“Evaluation of LEED™ Using Life Cycle Assessment Methods” by Chris W. Scheuer and Gregory A. Keoleian, Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan. Report prepared for Barbara Lippiatt, Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology. Document #NIST GCR 02-836, 157 pages, 1.8 MB file available... Read more

For years, advocates of sustainable design have argued that interest in green building will take off when it stops being just about values and starts making good business sense. Thanks to LEED™ and the astounding success of the U.S. Green Building Council, that day seems to have arrived. The Council’s Austin conference was flooded by a wave of... Read more

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Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century,” the National Building Museum’s newest exhibition, will open in Washington, D.C. on January 17. Big & Green will explore green architecture from design, historical, and technical perspectives and profile roughly 50 green projects from around the world. The... Read more

The

Denver Metro Home Builders Association recognized five members of its Built Green program in October for their achievements in green building:

Russel Burton won an Award of Excellence and a variety of judges awards for Miller Burton’s “Roaring Fork” home, which demonstrated a residential-scale fuel cell during this year’s... Read more

Fifty schools throughout the state of New York will receive photovoltaic panels, thanks to a grant through the

Energy Smart Schools Program of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The PV arrays, each with a peak capacity of 2 kW, will be accompanied by curricular materials to help teachers explain the... Read more

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is seeking applicants for its 2003 National Green Building Awards, to be announced at the National Green Building Conference March 30 through April 1, 2003 in Baltimore, Maryland. Applications are due December 31. For more information, call 888-602-HOME or visit www.nahbrc.org.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and The American Institute of Architects (AIA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in October, continuing and expanding their partnership that

promotes energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in the built environment. Details are available from DOE’s Chris Kielich at 202/586-5806.... Read more

Torrance, California will soon be home to a 501 kW rooftop PV system. The array, to be installed by PowerLight Corporation, will bedeck 52,000 ft2 (4,800 m2) of the Toyota Motor Sales USA headquarters. Details are available online at

www.powerlight.com.

Specialized, energy-intensive lighting techniques can benefit seniors, according to the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Researchers at the LRC developed a set of

lighting principles for older adults and put them to the test at two assisted-living facilities. The results of the study... Read more

executive editor Alex Wilson testified in October before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs. Wilson joined Claire Barnett, founder and director of the Healthy Schools Network, and Lois Gibbs, director of the Center for... Read more

International Forest Products (Interfor) surprised Canadian wilderness advocates in October with the announcement that they would

stop logging the Elaho Valley of British Columbia, about 125 miles (200 km) north of Vancouver. The valley is home to the spotted owl, possibly Canada’s most endangered species. Fewer than 25 breeding pairs... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $1.5 million in grants to 30 entities in 19 states as part of the

Million Solar Roofs Initiative. The new partnerships will combine grant money with private funds to support solar energy through education, the development of financing options and building codes, and construction. Details can be... Read more

A Sunoco gas station in Markham, Ontario has opened

Canada’s first solar car wash. The Canadian government and Suncor Energy Products Inc. are teaming up to convert standard car-wash stations to use solar systems similar to residential solar water heaters. Car-wash stations use an average 69 gallons (260 l) of hot water—roughly the... Read more

Kane Hardwood, a Collins Company, has been awarded the

National Hardwood Lumber Association’s (NHLA) Forest Stewardship Award. Kane was recognized for its achievements in public education, political involvement, private landowner education, forest stewardship, and efficient resource utilization. Kane, which owns and manages over 125,000... Read more

SierraPine Ltd., a Roseville, California-based company specializing in composite panels, is reformulating and renaming its Medite FR, a Class 1, fire-retardant medium-density fiberboard (MDF) panel. It was formerly manufactured with a polyurea resin matrix adhesive (MDI) rather than conventional formaldyhyde-based resins. The new product,... Read more