AS debate heats up on a new Endangered Species Act, revisions to the Clean Water Act, and dozens of other pieces of legislation affecting the environment, it appears as if the primary endangered species is objective information. Congressional opponents of regulation, trade associations, corporations, and... Read more

Voluntary certification of product environmental claims is a useful option, but it does little to prevent bogus claims by other manufacturers. A 1990 California law attempts to address this problem by establishing legal definitions for the terms “ozone friendly,” “biodegradable,” “photodegradable,” “recyclable,” and “recycled.” Companies are... Read more

published by Thousand Words, P.O. Box 9034, Berkeley, CA 94709; 510/883-0433, otg@ontheground.com (e-mail). $32 per year for four issues. Length varies: 32-36 pages.

On the Ground is a large-format, quarterly journal on community, landscape design, and the environment that premiered in the Fall of... Read more

Environmental Committee, Denver Chapter, AIA, and Colorado Chapter, ADPSR. 1995. Loose-leaf (without binder) or diskette (PC or Macintosh), $29.95. Order from: AIA Denver/SDRG, 1562 15th Street, Denver, CO, 80202; 303/446-2266, 303/446-0066 (fax).

Greatly improved from last year’s first edition, this... Read more

now being manufactured in Perrytown, Texas, can be used in place of both framing and drywall in partition walls. At $19 each for 4’ by 8’ (1200 mm by 2400 mm) panels, they are very competitive with conventional stud framing within a reasonable shipping distance from the plant. The panels... Read more

The company uses Norwegian manufacturing equipment to produce 4’ x 8’ (1200 mm x 2400 mm) panels in 1⁄4” (6 mm) and 1⁄8” (3 mm) thicknesses. Thicker, 1⁄2” (13 mm) panels were initially produced as well, but... Read more

With the Internet distribution this past August of a draft synthesis report by the three Working Groups of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), suddenly global warming is back in the news. The report concludes that “the observed increase [in global temperature] over the last century (0.3°C–0.6°C... Read more

The Woodworker’s Alliance for Rainforest Protection (WARP), a leading promoter of lesser-known species and other lumber from environmentally preferable sources, is changing its name to the “Good Wood Alliance.” Reasons for the change included a recognition that the environmental issues addressed are not limited to rainforests and that not all... Read more

A major shake-up at Louisiana-Pacific Corporation this summer was brought on, in part, by allegations of falsifying pollution emission data. The entire upper management team of L-P, including Chairman and President Harry Merlo (who led the company since its split from Georgia-Pacific in 1973 and who championed L-P’s leadership role in the move... Read more

Regarding your article “Promoting Green Buildings in Canada,” published in the July/August issue of

Environmental Building News, I would like to clarify the relationship between the Green Building Information Council (GBIC) and the Building Environmental Performance Assessment Criteria (... Read more

Two project are underway that may eventually provide useful environmental and cost information on building material alternatives to architects, specifiers, and others in the construction industry. A Canadian project, called

Athena™, is the outgrowth of government-sponsored work coordinated by Forintek... Read more

Members of the U.S. Green Building Council have organized a non-profit Green Building Fund in the hopes of providing ongoing support for research and demonstration of environmentally sound construction projects. So far six organizations have contributed to the Fund’s initial project—a feasibility study documenting funding sources for green... Read more

Judith Kincaid, Cheryl Walker, and Greg Flynn for the Triangle J Council of Governments, PO Box 12276, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709; 919/549-0551, 919/549-9390 (fax). July 1995. Three-ring binder and diskette, 115 pages, $20 (specify diskette type when ordering).

Architects and specifiers who have... Read more

Efforts to establish a National Institute for the Environment (NIE) are proceeding in Washington, and they may even pick up speed as a way to consolidate environmental research efforts that are being handled through many different agencies. A bill to establish the Institute is expected to be introduced in... Read more

A new “Mini Home Study Course” from the International Institute for Bau-biologie and Ecology™ (IBE) in Clearwater, Florida is designed to help the home-dweller understand, find, and remedy indoor air pollution, water pollution, and other home health hazards. Participants receive resource material, a video, and a Gauss meter. Contact IBE at 813/... Read more

NOLS had established a base for sea kayaking and other water activities on the Baja California peninsula, in... Read more

Researchers at the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are looking into the idea of producing perlite using concentrated solar energy. Perlite is a natural volcanic rock that is expanded by rapid heating to between 870° and 1100°C. It is used as an insulation material and as a lightweight... Read more

Fluorescent lighting was introduced in the 1920s as a more energy-efficient alternative to incandescent lighting. Over the past two decades, technology improvements have gradually increased the acceptability of fluorescent lamps for many more applications. Light quality was dramatically improved with triphosphor... Read more

Even as environmental regulations are being widely threatened by Congressional initiatives, a broad new effort to protect the nation’s water is now underway. Sixteen months after it first convened, the National Forum on Nonpoint Source Pollution has released a report that urges new approaches for cleaning up water pollution. The general thrust... Read more

I read your article “Steel or Wood Framing, Which Way Should We Go?” in the Volume 3, Number 4 issue of EBN with considerable interest and anticipation, but did not see a sufficient discussion on the major reason for building differently with steel studs: the problem of mold growth at the thermal bridge over... Read more