Regarding the article “Insulation Materials: Environmental Comparisons” (Vol. 4, No. 1), I offer the following comments and corrections on recycling expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation. EPS foam is produced from a thermoplastic resin which can be recycled, but not all EPS foam is created equal. EPS building insulation is... Read more

is sponsoring its Third Annual Residential Design Competition of innovative, ecologically sensitive, residential landscape designs. Categories include built and unbuilt in urban, suburban, and rural locales. The entry fee is $50 ($25 for students). For information, contact Lee Fleming at Landscape Architecture,... Read more

I just received my first issue of EBN (Vol. 4, No. 1), and I had to drop you a note to tell you how impressed I am with your publication.

I am embarrassed that I haven’t been a subscriber until now. Like a lot of small builders—managing job sites, running the office, chasing new business—I only have time to read about 25% of... Read more

Krylon’s Rust Tough® latex paint for metal surfaces is the first paint to be certified by Green Seal, an independent environmental labeling organization. To be certified the paint had to meet Green Seal’s standards in areas including reduced VOCs, packaging, and performance. Contact Patricia Macko at Krylon: 216/498-2300.

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

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

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

Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” contains some admirable goals, including attacking the budget deficit, streamlining government, and cutting red tape. Hidden in the fine print, however, lurks a radical—and dangerous—anti-environment agenda. On examining the package, one can only conclude that the new leadership either doesn’t believe... Read more

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

According to the E Source newsletter

E News, replacing vertical-axis, coin-operated washers with horizontal-axis models reduced energy use by 73 percent in a multifamily property in Seattle, Washington. The metered test, performed by Seattle City Light and Seattle Water, confirms expectations of the energy-saving potential of horizontal... Read more

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

Strikes Back

To the best of our knowledge, this product is no longer available.

The Harmony resort on Maho Bay in the U.S. Virgin Islands National Park won the 1994 Grand Award for Environmental Technology from

Popular Science magazine. The resort’s cabins are fully solar-powered and energy-independent, and were built with a minimum of disturbance to the site using many recycled materials. An interactive computer... Read more

by Michael J. Crosbie. The American Institute of Architects Press, Washington, D.C., 1994. Hardcover, 192 pages, $39.95.

Contrary to its subtitle,

Green Architecture is more a gallery of environmentally sensitive design than a guide. This elegant, large-format book contains photos and... Read more

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

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

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

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

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

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