The Boston City Council unanimously passed a resolution in October establishing city purchasing guidelines that favor materials that do not produce dioxin, a potent human carcinogen and endocrine disrupter. Dioxin is released when chlorinated products, including chlorine-bleached paper and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), are manufactured and... Read more

The Portland Cement Association (PCA) announced at Greenbuild the proposed allowance of up to 5% ground limestone in the portland cement standard ASTM C150, a change that would bring U.S. standards in line with those in Europe and Canada, where limestone has been used successfully for decades. If approved, the standards will allow a reduction... Read more

EPA unveiled at Greenbuild a plan for greening landscaping by using biobased, recycled-content, and otherwise environmentally preferable products, and named USGBC as a Charter Ally in the initiative. The GreenScapes Alliance aims to combine the influence of government and industry to green large-scale landscaping efforts, such as roadside... Read more

One closely watched election disappointed smart-growth advocates across the country. Loudoun County, Virginia, a national model of environmentally friendly urban planning (see EBN Vol. 9, No. 3, p. 5), voted in November to replace six of its eight left-leaning county board members with Republicans. The newly elected board members have vocally... Read more

In presenting their second annual Leadership Awards during Greenbuild, the U.S. Green Building Council recognized five companies and individuals “who signify the vision, leadership, and commitment to the evolution of green building design and construction”:

• Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. received the Green Building Business Award for... Read more

The world’s largest photovoltaic acoustic highway barrier was inaugurated in October in Munich, Germany. Stretching over one kilometer (0.6 miles) along the A92 freeway, the barrier produces 500 peak kW of solar electricity while protecting the nearby Freisinger commercial zone from traffic noise.

“Action for Sustainability,” the

2005 World Sustainable Building Conference following in the footsteps of Sustainable Building 2002 in Oslo, Norway, is set to take place September 27–29, 2005 in Tokyo, Japan. The conference will be hosted by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, and co-hosted by the International... Read more

The Emerging Green Builders chapter of the Council hosted the first annual USGBC Design Competition this year. The challenge was to design an 18,000 ft2 (1,675 m2), $2 million addition to the nonprofit Pittsburgh Project. The designs, including classroom space and housing, were required to qualify for a LEED Platinum rating. Over 125 teams of... Read more

A group of institutions, including the National Center for Atmospheric Research, has begun a three-year project to model air quality in the U.S. over the next 50 years. Through the study, funded by the National Science Foundation, EPA, and Forest Service, researchers will examine how air quality will be affected by climate change, wildfires,... Read more

Desert Moon Productions has begun filming the first home-improvement show with a green emphasis.  The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) will air 26 episodes of the 30-minute television show, Build it Green! Set to begin running next July.

Build it Green! will be hosted by contractor Charlie Popeck and architect Jill Burtin and will... Read more

The Green Building Alliance awarded its Shades of Green award during Greenbuild to Teresa Heinz, chair of the Heinz Family Philanthropies and the Howard Heinz Endowment. Support from these two organizations has been instrumental in making Pittsburgh a hub of green building activity, with more LEED-certified buildings than any other city. A... Read more

The Calgary, Alberta company Nysan introduced a PVC-free interior shade-screen product line at the Pittsburgh Greenbuild conference.

Until this product introduction, there were about eight manufacturers of shade-screen systems for commercial buildings, including Nysan, all of which used PVC-coated screening—usually either woven... Read more

In October, Sharp Corporation, the world’s leader in solar energy production, and its U.S. sales and marketing subsidiary, Sharp Electronics Corporation, opened their first solar panel manufacturing facility outside of Japan. The new factory, in Memphis, Tennessee, is assembling 165-, 167-, and 185-watt panels for residential and commercial... Read more

With the support of EPA, the New York City nonprofit Earth Pledge has launched a new Web project to support the greening of local rooftops. GreeningGotham.org “envisions the rooftops of New York City transformed from a barren landscape into a living network of meadows and gardens.” Visit the Web site to see what that might look like! In coming... Read more

A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency draft study released in November reveals a much higher health risk to children who play on CCA-treated playsets and decks than was previously indicated by the agency (see EBN Vol. 12, No. 3). The report shows that 90% of children aged one to six who regularly play on CCA-treated wood face a greater than... Read more

Voters in 16 states said yes to 64 conservation-related ballot measures in November, approving $1.2 billion in new public money for parks and open space. This represents an 83% success rate, despite the fact that most of the measures represented property-tax increases or general obligation bonds. More information on the votes, including a... Read more

Kevin Hydes, president of Keen Engineering and USGBC board member, is moving from the West Coast to Montreal, Quebec, where Keen is opening a new office this month. While operating from Keen’s new Montreal office, Hydes plans to further his involvement in the Canadian government’s greenhouse action plan as Canada moves to meet its Kyoto... Read more

A new report from Oceana, “Toxic Burden: PCBs in Marine Life,” compiles information from 40 studies relating to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in humans and marine animals. Over 1.5 billion pounds (680 million kg) of PCBs were produced in the U.S. for industrial and commercial applications, most notably in electrical, heat-transfer, and... Read more

The National Energy Affordability and Accessibility Project (NEAAP) has developed a Web site that explains the impacts of energy restructuring and market changes on households with low and moderate incomes. It features state-by-state overviews on the status of restructuring, news and analysis on consumer-related restructuring activity, consumer... Read more