The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) is seeking applications for its

2003 Northeast Green Building Awards. The awards are open to new construction or renovations completed after January 1, 1998 in the northeastern United States. Submissions are due February 11. Details are online at www.nesea.org/buildings/2003design... Read more

U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, DC 20036; 202/828-7422, www.usgbc.org. 2002. Spiral-bound, 64 pages, pricing not set by EBN press time.

“Does the presence of

lead pigment in paint and in coatings in homes, schools, hospitals, and other public and private buildings throughout the state of Rhode Island constitute a public nuisance?” A mistrial was declared in October when a six-member jury could not agree on the answer. Following seven weeks of testimony and four days of... Read more

Sacred Tree Leadership Awardsin Austin for outstanding contributions to green building. Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, Inc. won the

Green Business Award. The

USGBC Leadership Award went to Rob Watson, director of the Natural Resource Defense Council’s... Read more

U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, DC 20036; 202/828-7422, www.usgbc.org. Brochure, 14 pages, single copies available free from USGBC Marketing Department.

EBN editors, along with longtime educator, author, and green architect Bill Bobenhausen, FAIA, attended many sessions and summarized a few highlights below. Presentation materials, including PowerPoint files, abstracts, and papers, are available online at... Read more

Americans may want to “live larger” but not necessarily in larger homes. Over 1,000 Americans were recently asked by Taylor Nelson Sofres Intersearch, on behalf of the industry trade group The Hardwood Information Center, to

describe the perfect house. Americans dream of an average 2,500 ft2 (230 m2) house, according to the survey—not... Read more

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is seeking applicants for its 2003 National Green Building Awards, to be announced at the National Green Building Conference March 30 through April 1, 2003 in Baltimore, Maryland. Applications are due December 31. For more information, call 888-602-HOME or visit www.nahbrc.org.

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $1.5 million in grants to 30 entities in 19 states as part of the

Million Solar Roofs Initiative. The new partnerships will combine grant money with private funds to support solar energy through education, the development of financing options and building codes, and construction. Details can be... Read more

When The American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment first convened, it immediately identified as a top priority the need for information about the environmental impacts of building materials. With funding from the U.S. EPA and the technical expertise of Joel Ann Todd’s Scientific Consulting Group, AIA produced a series of... Read more

A Sunoco gas station in Markham, Ontario has opened

Canada’s first solar car wash. The Canadian government and Suncor Energy Products Inc. are teaming up to convert standard car-wash stations to use solar systems similar to residential solar water heaters. Car-wash stations use an average 69 gallons (260 l) of hot water—roughly the... Read more

SierraPine Ltd., a Roseville, California-based company specializing in composite panels, is reformulating and renaming its Medite FR, a Class 1, fire-retardant medium-density fiberboard (MDF) panel. It was formerly manufactured with a polyurea resin matrix adhesive (MDI) rather than conventional formaldyhyde-based resins. The new product,... Read more

executive editor Alex Wilson testified in October before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs. Wilson joined Claire Barnett, founder and director of the Healthy Schools Network, and Lois Gibbs, director of the Center for... Read more

Capital E is seeking

case studies documenting specific benefits of green buildings, as part of a contract with California’s Department of General Services and other agencies to analyze the full costs and benefits of green buildings. Documented examples of benefits that are not always recognized, such as enhanced occupant health,... Read more

The

Santa Fe Public Utilities Committee believes it has found a way to stretch the city’s limited water supply to satisfy an ever-growing population. If the committee’s controversial “

toilet tax” is accepted by the City Council, builders will have to replace 8–12 toilets in existing Santa Fe buildings with low-flow models to... Read more

The

Clean Water Act celebrated its 30th birthday on October 18. The law has enjoyed bipartisan support and has accomplished much to protect America’s water resources. Since its inception in 1972, for example, the act has slowed the rate of wetland loss by 75% and doubled the number of households served by sewage treatment plants.... Read more

The Energy Star™ Commercial Buildings program recognizes buildings that perform in the top 25% of their class in terms of energy use. As part of that program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set up a Web-based tool called

Portfolio Manager. Users enter information from their energy bills into Portfolio Manager, which... Read more