New Urbanist

Jeff Speck took over as director of design at the

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in August. Speck spent the past decade at the Miami, Florida firm Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, most recently as director of town planning for the firm. Along with Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Speck co-authored... Read more

I’m happy that chromated copper arsenate (CCA) preservatives are finally being phased out [see

EBN

Vol. 12, No. 3], but one small problem remains: There is no way to tell wood treated with ammoniacal copper quaternary (ACQ) or other alternative treatments from that treated with CCA once it’s been installed and the stapletags... Read more

The current

“safe” level of lead exposure, endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, is not actually safe, according to a study recently published in the

New England Journal of Medicine. The study found that any level of blood lead concentration negatively affects children’s IQ... Read more

A ubiquitous flame retardant is finding its way into San Francisco Bay fish, according to a study recently conducted by a California state toxics lab for the nonprofit organization Environmental Working Group (EWG). Used as a flame retardant in products ranging from computers to carpets, PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) are known to cause... Read more

Maine made history in June, when, by passing “An Act to Provide Leadership in Addressing the Threat of Climate Change,” it became the nation’s

first state to legislate a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Maine plans to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2010, 10% below 1990 levels by 2020, and 75–80% below 1990 levels over the long... Read more

Sixty-one buildings are now certified under LEED™ versions 1.0, 2.0, and 2.1; and nearly 900 projects have registered for certification. There are now over 4,000 LEED-accredited professionals, and more than 10,000 people have participated in LEED training workshops. The pilot programs for LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) and LEED for... Read more

The

use of ground granulated blast-furnace slag in cement reached a record 22.9 million metric tons (25.2 million tons) in 2002, up 22% from 2001, according to the Slag Cement Association (SCA). Blast-furnace slag, a mixture of nonmetallic minerals, is created in the reduction of iron ore to iron. According to SCA, using slag cement in... Read more

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The

California Energy Commission (CEC) may no longer collect information about the energy efficiency of air conditioners, heat pumps, water heaters, and furnaces, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California ruled in June. The case was filed by the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute, the Association of Home... Read more

Over the past year, three companies have begun marketing a low-density, open-cell polyurethane foam insulation made, in part, from soybeans. By far the best organized and established of these is BioBased Systems of Spring Valley, Illinois. Experienced users tell EBN that BioBase 501 works just as well as its petrochemical-based competitors, and... Read more

The Environmental Council of Concrete Organizations is crisscrossing North America this August with a

“Road Show” on the role of concrete in sustainable design. The faculty includes two lecturers from the U.K. and one American, representing expertise in urban planning, architecture, engineering, and materials research. The speakers,... Read more

A manufacturing facility built with great green hopes is now spending most of its time making a more conventional product. Great Lakes MDF, LLC has purchased the Lackawanna, New York medium-density fiberboard (MDF) plant formerly owned by The CanFibre Group, Ltd. The plant initially relied on phenol-formaldehyde binders in place of conventional... Read more

The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Foundation has established a

Sustainable Design Education Fund to reimburse members of the interior-design community for taking classes, attending conferences, undergoing LEED™ accreditation, and participating in other activities related to sustainable design. The fund is made... Read more

The American Solar Energy Society has named

Ralph Knowles a “Passive Solar Pioneer.” Distinguished Professor Emeritus Knowles has spent the past 40 years at the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture. Among Knowles’ contributions to passive design is the “solar envelope,” a zoning concept that ensures city buildings... Read more

Applications are now being accepted for the first

Sustainable Design Leadership Awards, sponsored by the International Interior Design Association, the American Institute of Architects Interiors Committee, CoreNet Global, and Tandus™. The Operational Leadership Award is open to any business or organization and the Design Leadership... Read more

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Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities, the first national conference on green roofs, was held May 29–30 in Chicago, drawing more than 500... Read more

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The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) awarded this year’s

Environmental Sensitivity Awards to two architecture firms that specialize in... Read more

The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) has developed a voluntary

certification program for installers of photovoltaic (PV) systems. NABCEP plans to hold its first exam on October 25; in order to participate, candidates must complete their applications by July 31. For details or to apply for certification,... Read more

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The Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC), a member-based, nonprofit, educational organization, now has over 100 listings in its

Rated Products... Read more