Icynene, maker of the widely used and first open-cell polyurethane spray foam insulation of the same name, has launched a new product with some rapidly renewable content. Icynene LD-R-50 is formulated with a polyol derived from the castor plant—a shrub with two annual growing cycles that thrives on marginal land.

Officials in Portland, Oregon, have proposed a far-reaching green building program that would be the first of its kind in the country.

Can the presence of porches and stoops affect people’s health? Numerous designers, researchers, and authors have explored the connection; Jane Jacobs famously wrote about the benefits of “eyes on the street” and the architectural features that support them. A team led by Scott Brown of the Miami Miller School of Medicine recently published... Read more

Serious Materials, Inc., the California-based manufacturer of environmental drywall products (see

EBN

Vol. 17, No. 12) and high-performing windows (see

EBN

Vol. 17, No. 8), has expanded its window-manufacturing capacity tenfold while rescuing a pair of troubled factories.

The potential environmental benefits of nanomaterials may be significantly offset by the intensive demands of their manufacturing processes, according to research recently published in the

Journal of Industrial Ecology.

EBN

Vol. 17, No. 3) for... Read more

In a recent ruling, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) updated the energy code used by states in crafting their own codes for commercial buildings. All states now must have codes equal to or more stringent than ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004 or apply for an exemption; the previous requirement referenced the 1999 version of the standard. The... Read more

Panasonic has introduced what may be the first vacuum-panel-insulated refrigerator in the world. The 17.7 ft3 (501 l) NR-F503TE refrigerator-freezer, introduced in late 2008 in Japan, is insulated with Panasonic’s U-VacuaIV vacuum panels that consist of multiple layers of glass fibers and aluminum films sealed into a vacuum panel. The... Read more

In signing a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), real estate development firm Cushman & Wakefield has pledged to cut energy use in its U.S. buildings by 30% by 2012. The commercial real estate services firm holds more than 3,200 properties in the U.S. that amount to over 265 million square feet.

Since

EBN reviewed micronized copper as an environmentally preferable alternative to soluble copper formulas in treated wood (see

EBN Vol. 17, No. 2), those products have won over most of the U.S. market. According to Richard Kleiner, director for treated wood markets at the Southern Forest Products Association, most major wood... Read more

Long before the invention of portland cement, the Romans created impressive concrete structures using lime and a volcanic ash (with properties that were first discovered in Pozzuoli, Italy) that reacted with the lime and hardened the concrete. Coal fly ash, which is the particulate matter collected by pollution-control equipment from... Read more

When NTI founder Kevin Dennison visited western Canada in 1999, he found slab-on-grade houses with air conditioning and heat-recovery ventilation for the summer as well as radiant floor heating for the winter. Looking at all of the separate equipment and the space it required, Dennison wondered, “Why couldn’t we develop a unit that did... Read more

A recent review in Environmental Health Perspectives of 41 scientific papers found sparse but suggestive evidence for a connection between phthalate exposure and asthma and allergies. The reviewers examined evidence that phthalates, commonly used as plasticizers in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products, increase the risk of asthma and allergies and... Read more

Cyclists were already in line before... Read more

Continuing in the recent thread of examining various power generation technologies, this week I'll weigh in on nuclear power. I do this against my wife's better judgment, and perhaps out of concern that my columns haven't been generating enough controversy.

Let... Read more

Continuing in the recent thread of examining various power generation technologies, this week I'll weigh in on nuclear power. I do this against my wife's better judgment, and perhaps out of concern that my columns haven't been generating enough controversy.

Let... Read more

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