Revere Copper Products, Inc. ceased production of lead-coated copper roofing at the end of September 2004, according to Anne Schade of Revere.

EBN believes that Revere was the last producer of lead-coated, or terne-coated, copper roofing. Terne is an alloy of 70% lead and 30% tin that produces an attractive, gray roofing surface. Revere... Read more

Cartoonist Scott Adams has announced the completion of Dilbert’s Ultimate House (DUH), an online, virtual Silicon Valley home for his most famous character. DUH was created by Heartwood Studios, a 3D animation and multimedia studio, with suggestions from more than 3,000 Dilbert fans and energy consultation from Pacific Gas & Electric. The... Read more

Following the recommendations of the green building task force formed in 2003, Boston mayor Thomas Menino has announced that all new and renovated city-owned buildings must achieve a Silver or higher rating in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED

® Rating System. Furthermore, the city will amend Article 80 of the Boston Zoning Code to... Read more

by Robert H. Falk and G. Bradley Guy, 2004. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-150, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin. 113 pages, softcover.

Developed by the USDA Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in cooperation with the Powell Center for Construction and Environment at the University of Florida,... Read more

Global chiller manufacturer York International stopped offering new chillers using the ozone-depleting refrigerant HCFC-123 beginning November 15, 2004. While touting the quality of its HCFC-123 chiller line, York cited the mandated global phaseout of HCFC refrigerants by the year 2020—well within the operating life of new chillers—as the... Read more

Voters in 111 communities in 25 states approved $11 billion in new public funding for conservation in the November 2004 elections, representing a 76% passage rate. “American voters are remarkably consistent in approving three out of every four funding measures for land conservation, both before 9/11 and after, whether in recession or recovery... Read more

A CD-ROM promoting the recycling of lamps containing mercury is available at no charge from the Lamp Recycling Outreach Project, a cooperative agreement between the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers (ALMR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to Paul Abernathy, executive director of ALMR, the recycling rate for... Read more

by Jerry Yudelson, 2004. Green Building Marketing, 4727 S.W. Vesta Street, Portland, OR 97219, 503-246-4111. Three-ring binder, 206 pages, $79.95.

The Insider’s Guide to Marketing Green Buildings is a no-frills book that delivers. Author Jerry Yudelson, a professional engineer with a master’s degree in business administration and... Read more

® Rating System, GGHC identifies and quantifies environmental and health concerns in the planning, design, construction, operations, and maintenance of... Read more

Shaw Industries, Inc. and Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. have announced a plan to generate steam energy from carpet and wood waste resulting from Shaw’s manufacturing processes. The plan will save energy while lowering Shaw’s plant emissions and reducing the amount of waste it sends to landfills. Siemens will build and service a conversion... Read more

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Green Building Initiative in December 2004, mandating that all new and renovated state-owned facilities achieve a LEED

® Silver or higher rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Initiative, part of executive order S-20-04, was made in recognition that state-owned buildings... Read more

® in 1969 and since then has developed a wide range of wall, corner, and door guards. In 2002, one of Acrovyn’s biggest customers—Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest health maintenance organization—announced that it would begin requiring... Read more

Habitat for Humanity and the Charlottesville Community Design Center have announced a competition to redesign an existing trailer park in Charlottesville, Virginia to provide environmentally responsible, affordable, multifamily housing. Other project goals include providing community green space and commercial space for service providers while... Read more

The American Public Health Association, representing more than 50,000 researchers, health-service providers, administrators, teachers, and other health workers, has called for a phaseout of all polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants, including the widely used deca-BDE. The organization made its recommendation in light of “... Read more

In a unanimous vote from the Victoria city council, Windmill Development–VanCity Enterprises has won a bid to redevelop Dockside, an 11.6-acre (2.85 ha) brownfield site in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. The CA$300 million development, expected to take a decade to complete, includes 1 million ft2 (93,000 m2) of residential, commercial,... Read more

Toto, the world’s largest manufacturer of toilets and a significant product innovator, has expanded its hands-free EcoPower™ product line to include flush valves for toilets and urinals. EcoPower sensor-activated faucets, introduced in late 2002, use a tiny hydropower turbine generator for operating and back-up power.

Toto’s EcoPower... Read more

We last took a broad look at insulation materials exactly ten years ago: in the January/February 1995 issue. A lot has happened since then—manufacturers have introduced new insulation materials, new product formulations have eliminated problem materials such as HCFCs, and improved understanding of performance and health risks has informed our... Read more

At press time (late November 2004) the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) was preparing to launch its own version of LEED® for New Construction and Major Renovations (LEED-NC). Under the licensing agreement with the U.S. Green Building Council, buildings that achieve LEED certification by CaGBC will be recognized as LEED buildings by the... Read more