On January 14, the Bush Administration announced new rules reversing Clinton-era actions to increase protection of wetlands. The new rules expand the number of projects that can be approved under nationwide general permits, which receive much less scrutiny than individual permits. The Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers defended the... Read more

, one of five core businesses of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, has acquired that portion of the old

Siemens Solar Industries that they did not already own. In March 2001, Siemens AG sold a portion of their photovoltaic (PV) subsidiary, entering into a joint venture comprised of Siemens, E.ON Energie AG, and Shell. Each of... Read more

globally (with records going back to 1880), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Only 1998 was warmer. Temperatures in the United States were the sixth warmest since records were first kept in 1895. NOAA believes that conditions are ripe for 2002 to become a record-... Read more

The 70,000 ft2 (6,500 m2) Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center for Ecotrust, a nonprofit organization promoting a conservation economy along North America’s rainforest coast, has achieved a LEED™ Gold rating. It is the first historic renovation project to earn LEED 2.0 certification. Tenants in the facility include Patagonia, the Certified Forest... Read more

were presented to the developers of 10 outstanding real estate projects on October 5 in Boston. Winners with notable environmental features include:

Special category:

Dewees Island in Isle of Palms, South Carolina (see

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Vol. 6, No. 2), developed by... Read more

Its new XLerator hand dryer gets hands... Read more

Agreement has been reached on the innovative

industry-wide carpet takeback program (see

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Vol. 10, No. 2), and the formal “Memorandum of Understanding for Carpet Stewardship” is scheduled to be signed on January 8, 2002 in Atlanta. Participants in the voluntary agreement include carpet and fiber manufacturers, the... Read more

Entries are due by March 1, 2002 for the

Northeast Green Building Awards, sponsored by the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust and organized by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). The competition is open to buildings—either new construction or renovations—completed after January 1, 1998 in the northeastern United... Read more

, a developer who pursued visionary environmental solutions for projects as mundane as shopping malls, died unexpectedly on November 30, 2001 at age 46, after suffering a heart attack while playing basketball. O’Connor was chairman of Gravestar Inc., the company that financed the environmental renovation of Porter Square in... Read more

The Pennsylvania chiropractic center illustrated in our November feature article (

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Vol. 10, No. 11) on “Green Roofs” was designed by Van der Ryn Architects in Sausalito, California. Dave Deppen served as the project architect. We apologize for omitting this information.

A number of green roof case studies will be... Read more

CD-ROM by Rocky Mountain Institute, 1739 Snowmass Creek Road, Snowmass, CO 81654, developed in cooperation with and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Kettering Family Foundation. Order online at

www.rmi.org for $20.00 (plus $2.00 for shipping & handling).

As an avid follower of your publication since its inception, I always look forward to the valuable information that comes with each issue. However, the article about Centex Homes (Newsbriefs,

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Vol. 10, No. 11) is highly misleading. We are intimately aware of how Centex does business from dealing with them on a project they... Read more

in Lake Oswego, Oregon brings to three the total number of buildings certified to date under the LEED™ 2.0 Rating System. The other two are the Cambria Office Building in Edensburg, Pennsylvania (see

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Vol. 10, No. 4) and the PNC Firstside Center in Pittsburgh (see

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Henri Fennell, of Foam-Tech, in North Thetford, Vermont (which

EBN first covered in 1993 as the first company to offer non-ozone-depleting rigid polyurethane foam insulation), continues to push for greener products. Using a $10,000 grant from the State of Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, the company recently

... Read more

It was also recognized with a 2001 Good Design™ Award from The Chicago Athenaeum in the fabric/textiles category. Why has it garnered such... Read more

You’ll notice a new look to

EBN. We’re pleased to be printing on Badger Envirographic 100, a

100% post-consumer recycled-content paper that is processed without using chlorine for bleaching. It’s better for our environment and, because it’s whiter, will mean sharper photos as well. We’ve jazzed up the covers with more color and... Read more

Receive an award from His Majesty the King of Sweden if your project is a winner in the

Stockholm Partnerships for Sustainable Cities competition! Projects contributing to sustainability in any of 12 categories can be submitted via a Web-based form for the competition, and all valid submissions will be viewable online at

www.... Read more

I was so impressed with a pre-publication copy that I... Read more

The letter criticizing vinyl in

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Vol. 10, No. 11 (“PVC Toxicity and Sustainable Materials”) was highly biased and misleading. The writer implied that burning vinyl presents a unique threat to homeowners, firefighters, and the environment. In fact, almost anything burning emits numerous toxic materials, especially carbon... Read more

I would like to clarify some misinformation contained in a letter published in

Vol. 10, No. 11. The letter’s writer asserts that while lead paint has been banned, it has been replaced “with lead from vinyl siding.”