The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the 2006 inductees into its College of Fellows, among the highest honors bestowed upon members. Several of this year’s Fellows have contributed to green design:

•G. Z. (Charlie) Brown, professor of architecture at the University of Oregon, founder and director of the school’s... Read more

A federal appeals court has overturned a policy that would have allowed power plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities to upgrade without also updating their pollution-control equipment. While the New Source Review program of the Clean Air Act ensured that older plants would clean up emissions whenever they performed upgrades beyond... Read more

New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to turn over information about the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in paints and similar products. Because VOCs contribute to smog and respiratory problems, EPA has limited the amount of VOCs that paints... Read more

Disturbing old farmland can release pesticides applied more than 100 years ago, contaminating surface water, according to Dartmouth researchers. The researchers found that lead and arsenic, widely applied as lead arsenate pesticide on orchards in the late 1800s and well into the 1900s, have become part of the fine silt and organic matter in the... Read more

The City of Chicago is giving 600 Solargenix Energy, LLC, solar-thermal water heaters to health clubs, laundromats, affordable housing units, and other entities that use a lot of hot water. Recipients will be responsible for installation and maintenance costs. “High gas prices are not going away anytime soon, and we want to make businesses and... Read more

BuildingGreen, Inc., is pleased to announce an agreement with McGraw-Hill Construction through which we will provide editorial guidance and articles for an upcoming magazine called

GreenSource. In addition to content for the magazine, BuildingGreen will provide strategic consulting and information to McGraw-Hill Construction’s Web-based... Read more

Recognizing the role of construction in the global economy and planetary ecology, in February 2006 the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) launched the Sustainable Building and Construction Initiative (SBCI). Part of UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry, and Economics (DTIE), SBCI will establish global baselines for green building,... Read more

Thirty plants across the U.S. are now producing Energy Star® manufactured homes, according to the Manufactured Housing Research Alliance. A complete list is available at www.mhrahome.org/pages/es_plant_list.htm. Encouraging further development, the Internal Revenue Service has ruled that the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (see

EBN

... Read more

CD-ROM released in 2005 by ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA; 610-832-9585; www.astm.org; $193.

ASTM International has released an updated version of its “Sustainability in Buildings” CD-ROM (see

EBN

Vol. 12, No. 7 for a review of the first version). Sponsored by ASTM’s Subcommittee on Sustainability, the CD... Read more

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) has developed the Zero-Energy Building Award program to recognize energy-efficient projects designed for the Northeast climate. To be eligible, buildings must be located in the Northeast (including New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland), be occupied, and... Read more

As early as 2007, there may be a new minimum standard for green buildings. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) announced in February 2006 that they will cosponsor the development of ASHRAE... Read more

Six former administrators of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including five Republicans, called on the Bush administration to impose limits on greenhouse gas emissions, which are contributing to global climate change. “This is a major disaster for the world,” said Russell Train, who served under Presidents Nixon and Ford from... Read more

A Community Approach to Independent Living—The Handbookby Charles Durrett. Published by Habitat Press, Berkeley, California; distributed by Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California; 2005. Softcover, 249 pages, $29.95.

Sustainable Community

Learning from the Cohousing Modelby Graham Meltzer, Ph.D. Trafford Publishing,... Read more

Continuing the industry-specific discussions held during its November 2006 Greenbuild conference, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has created Member Circle listservs representing ten industry sectors: contractors and builders, product manufacturers, educators, government professionals, architects, engineers, site designers and planners... Read more

The argument is really fairly simple. Fossil fuel supplies are limited. World oil production will soon peak—if it has not already—beginning an inexorable decline in output and increase in cost. The same goes for natural gas, though its transition from plenitude to shortage may be even more abrupt.

The best way to extend the availability... Read more

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Center for Communities by Design has selected six communities and two regions to receive technical assistance in 2006 under the Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) program. The towns are New Orleans, Louisiana; Syracuse, New York; Longview, Washington; Guemes Island, Washington; Lawrence, Kansas... Read more