The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released version 2.0 of its EnergyPlus modeling software. Compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems, the new version of the software features additional weather and materials data, a new green roof simulation tool, and enhancements to its ventilation and mechanical systems modeling tools. More... Read more

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the Watershed Plan Builder, an interactive, Web-based tool designed to help planners, stakeholders, and communities develop watershed management plans. The tool creates an outline of a watershed plan tailored to a specific project based on data entered by the user. This outline walks... Read more

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/software/bees.html or order from the U.S. EPA’s Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse, 202-566-0799, ppic@epa.gov. For further... Read more

Launched in March 2007 by Architecture for Humanity (AFH), the Open Architecture Network is an online, interactive database and workspace for designers and architects to share projects and ideas. Uploaded projects are protected by Creative Commons licenses, which allow authors and designers to grant some or all of their copyrights to the public... Read more

Nuclear power is increasingly being touted as a leading solution to global climate change. Nuclear energy proponents—and a growing number of environmentalists—correctly point out that nuclear fission, the heat source in nuclear power plants, does not emit greenhouse gases. Given the clear need to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions, nuclear... Read more

The California Energy Commission (CEC) filed suit against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in April 2007 to require DOE to uphold California’s washing machine efficiency standards. In December 2006, DOE denied the State’s 2005 request for a waiver from federal washing machine standards; the waiver would have allowed California to enact... Read more

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The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute has released a new life-cycle assessment (LCA) tool for assemblies. The EcoCalculator for Assemblies draws on results from Athena’s Impact Estimator for Buildings to give instant LCA results for over 400 building assemblies, including those for walls, roofs, floors, and windows. Commissioned by the... Read more

Drywall comes in three primary product types. Paper-faced drywall remains by far the dominant product for finishing interior walls. It is inexpensive and easy to work with (cutting panels by scoring and snapping). Environmentally, the paper is typically 100% post-consumer recycled, the gypsum core can be derived from flue-gas-desulfurization (... Read more

BuildingGreen Suite.

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EpiCenter, Artists for Humanity (Boston;... Read more

Noting that “it is the policy of the United States that federal agencies conduct their … missions in an environmentally, economically, and fiscally sound, integrated, continuously improving, efficient, and sustainable manner,” President George W. Bush signed an executive order titled “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and... Read more

In a perfect world, energy simulations and design tools would be so well integrated that each time an architect moved a wall, added a window, or changed a lighting specification, the building’s predicted energy performance would be updated and displayed instantly. With that sort of real-time feedback, designers would quickly become skilled at... Read more

New Mexico Governor Signs Green Home Tax Incentive—New Mexico building owners can now earn an income tax credit for building or renovating a green building. Tax credits for residential buildings range from $4.50–$9.00 per square foot ($50–$100 per m2) for the first 2,000 ft2 (186 m2) depending on the rating a building receives through the U. S... Read more

The New York City (NYC) Department of Education and the NYC Construction Authority have announced the release of the NYC Green Schools Guide and rating system, designed to bring new school construction projects into compliance with Local Law 86, which sets green building requirements for all public buildings in the city. The new rating system... Read more

Products earning Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certification, a multifaceted program run by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), are now recognized in the LEED Rating System, following an April 2007 ruling by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The new “administrative credit interpretation ruling” allows projects to earn a LEED credit if... Read more

A bill passed by the Washington State Legislature places a limited ban on the use and sale of all polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants. The legislation includes a widespread ban, effective January 1, 2008, on the octa and penta forms of PBDE, which were voluntarily discontinued by the sole manufacturer, Great Lakes Chemical... Read more

Much has changed in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Technical Scientific Advisory Committee [TSAC] final report on PVC [see

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Vol. 16, No. 3]. In this round, TSAC expanded its analysis to account for life-cycle issues that traditional LCA (life-cycle analysis) tools often miss, such as disposal issues and occupational... Read more

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) announced in March 2007 that four firms have achieved accreditation by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to perform chain-of-custody certification audits for SFI and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) sustainable forestry certification systems. PEFC is an... Read more