The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has completed a survey in which

straw-bale houses were found to use an average of 21% less space-heating energy than conventional houses. Because comparable conventional homes were not available, the study compared eleven straw-bale homes of various sizes and bale wall types to... Read more

The Portland, Oregon Office of Sustainable Development announced in July the release ofPortland LEED, the first locally tailored version of the LEED™ Rating System to be approved by the U.S. Green Building Council. The new version incorporates Portland’s stringent Stormwater Management and Erosion Control Manuals as well as the State of Oregon’... Read more

Your recent “Electric Lighting” article (Vol. 11, No. 6, June 2002) did an accurate and thorough job of summarizing the complex technical and environmental issues regarding lamps. As a professional lighting designer and LEED™-accredited consultant, I appreciated your valuable point that while the article focused on technology and not design, “... Read more

by Oliver Gillham. Island Press, Washington, DC, 2002. Paperback, 309 pages, $30.

For readers who may need the groundwork missing from Beatley’s Green Urbanism, The Limitless City, by architect and planner Oliver Gillham, is a good start. Also focused on American development, Gillham’s primer tells the history of sprawl and the search... Read more

The

Biobased Manufacturers Association (BMA) was launched on June 12 in Phoenix, Arizona to assist in the marketing and promotion of a wide range of biobased products—everything from alternative fuels and solvents to construction composites, paints, and bioplastics. “We see our mission as selling biobased instead of petroleum or... Read more

a two-week straw-bale “blitz build”to erect two public buildings and demonstrate the potential of straw-bale construction for cheap, durable, energy-efficient housing. Beginning July 14... Read more

by David Pearson. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 2001. 223 pages, paperback $35, hardcover $60

New Organic Architecturehonors its subject through a dazzling tribute to its leading current practitioners. David Pearson’s book centers around eight key themes that define organic architecture: “building... Read more

Please reference the letter from me that was published in the May 2002 issue of

Environmental Building News (

Vol. 11, No. 5). We would appreciate your publication of the following retraction/apology.

The Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) has fulfilled its promise to identify green energy providers who meet CRS Green-e environmental and consumer protection standards. Following their March 2002 establishment of

Green-e tradable renewable certificates (TRCs) for qualifying wind, solar electric, geothermal, biomass, and low-impact... Read more

Denying all charges of wrongdoing or liability, James Hardie Building Products has reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit regarding cement-fiber roof shakes including “HardiShakes” and “HardiSlate.” Owners of homes or other structures in the U.S. roofed with James Hardie roof shakes may recover the cost of replacement if the product... Read more

Hunter Lovinsannounced on June 10 her resignation from the institute she cofounded with then-husband Amory Lovins. “I’ve been thinking about going out on my own for some time,” Lovins said. “The day-to-day running of RMI has prohibited me from focusing on what I really want to do: taking Natural Capitalism to a... Read more

The

Journal of Industrial Ecology has issued a call for papers for a special edition on the

environmental impact of biobased materials. The issue was inspired by recent studies casting doubt on the environmental benefits of biobased materials—and demonstrating the need for the “systems-based analysis”

JIE is known for.... Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Vermont’s first-in-the-nation

mercury labeling law by denying an attempt by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) to have the 1998 law declared unconstitutional. Vermont’s Mercury Reduction Act requires manufacturers to label mercury-containing products that are sold in the state and... Read more

The Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) has released its 2002

Residential Home Appliance Programs National Summary. The summary details various incentive programs around the country designed to promote energy-efficient clothes washers, dish washers, refrigerators, and room air conditioners. The programs together apply to over 77.2... Read more

Energy Star® performance rating for hotels, enabling hotel owners to benchmark their energy performance against similar hotels nationwide on a 1–100 scale. Hotels with energy performance of 75 or more points can carry the Energy Star label. The first two hotels to qualify were the... Read more

United Solar, a joint venture between Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. and N. V. Bekaert, opened a

30-megawatt solar cell manufacturing facility in its hometown of Auburn Hills, Michigan on July 1. The largest of its kind, the plant will turn out thin-film amorphous photovoltaic cells in a continuous roll-to-roll process similar to that... Read more

EBN, but it has. That one was dated July/August 1992.

Ten years ago, the U.S. Green Building Council was just a gleam in the eyes of its visionary founders. The Forest Stewardship Council had yet to... Read more

All fifteen European Union member nations ceremoniously ratified the Kyoto protocol on May 31 at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Japan joined the EU in ratification on June 5. By ratifying the protocol, industrialized nations commit to lowering greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5% between 2008 and 2012 in the hopes of... Read more

A great deal has happened since we addressed “rigid foam insulation and the environment” ten years ago this month (

EBN

Vol. 1, No. 1). The big issue then was ozone depletion, and... Read more

I enjoyed your review of green building programs throughout the U.S. (“State and Local Green Building Programs,”

EBN

Vol. 11, No. 6). However, ours wasn’t on it! Of course, it is difficult to keep up with all the amazing things happening in the field of green building.