An innovative

employee-satisfaction-based compensation contract for a new $40 million, 165 million square-foot (15 million m2) Ciba Geigy laboratory in Tarrytown, New York proved successful for the architecture and construction firms that risked part of their profits. Designers HLW International and contractor Sordoni Skanska agreed to... Read more

The Ecology

of Architecture:

by Laura C. Zeiher. 1996, Whitney Library of Design (an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications), New York. Hardcover, 270 pages, $55.

The Ecology of Architecture is a very broad work, including background theory on ecological design, profiles of practitioners, and detailed case studies of green... Read more

Thinner Studs Save Wood

As softwood lumber prices continue their wild price gyrations, including a new peak high late last year, pressure to improve the efficiency of wood use is increasing. One solution might be to reduce the thickness of framing lumber.

An Idaho sawmill began producing 11⁄4”-thick (32 mm) 2x4 and 2x6 studs two years... Read more

No More Recycled-content Extruded Polystyrene Insulation

Plastics recycling suffered many setbacks in 1996, not the least of which was the demise of Amoco’s 50%-recycled extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation. The original Amofoam-RCY™, introduced in December 1991, has been officially discontinued. The newer Amofoam-RCX™, which is available in... Read more

International Effort to Standardize Materials Data

Three new committees have been established within the France-based International Union of Testing and Research Laboratories for Materials and Structures (RILEM). Together with one committee established previously, these three aim to assess international standards for reporting on environmental... Read more

Handbook of

Sustainable Building:

by David Anink, Cheil Boonstra, and John Mak.

1996, James & James (Science Publishers) Limited.

Paperback, 175 pages, $40.

With their National Green Plan, the Dutch have long been leaders in their environmental thinking, and this book shows that the same applies to their... Read more

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EBN Goes Monthly!

With this first issue of 1997 we’re excited to announce a number of changes that will, we hope, provide you with more of what you like in

EBN, and in a more accessible format. Most important, you will now receive

EBN ten times each year instead of six. That’s right, we’ll be publishing monthly, except for... Read more

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Sydney’s Olympic Village Goes Solar…

A plan including photovoltaics, extensive energy conservation measures, and reduced environmental impacts helped a team led by Lend Lease Corp. Ltd. and Mirvac Ltd. win the contract to build the Olympic Village for the year 2000 Games. The Village, which will likely support the largest residential PV system... Read more

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George Brewster

, a long-time advocate for environmental responsibility in the developer community, has been selected as executive director of the California Center for Land Recycling (CCLR), a new project of the Trust for Public Land. CCLR’s goal is to facilitate the redevelopment of brownfields. Brewster is cofounder of BayGroup... Read more

1996 Good Wood Directory

The Good Wood Alliance, 289 College Street, Burlington, VT 05401; 802/862-4448, 802/658-4443 (fax); warp@together.net (e-mail), www.goodwood.org. 30 pages, $15 postpaid (free to Alliance members).

Since its founding in 1989, the Woodworkers Alliance for Rainforest Protection (WARP) has established itself as a... Read more

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The

United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) is now working on promoting the use of environmentally sustainable practices, products, and technologies in building systems within the U.N. Among other initiatives, a pilot demonstration project involving the greening of UNEP’s Regional Office for North America is now underway. A... Read more

A Green Release Agent for Concrete Forms

Some 500 million tons (450 million tonnes) of concrete are used each year in the United States. Most of that is poured into forms or molds, which are removed to expose the hardened concrete. To help get the forms off, they are usually coated with a petroleum-based form-release agent. Light-bodied, low-... Read more

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Newsbriefs

A scientific panel convened by the

National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, reports that after surveying hundreds of studies, it found no clear and convincing evidence that exposure in the home to electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) causes any human disease. The panel determined that research... Read more