Metropolis magazine, for their Hydro Wall design. Hydro Wall is a series of flexible bladders designed to store rainwater within a building’s walls. The water could be used for irrigation, flushing toilets, and a range... Read more

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, which represents the 1,183 U.S. cities with populations of 30,000 or more, has called for all new buildings and major renovation projects to be climate neutral by 2030. The Conference unanimously adopted Resolution 50, “Adopting the ‘2030 Challenge’ for All Buildings,” during its 74th annual meeting, in June 2006... Read more

A study published in the journal

Cancer Research in June 2006 links bisphenol-A (BPA)—used to make the hard, clear plastic polycarbonate as well as most epoxies—to cancer. BPA, which mimics the human hormone estrogen, altered the structure of genes in rats’ prostate cells when they were exposed to low doses of the chemical, the study... Read more

Charles Kibert, Ph.D., of the University of Florida’s Rinker School of Construction, has assembled an impressive collection of speakers from around the world for a sequel to the seminal Sustainable Construction conference he hosted in November 1994. Based on its draft agenda, the four-day affair looks to be a hybrid of Greenbuild’s practice-... Read more

The U.S. Army has announced that, beginning in 2008, all of its new buildings will achieve Silver or higher ratings in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® Rating System. LEED will supplant the Army’s own Sustainable Project Rating Tool (SPiRiT), which was modeled after LEED. The Army has also committed to certifying all of its housing once... Read more

Outside the window a phoebe was bringing food to her nest under the eaves. I had positioned myself next to the window in the small lecture room as I always try to do at meetings—when I am fortunate enough to be in a meeting facility with windows. Being able to glance out the window from time to time helps me relax and, I think, even focus on... Read more

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for heavy industries in the state, such as power plants, refineries, and factories, to report emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are contributing to global warming. Making the announcement at a San Francisco global warming summit in April 2006, the governor pledged to... Read more

Jane Jacobs, an advocate for dense and lively cities best known for her 1961 book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, died April 25, 2006, at age 89. While Jacobs did not have formal architectural training, she had an inside view of urban renewal projects from an editorial post at Architectural Forum magazine and a keen appreciation of... Read more

Innovative Design, Inc., of Raleigh, North Carolina, was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for “Excellence in Energy Efficiency.” The company was honored in March 2006 as the first architecture firm to receive recognition for energy-efficient design. The recognition was based on Innovative Design’s participation in... Read more

At its May 2006 board meeting in New Orleans, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) board of directors endorsed a series of recommendations for modifying the two credits in the LEED® Rating System that relate to biobased materials. (Full disclosure: I was asked by USGBC to lead this effort, and I wrote the recommendations.) As described... Read more

synthetic gypsum from coal-burning power plants (a pre-consumer recycled material), and when wallboard scraps are diverted from landfills they are typically ground into soil... Read more

U.S. emissions of greenhouse gasses, which cause global warming, rose 1.7% between 2003 and 2004, to the highest level on record, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Citing reductions in methane and nitrous oxide emissions, EPA claimed progress. “While the U.S. economy expanded by 51% from 1990 to 2004, emissions have... Read more