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

When LEED® for New Construction (LEED-NC) version 2.2 was released in November 2005, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) dictated that project teams that had registered projects under previous versions of LEED-NC were free to migrate to the new version, but that such a migration was an all-or-nothing proposition. A project must be submitted... Read more

Ten states, two cities, and three environmental organizations have sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for not regulating carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. While the Clean Air Act requires EPA to regulate air pollutants, the Bush administration claims carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses do not qualify as... 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

A $1 billion rush order for the Indonesian tropical hardwood merbau is designated for construction of the 2008 Beijing Olympic sports venues, according to an April 2006

New York Times report. The deal is part of $7 billion China invested in Indonesia last year—much of the investment is going toward replacing valuable ecosystems with... Read more

In April 2006, Maine became the first state to offer a financial incentive for recycling building thermostats that contain mercury and the first state to mandate thermostat recycling for homeowners. Previous laws banned the sale of new mercury thermostats and required recycling by wholesalers. A minimum $5 incentive will be offered for each... Read more

Detective James Zadroga’s January 5, 2006, death of respiratory failure is the first to be officially blamed on exposure to dust from the September 11, 2001, collapse of the World Trade Center. “It is felt with a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the cause of death in this case was directly related to the 9/11 incident,” according to... Read more

The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) has announced the winners of its annual Student Sustainable Design Competition. Bridget Dunn, from Florida State University in Tallahassee, won Best of Competition, and Olena Baranova, from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, won an Award of Merit. Holly Murdock, from Utah State... 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

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) will accept presentation proposals for its 2007 national convention and design exposition, themed “Growing Beyond Green,” through July 1, 2006. The conference will be held May 3-5, 2007, in San Antonio. Details are online at www.aia.org/conted_convention/. For more on AIA’s commitment to green design... 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

Andy Shapiro noticed something funny when he examined the energy use of the new manufacturing facility for NRG Systems, Inc., in Hinesburg, Vermont: lights were turning on at night when nobody was using the space. The LEED® Gold building’s sophisticated measurement and verification (M&V) system, which records when and where the building... Read more

Sizing and placing of windows has always required balancing the need to provide daylight and views with the need to manage solar heat gain and limit heat loss. “Fundamentally, a static window with fixed properties is almost always a poor compromise between night and day, summer and winter, sunny and overcast,” says Stephen Selkowitz, who heads... Read more

A new initiative from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) board of directors hopes to bring resolution to the prickly subject of wood in the LEED® Rating System. The timber industry has used its leverage to slow the adoption of LEED by state governments and federal agencies and has sponsored the introduction of a competing rating... Read more

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Vol. 8, No. 6... Read more