Transparent insulation was developed to increase the thermal performance of glazings without significantly reducing the light transmission. One pioneer in transparent insulation, Dr. K. G. T. Hollands of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, was initially looking for ways of improving performance of solar water heating collectors. By creating... Read more

The ASES Passive Pioneer Award, given to those whose pioneering work in the passive solar energy field has set the stage for others to follow, was given to Murray Milne, Professor Emeritus at UCLA. Since the 1970s, Milne and his graduate students have researched climate conditions and developed software tools that are widely used in the design... Read more

In addition to the two honorees for whom we had advance notice, Gail Lindsey and Mike Nicklas, two other champions of sustainable design were designated “Fellows” of The American Institute of Architects at a May 18, 2001 ceremony in Denver. They are Gregg Ander of Southern California Edison, and Marsha Maytum of Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects in... Read more

Dioxins emitted from daily open-barrel burning of just two households (a common practice in many rural areas) can equal emissions from a modern 200-ton-per-day municipal waste combustion facility, according to a recent EPA study. The disproportionately high emissions from barrel burning occur because of a combination of conditions considered “... Read more

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has a new standard for recycled-plastic residential decking. This standard pulls together into one product specification the individual strength test methods for recycled plastic established almost four years ago (see EBN

Vol. 6, No. 9). While the standardized test methods created a... Read more

Our Newsbrief on page 5 of

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 4 about the Maine Hospital Association incorrectly identified the Natural Resources Council of Maine as the Natural Resources

Defense Council of Maine. Our apologies.

... Read more

Starting May 23, 2001, every new home in the City of Frisco, Texas must be built to the minimum standards of the city’s green building program, featuring the EPA Energy Star® Homes program. This makes Frisco one of the first cities in the U.S. with a mandatory green building program, and the first to mandate Energy Star standards. A... Read more

by the Center for Sustainable Construction of the Building Research Establishment (London, England), 2000; online at www.constructionplus.co.uk. Two softbound publications: BR 389 2000 (Program introduction), £25; BR 390 2000 (Materials guide), £35

The

American Tree Farm System has engaged PriceWaterhouseCoopers to review its certification and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses in relation to the American Forest & Paper Association’s (AF&PA) Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). The Tree Farm System is a program of the American Forest Foundation, providing technical... Read more

When a regional astronomy club based in Springfield, Vermont raised opposition to a new state prison slated for the town, the state hired lighting engineer (and new

EBN Advisory Board member) Nancy Clanton to come up with a plan for reducing light pollution in the prison design. While her firm came up with an outdoor lighting plan for... Read more

Solar electric buildings researcher, designer, and advocate Steven Strong was the recipient of this year’s prestigious Charles Greeley Abbot Award from the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). The award is given for significant contributions to the Society or to the field of solar energy. Strong is principal of Solar Design Associates in... Read more

A report requested by the Bush administration on global climate change was released by a committee of the National Academies’ National Research Council on June 6, 2001. The report summed up science’s current understanding of climate change by confirming that greenhouse gases are accumulating in the earth’s atmosphere and causing surface... Read more

While efforts by American industry to clean up its act have been well publicized in recent years, toxic releases appear to be on the increase. The quantity of

toxic chemicals emitted by U.S. industry grew by 5% in 1999, according to the annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A total of 7.7... Read more

in severity in many parts of the United States. In the Southeast and Northwest, drought conditions range from moderate to extreme, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In pockets of West Texas, the Central Appalachians, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Iowa, and eastern Tennessee, drought conditions... Read more

(who is married to Alex) helped to launch

EBN and build our readership in the early ’90s. Now she has returned as Outreach Director and will be working on new ways to familiarize the building community with

EBN and our other products.

Among other tasks, she is contacting workshop presenters and conference... Read more

A

novel energy conservation plan in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Utah promises significant electricity savings. The 20-20 Program gives PacifiCorp customers at least 20% off their electricity bills this summer if they use 20% less electricity than they did last summer. While not yet approved by regulators, the program would apply to... Read more

Most of us have a general understanding that buildings and the process of development have a pretty big impact on the environment. But what are those impacts and just how significant are they?

recently reported on sulfurous emissions from painted drywall (

EBN feature

Vol. 9, No. 11), but the actual source of the problem was a mystery. We now have some answers. According to Joe Lstiburek of Building Science Corporation, some painstaking investigation and very expensive chemical sampling has identified the problem:... Read more