Three conservation organizations have sued the federal government to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require maximum achievable

reductions in mercury and other toxic air pollutants emitted by coal- and oil-fired power plants. Under the Clean Air Act, EPA’s deadline for issuing these standards was December 20,... Read more

Chemical reactions between air-fresheners and smog can generate formaldehyde (a probable human carcinogen) and other compounds blamed for respiratory problems, according to a recent study performed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and published in the April 2004 issue of

Environmental Science and Technology. The study examined... Read more

As explained in our feature article this month, certain brominated flame retardants, especially PBDEs, are being shown by scientists to pose significant risks to our health and the environment. Indeed, the arguments for banning PBDEs are so clear that

EBN calls for an immediate ban of all PBDEs, including the widely used deca form. This... Read more

The U.S. Senate has voted against eliminating a tax incentive for renovating existing buildings. Intense lobbying by preservationists led to the defeat of a plan to sunset the portion of the

Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit that applies to pre-1936 Main-Street-style commercial buildings that are not designated historic. The... Read more

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC), the organization most actively promoting green roofs in North America, has announced the winners of its second annual Awards of Excellence.

Winners were selected for industrial and commercial, institutional, and residential projects for both intensive (with more than 6” of growing medium) and... Read more

Shortly after celebrating the fourth anniversary of the LEED

® Rating System, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) awarded its

100th LEED certification—a Silver rating for the Bonneville Power Administration Ampere Annex in Vancouver, Washington—on April 14, 2004. And, on April 19, USGBC received a LEED registration for the St... Read more

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announced the winners of the

2004 National Green Building Awards in March during their Green Building Conference in Austin, Texas.

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Tom Hoyt, co-owner of McStain Enterprises in Boulder, Colorado, was named

Green Advocate of the Year. Hoyt has built more than 8,000... Read more

New Jersey’s Renewable Energy Task Force, created by Governor McGreevey in January 2004, finalized in March plans to strengthen the State’s

renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which requires energy suppliers to provide a certain percentage of renewable power, including that from solar, wind, renewable biomass, landfill gas, geothermal,... Read more

We have almost a heaven and hell,” says Pauline Souza, of Chong Partners Architecture in San Francisco, describing her firm’s successes and frustrations at greening their work. Mid-sized and large design firms carry a lot of cachet, and clients tend to follow their advice more readily than they follow the suggestions of sole practitioners or small... Read more

Emerging Green Builders has announced its second annual

USGBC Design Competition, intended to engage and recognize environmentally conscious students and professionals new to the building industry. In order to compete, current students and professionals with less than three years of experience in the building industry are invited to... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced on April 15 that president and CEO

Christine Ervin is stepping down from her leadership role.

Rick Fedrizzi, founder and president of Green-Think, Inc., and founding chairman of USGBC, has been selected to fill her position in an acting capacity. According to the Council, “The change is... Read more

Version 8.0 of the

EBN Archives is now in production and should be shipping by the end of May. The CD-ROM features 99 back issues of

Environmental Building News, from the very first, in 1992, through the end of 2003—more than 1,600 pages of reporting delivered in Adobe® PDF format. 

Find what you need using the fast and... Read more

According to the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy,

net petroleum imports into the United States reached a new all-time record in 2003: 56.1% of oil consumption. This represents a 5.1% increase over net imports in 2002, and a 1.1% increase over the previous record in 2001. Imports from OPEC represented... Read more

EarthCraft House Communities is now in its pilot phase. Building on their successful EarthCraft House program (see

EBN

Vol. 8, No. 10), Southface Energy Institute designed the Communities program to address the environmental performance of individual homes as well as neighborhood design, site modification, and community education. Four... Read more

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has selected this year’s Top Ten Green Projects from among an especially strong pool of submissions. The 2004 jury, chaired by Sandy Mendler, AIA, included Susan Ubbelohde, Tony McLaughlin, Don Watson, FAIA, and William Moorish. Full project information is online at www.aiatopten.org/hpb/ or in the... Read more

The first LEED

® Rating System based outside the U.S. was officially launched in Vancouver, British Columbia on April 14, 2004 by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). The program is now accepting project registrations and has, in fact, already received its first full application, from the City of Vancouver. The development of LEED-BC was... Read more

When I picked up my April 2004 issue of

Environmental Building News (

Vol. 13, No. 4) and saw the main article’s title, inwardly I groaned. I usually look forward to, read thoroughly, and then treasure the detailed completeness of each

EBN feature article. But “Which Grass is Greener? Comparing Natural and Artificial Turf... Read more

Karl Bren has left the Virginia Housing Development Authority to form his own consulting firm,

GreenVisions Consulting. Bren has been a leading advocate of green building and sustainable development in Virginia since the early 1990s, when he founded the Virginia Housing and the Environment Network (VaHEN). In his new role, he will consult and... Read more

When the

Bush Administration attempted to lower energy-efficiency standards set by the Clinton White House (from SEER 13 to SEER 12), a coalition of consumer organizations and attorneys general challenged the move. The Second Court of Appeals in New York City rejected the Bush plans (see

EBN

Vol. 13, No. 2), but air-... Read more

Scientific Certification Systems, Inc.has released an

Indoor Air Quality Performance certification program for interior products. The program is designed to demonstrate product conformance with the indoor emissions limits associated with California’s Section 01350 specification, as well as emission criteria in the LEED

® Rating... Read more