & Clark College’s new Center for Social Sciences, which is... Read more

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is seeking applicants for its 2003 National Green Building Awards, to be announced at the National Green Building Conference March 30 through April 1, 2003 in Baltimore, Maryland. Applications are due December 31. For more information, call 888-602-HOME or visit www.nahbrc.org.

Sewerage Commission-Oroville Region (SC-OR) wastewater treatment plant in Oroville, California, will begin operating on solar energy this month. A 3-acre (1.2 ha) field adjacent to the plant is home to a

520 kW solar power array, installed by Sun Power and Geothermal Energy of San Rafael, that will supply 80% of the plant’s energy... Read more

The

Santa Fe Public Utilities Committee believes it has found a way to stretch the city’s limited water supply to satisfy an ever-growing population. If the committee’s controversial “

toilet tax” is accepted by the City Council, builders will have to replace 8–12 toilets in existing Santa Fe buildings with low-flow models to... Read more

The

Oak Hill Fund, formed this year after the W. Alton Jones Foundation was split into three separate foundations, is seeking grant applicants for its Environmentally Sustainable Affordable Design Program. The program includes four initiatives:

•Sustainable and... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and The American Institute of Architects (AIA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in October, continuing and expanding their partnership that

promotes energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in the built environment. Details are available from DOE’s Chris Kielich at 202/586-5806.... Read more

Torrance, California will soon be home to a 501 kW rooftop PV system. The array, to be installed by PowerLight Corporation, will bedeck 52,000 ft2 (4,800 m2) of the Toyota Motor Sales USA headquarters. Details are available online at

www.powerlight.com.

A single-family home near the Twin Cities in Minnesota is the first to be constructed according to the American Lung Association’s recently revised

Health House® guidelines. The home, completed in September and open for tours, was designed with special attention to ventilation, air filtration, and moisture control. A second Health House... Read more

SierraPine Ltd., a Roseville, California-based company specializing in composite panels, is reformulating and renaming its Medite FR, a Class 1, fire-retardant medium-density fiberboard (MDF) panel. It was formerly manufactured with a polyurea resin matrix adhesive (MDI) rather than conventional formaldyhyde-based resins. The new product,... Read more

executive editor Alex Wilson testified in October before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs. Wilson joined Claire Barnett, founder and director of the Healthy Schools Network, and Lois Gibbs, director of the Center for... Read more