Kohler, a leading international producer of plumbing products, introduced in January 2004 a new toilet whose flush performance is among the best available. The Cimarron Comfort Height™ toilet features Kohler’s new Class Five™ flushing system, which has the largest-diameter flush valve in the industry: 31⁄4” (83 mm). Most toilets have 2” or 21⁄2” (... Read more

Stanford University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is seeking applications for a tenure-track assistant professor or untenured associate professor

position focusing on the sustainable development of buildings and other infrastructure. The review of applications will begin September 15, 2004. More information is... Read more

Three conservation organizations have sued the federal government to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require maximum achievable

reductions in mercury and other toxic air pollutants emitted by coal- and oil-fired power plants. Under the Clean Air Act, EPA’s deadline for issuing these standards was December 20,... Read more

I kept thinking of Yogi Berra’s line “It’s déjà vu all over again” as I pored over dozens of scientific papers, reports, and articles on flame retardants and talked with experts over the past month. Current concerns about certain flame retardants—especially brominated flame retardants—bear striking resemblance to concerns expressed in the 1970s... Read more

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC), the organization most actively promoting green roofs in North America, has announced the winners of its second annual Awards of Excellence.

Winners were selected for industrial and commercial, institutional, and residential projects for both intensive (with more than 6” of growing medium) and... Read more

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced this year’s inductees to the College of Fellows, among the highest honors bestowed on AIA members. Five of this year’s Institute Fellows are noteworthy green designers:

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Michael Holtz, president of Architectural Energy Corporation in Boulder, Colorado;

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Peter... Read more

Shortly after celebrating the fourth anniversary of the LEED

® Rating System, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) awarded its

100th LEED certification—a Silver rating for the Bonneville Power Administration Ampere Annex in Vancouver, Washington—on April 14, 2004. And, on April 19, USGBC received a LEED registration for the St... Read more

New Jersey’s Renewable Energy Task Force, created by Governor McGreevey in January 2004, finalized in March plans to strengthen the State’s

renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which requires energy suppliers to provide a certain percentage of renewable power, including that from solar, wind, renewable biomass, landfill gas, geothermal,... Read more

Energy and Environmental Policies of the Bush AdministrationTo say that I’m discouraged with energy and environmental policy trends is an understatement. As someone with a generally optimistic outlook, I keep assuming that the policies of the current Administration can’t get any worse. But then I open the morning paper or turn on the radio and... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced on April 15 that president and CEO

Christine Ervin is stepping down from her leadership role.

Rick Fedrizzi, founder and president of Green-Think, Inc., and founding chairman of USGBC, has been selected to fill her position in an acting capacity. According to the Council, “The change is... Read more

According to the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy,

net petroleum imports into the United States reached a new all-time record in 2003: 56.1% of oil consumption. This represents a 5.1% increase over net imports in 2002, and a 1.1% increase over the previous record in 2001. Imports from OPEC represented... Read more

Solargenix Energy, LLC is moving full-steam ahead on several exciting fronts in the solar-thermal industry. Solargenix began as Solar Roof International in 1987 with a number of partners including the architecture firm Innovative Design of Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1997, with the Israeli company Solel Solar Systems as a partner, the company... Read more

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announced the winners of the

2004 National Green Building Awards in March during their Green Building Conference in Austin, Texas.

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Tom Hoyt, co-owner of McStain Enterprises in Boulder, Colorado, was named

Green Advocate of the Year. Hoyt has built more than 8,000... Read more

EarthCraft House Communities is now in its pilot phase. Building on their successful EarthCraft House program (see

EBN

Vol. 8, No. 10), Southface Energy Institute designed the Communities program to address the environmental performance of individual homes as well as neighborhood design, site modification, and community education. Four... Read more

Karl Bren has left the Virginia Housing Development Authority to form his own consulting firm,

GreenVisions Consulting. Bren has been a leading advocate of green building and sustainable development in Virginia since the early 1990s, when he founded the Virginia Housing and the Environment Network (VaHEN). In his new role, he will consult and... Read more

We have almost a heaven and hell,” says Pauline Souza, of Chong Partners Architecture in San Francisco, describing her firm’s successes and frustrations at greening their work. Mid-sized and large design firms carry a lot of cachet, and clients tend to follow their advice more readily than they follow the suggestions of sole practitioners or small... Read more

The first LEED

® Rating System based outside the U.S. was officially launched in Vancouver, British Columbia on April 14, 2004 by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). The program is now accepting project registrations and has, in fact, already received its first full application, from the City of Vancouver. The development of LEED-BC was... Read more

Emerging Green Builders has announced its second annual

USGBC Design Competition, intended to engage and recognize environmentally conscious students and professionals new to the building industry. In order to compete, current students and professionals with less than three years of experience in the building industry are invited to... Read more

When the

Bush Administration attempted to lower energy-efficiency standards set by the Clinton White House (from SEER 13 to SEER 12), a coalition of consumer organizations and attorneys general challenged the move. The Second Court of Appeals in New York City rejected the Bush plans (see

EBN

Vol. 13, No. 2), but air-... Read more

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has selected this year’s Top Ten Green Projects from among an especially strong pool of submissions. The 2004 jury, chaired by Sandy Mendler, AIA, included Susan Ubbelohde, Tony McLaughlin, Don Watson, FAIA, and William Moorish. Full project information is online at www.aiatopten.org/hpb/ or in the... Read more