On June 1

commercial clothes washers with volumes of 3.5 ft

3 (100 l) or less were added to the list of Energy Star®-qualified products. Until then, the program was limited to residential washers. To qualify, a washer must have a Modified Energy Factor (MEF) of 1.26 or higher—the same as the standard for residential washers. This... Read more

Centex Homes, one of the nation’s largest home builders, announced in October

one of the biggest corporate gifts ever to The Nature Conservancy, which celebrated its 50th anniversary on October 22. Centex will provide $2.25 million over three years to support preserves in the states of Texas, Florida, and California. This pledge amounts... Read more

I read with interest and concern your article on Plastics in Construction (

Vol. 10, No. 7/8). As always, EBN goes out of its way to present an even and fair picture of the issues and alternatives. Emphasis in the article was on alternatives and LCA, which are important areas for exploration. I think, however, that in this case, you were... Read more

Certification Resource Center by the

Certified Forest Products Council

www.certifiedwood.org

www.forestworld.com

Gypsum Construction Handbook (see page 145 in the 90th anniversary edition), there is a completely impractical detail for depressing and subsequently hiding wallboard butt joints. But in the head and hands of a craftsman, this detail has been transformed into the ButtHanger, an elegant (despite the name) materials and labor-... Read more

Ross Spiegel, president of Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and a board member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), has established a new

Environmental Task Team within CSI. The team aims to incorporate environmental considerations into CSI’s operations and format documents. Among its tasks are:

Design Sense 2001 award of £40,000 for their work on Sainsbury’s supermarket on the Greenwich Peninsula. The Studio eg Ecowork furniture line (see

EBN

Vol. 9, No. 9) was recognized in the same September 26, 2001 program with the

Corporate Prize for Sustainable Design.... Read more

Mayor Richard Daley saw his first planted roofs several years ago while visiting Chicago’s sister city of Hamburg, Germany. At the same time, he was learning about urban heat islands (in which our urban areas maintain temperatures considerably higher than surrounding suburban and rural areas). He was particularly attuned to the urban... Read more

The tragedies of September 11th are almost too horrible to comprehend. We were fortunate at

EBN that no close friends or family members were killed or injured at the World Trade Center or the Pentagon. Our staff joins the millions around this country and the world in mourning the loss of life that occurred that day. We hope and pray... Read more

Edited by Lynne Elizabeth and Cassandra

Adams, 2000. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

New York. Hardcover, 392 pages, $70.

terrific overview of various methods

for building with earth, straw, and

bamboo. With writings from over 30

authors—many of them experts or

... Read more

Arsenic has taken a big hit recently—from studies showing elevated levels in school playgrounds in Florida to public outcry about President Bush’s decision to relax drinking water standards for the element. Not surprisingly, product manufacturers are getting the message. In the July/August issue of

EBN (

Vol. 10, No. 7/8) we... Read more

Kudos for tackling the heavy issue of life-cycle analysis in plastic building materials in your article “Plastics in Construction” (Vol. 10, No. 7/8). Although we agree that a “full discussion of LCA” and other comparative analysis would require far more than a nine-page article, it concerns us nonetheless that your readers may interpret some... Read more

A $150,000 grant from the U.S. EPA is funding research by the New Buildings Institute (NBI) of White Salmon, Washington, to

assess actual energy use of newly constructed buildings. NBI will work with subcontractors Eley Associates of San Francisco and Architectural Energy Corporation of Boulder, Colorado on the project. Using the Energy... Read more

by Guy Dauncey with Patrick Mazza, 2001. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, British Columbia. Paperback, 270 pages, $19.95.

Stormy Weather begins with an introduction providing clear and engaging explanations of global... Read more

At its August 19, 2001 meeting the Board of the U.S. Green Building Council voted unanimously to set a new course for updates to the LEED™ Rating System. “What we realized is that we’re overwhelmed by LEED’s popularity,” said LEED co-chair Rob Watson of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “We wanted to ensure that LEED has a really solid... Read more