The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is inviting building product manufacturers to submit data about their manufacturing processes for the forthcoming version of the BEES life-cycle assessment (LCA) software. The new “BEES Please” program aims to include product-specific LCA results alongside the more generic, industry-... 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

Both first-place winners of the 2002 ASHRAE Technology Awards utilize lake water for cooling on a large scale. The first project, providing a whopping 86% energy savings for a large campus, was designed and constructed by a team of engineers led by Lanny Joyce of the Cornell University Department of Utilities and Energy Management in Ithaca,... Read more

In a December 19, 2001 letter to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Affairs, the U.S. Green Building Council clarified that the lack of any LEED credits for the exclusion of vinyl flooring should not “be taken as reliable evidence that PVC is considered environmentally benign.” The letter was signed by Christine Ervin, President and CEO... Read more

by Amy Vickers, 2001, WaterPlow Press, PO Box 2475, Amherst, MA 01004-2475; 413/253-1520, 413/253-1521 (fax), www.waterplowpress.com. Hardcover, 464 pages, $99.95.

Much more than a “handbook,” this is a veritable encyclopedia of water conservation methods and equipment in buildings, landscapes, and beyond.

Vickers has drawn on... Read more

During judging of the Northeast Green Building Design Competition last spring, I was struck by the number of residential entries with really stellar passive solar design and super-high-performance building envelopes. Clearly, I thought as I began reviewing the features, we’ve come a long way in high-performance residential green building since... 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

Entries are due by December 1 for the

National Green Building Awards to be given at the 2002 National Green Building Conference, March 24–26 in Seattle. Award categories include: Green Advocate; Green Project of the Year—New Home; Green Marketing; Green Building Program of the Year; and Outstanding Green Product. For details, contact... Read more

by David Pearson. Gaia Books Ltd. and Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2001. Hardcover, 95 pages, $16.95.

Treehouses features arboreal residences from all over the world in a wide range of styles, scales, and levels. Some of these homes shelter activists who have taken up permanent residence in a tree in the... Read more

EcoTimber, of Berkeley, California, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected distributors of FSC-certified wood products, was sold in October to Hayward Lumber, headquartered in Monterey. Actually, at the time of closing, EcoTimber represented only the flooring and decking division of the original company; the company’s hardwood lumber... Read more

Our recent spurt in production at BuildingGreen—new editions of

GreenSpec,

EBN Archives and

Green Building Advisor—has brought home a message that we often convey to others: being environmentally responsible can be a challenge.

Following 10 years of often-rancorous debate, California Governor Gray Davis on October 9 signed into law a bill that requires builders of large subdivisions to demonstrate that there will be

adequate water supplies for the development. The new law prohibits cities and counties from issuing permits to projects with 500 or more homes... Read more

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

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority released two

Program Opportunity Notices announcing nearly $2 million in funding for high efficiency lighting products and demonstrations (PON 629-01, $1.2 million) and heating and cooling (PON 649-01, $750,000). Proposals for both are due in late November. Details are... Read more

by Dan Imhoff, forewords by Randy Hayes and Sim Van der Ryn, 2001. Watershed Media, Healdsburg, CA; 707/895-3490,

www.watershedmedia.org. Paperback, 136 pages, $22 plus shipping.

David L. Crawford is a recipient of the

2001 Presidential Award from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), for his work in creating awareness of sky brightness and light pollution, and leadership in promoting outdoor lighting to reduce sky brightness. The award was presented at the August 6, 2001 Honors Luncheon... Read more

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation headquarters, previously cited in

EBN as the first (so far, the only) building to earn a LEED™ Platinum rating, now has more high-profile kudos. The building is one of 11 winners of the

5th Annual Business Week

/Architectural Record Awards, selected from among 192 applicants and 19 finalists... Read more