BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

December 1, 2002

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

News Brief

December 1, 2002

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.

News Brief

December 1, 2002

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

Product Review

December 1, 2002
In the early 1990s, the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin developed and patented a technology for making lightweight, high-strength panels from recycled cellulose fibers. This technology, known as “Spaceboard,” was licensed to several companies, including Gridcore Systems International (GSI), which had the license for building... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002

Over 80% of Earth’s land surface feels direct influence from humans, according to a comprehensive report from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network. Only parts of the boreal forests of Canada and Russia, the deserts of Africa and Australia, the Arctic tundra, and... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002

Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability, software from the Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Free download from www.bfrl.nist.gov/oae/bees.html or order from the U.S. EPA’s Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse, 202/566-0799, ppic@epamail.epa.gov. For further... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002
Environmental Building News

is proud to join the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and Kaiser Permanente in receipt of

Leadership Awards from the Healthy Building Network. Winners were selected for their “actions that have accelerated the transition to... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002

Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century,” the National Building Museum’s newest exhibition, will open in Washington, D.C. on January 17. Big & Green will explore green architecture from design, historical, and technical perspectives and profile roughly 50 green projects from around the world. The... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002

“Evaluation of LEED™ Using Life Cycle Assessment Methods” by Chris W. Scheuer and Gregory A. Keoleian, Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan. Report prepared for Barbara Lippiatt, Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology. Document #NIST GCR 02-836, 157 pages, 1.8 MB file available... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2002

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.

 

News Brief

November 1, 2002

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

News Brief

November 1, 2002

Kane Hardwood, a Collins Company, has been awarded the

National Hardwood Lumber Association’s (NHLA) Forest Stewardship Award. Kane was recognized for its achievements in public education, political involvement, private landowner education, forest stewardship, and efficient resource utilization. Kane, which owns and manages over 125,000... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002
The

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

News Brief

November 1, 2002
Ben Shepherd

is leaving his position as research consultant for the Green Development Services division of the

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to work for a leading U.K. firm of green consulting engineers and landscape architects,

Battle McCarthy Ltd. After a stint in London, Shepherd will be setting up a U.S. office for that firm... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002

Land surface changes may be as much to blame for

global climate change as greenhouse gases, according to research by Roger Pielke Sr., professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, and his colleagues. The study, published in a recent issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London and released by... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002

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

News Brief

November 1, 2002

Under a September executive order signed by Governor Gary Locke, every Washington state agency must establish

sustainability objectives and prepare biennial sustainability plans. The newly named Sustainability Coordinator and Sustainability Advisory Council will organize the plans around energy and water efficiency and a shift to... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002

Specialized, energy-intensive lighting techniques can benefit seniors, according to the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Researchers at the LRC developed a set of

lighting principles for older adults and put them to the test at two assisted-living facilities. The results of the study... Read more

News Analysis

November 1, 2002
The onslaught of wildfires in the western United States in recent years has persuaded the California Office of the State Fire Marshal to incorporate new fire performance requirements into the building codes of homes encroaching on California wildlands. The task of testing how roofs, walls, windows, and decks respond to fire has fallen to the... Read more

News Brief

November 1, 2002

Ninth International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Hal Levin, Editor. CD-ROM version: $100; 5-volume printed version: $200. Shipping additional. Download an order form:

www.indoorair2002.org.

If you’re doing research on indoor air quality issues, you shouldn’t be without this treasure trove of information. Every oral... Read more