... Read more

AS debate heats up on a new Endangered Species Act, revisions to the Clean Water Act, and dozens of other pieces of legislation affecting the environment, it appears as if the primary endangered species is objective information. Congressional opponents of regulation, trade associations, corporations, and... Read more

The DuPont Benedictus Awards for Innovation in Architectural Laminated Glass may have a significant environmental flavor in 1996 with the inclusion of two prominent “green” architects on the jury. Bob Berkebile of BNIM Architects in Kansas City, Missouri and Randolph Croxton, Croxton Collaborative Architects, New York City, have both been... Read more

For years polystyrene has been just about the only game in town for exterior foundation insulation. The problem is that

extruded polystyrene—the type of polystyrene most commonly used on foundations—is produced with HCFCs that deplete ozone, and

all polystyrene (both extruded and... Read more

Choosing an environmentally friendly siding material has never been easy. Often the more “natural” products, such as wood clapboards, are associated with depletion of sensitive forest resources, while materials that are highly manufactured—such as vinyl—raise questions about chlorine and petrochemicals as... Read more

Voluntary certification of product environmental claims is a useful option, but it does little to prevent bogus claims by other manufacturers. A 1990 California law attempts to address this problem by establishing legal definitions for the terms “ozone friendly,” “biodegradable,” “photodegradable,” “recyclable,” and “recycled.” Companies are... Read more

now being manufactured in Perrytown, Texas, can be used in place of both framing and drywall in partition walls. At $19 each for 4’ by 8’ (1200 mm by 2400 mm) panels, they are very competitive with conventional stud framing within a reasonable shipping distance from the plant. The panels... Read more

published by Thousand Words, P.O. Box 9034, Berkeley, CA 94709; 510/883-0433, otg@ontheground.com (e-mail). $32 per year for four issues. Length varies: 32-36 pages.

On the Ground is a large-format, quarterly journal on community, landscape design, and the environment that premiered in the Fall of... Read more

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) has announced a design competition for completed buildings north of 40 degrees north latitude. Judging criteria include energy and resource efficiency and bioregional appropriateness. There is no fee for submissions, which must be received by December 31, 1995. Contact NESEA at 413/774-6051,... Read more

We first learned about Icynene at the First Annual Conference on Alternatives to CFCs and Halons in November 1990. At that time it was a tiny Canadian company (founded in 1986) with a type of foam insulation that had no harmful effects on the Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer. Company founder... Read more

In August 1994 the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) was approached by the Global Futures Foundation to help Mitsubishi respond to a boycott effort organized by Rainforest Action Network over the company’s poor logging practices in tropical rainforests. Out of that dialog have emerged two initiatives that may be... Read more

Regarding your article “Promoting Green Buildings in Canada,” published in the July/August issue of

Environmental Building News, I would like to clarify the relationship between the Green Building Information Council (GBIC) and the Building Environmental Performance Assessment Criteria (... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy has published proposed voluntary guidelines for rating home energy performance. The guidelines were drafted by the Home Energy Rating Systems (HERS) Council for DOE and are designed to encourage uniformity among the various methods used to rate the energy efficiency of both new and existing residential buildings.... Read more

A major shake-up at Louisiana-Pacific Corporation this summer was brought on, in part, by allegations of falsifying pollution emission data. The entire upper management team of L-P, including Chairman and President Harry Merlo (who led the company since its split from Georgia-Pacific in 1973 and who championed L-P’s leadership role in the move... Read more

Members of the U.S. Green Building Council have organized a non-profit Green Building Fund in the hopes of providing ongoing support for research and demonstration of environmentally sound construction projects. So far six organizations have contributed to the Fund’s initial project—a feasibility study documenting funding sources for green... Read more

Two project are underway that may eventually provide useful environmental and cost information on building material alternatives to architects, specifiers, and others in the construction industry. A Canadian project, called

Athena™, is the outgrowth of government-sponsored work coordinated by Forintek... Read more

Judith Kincaid, Cheryl Walker, and Greg Flynn for the Triangle J Council of Governments, PO Box 12276, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709; 919/549-0551, 919/549-9390 (fax). July 1995. Three-ring binder and diskette, 115 pages, $20 (specify diskette type when ordering).

Architects and specifiers who have... Read more

A new “Mini Home Study Course” from the International Institute for Bau-biologie and Ecology™ (IBE) in Clearwater, Florida is designed to help the home-dweller understand, find, and remedy indoor air pollution, water pollution, and other home health hazards. Participants receive resource material, a video, and a Gauss meter. Contact IBE at 813/... Read more

Efforts to establish a National Institute for the Environment (NIE) are proceeding in Washington, and they may even pick up speed as a way to consolidate environmental research efforts that are being handled through many different agencies. A bill to establish the Institute is expected to be introduced in... Read more

I read your article “Steel or Wood Framing, Which Way Should We Go?” in the Volume 3, Number 4 issue of EBN with considerable interest and anticipation, but did not see a sufficient discussion on the major reason for building differently with steel studs: the problem of mold growth at the thermal bridge over... Read more