The Energy Star® program, a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has named

Johnson Controls among its 2001 Award Winners. Recognized for its commitment to pollution prevention by improving the energy performance of buildings throughout the U.S., the company provides building control... Read more

The Maine Hospital Association, in partnership with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Natural Resources Council of Maine, just signed an agreement to voluntarily eliminate the use of most mercury-containing supplies and medical equipment, as well as continuously reduce the use of

plastics containing PVC. The... Read more

Beginning in January of this year, all new

homes sold in England and Wales have to display energy ratings. The ratings are required by the revised Building Regulations and Approved Inspectors Regulations 2000, which was formally approved last October. Home ratings are based on the Standard Assessment Procedure for Energy Rating of... Read more

According to the National Climate Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

global temperatures in 2000 were 0.39°C (0.7°F) higher than the long-term (1880-1999) average. This makes 2000 the sixth hottest year on record (after 1998, 1997, 1995, 1990, and 1999). Land temperatures were 0.59°C (1.1°F) above... Read more

National Post Design Exchange Awards Gala, held on January 25, 2001 in Toronto.

The project won a Gold Award in the category “Built Environments, Grand... Read more

We have the Environmental Home Center—almost an ‘Eco-Home Depot’—where our clients can see and actually... Read more

The worldwide

costs of climate change will reach $300 billion annually by 2050, predicts Munich RE, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies. These costs will result from more frequent tropical cyclones, land loss due to rising sea levels, and damage to fishing stocks, agriculture, and water supplies. In the U.S., an estimated... Read more

We are saddened to note the passing of two mavericks in the world of sustainability. On February 20, Donella (Dana) Meadows died suddenly of bacterial meningitis at age 59. In her late 20s, Dana was principal author of

Limits to Growth (1972), one of the first books to address the limits of population growth and resource extraction.... Read more

is pleased to be honored by

Metropolitan Home magazine as one the

Design 100 Best of the Best: People, Places, Extraordinary Things in the “Design that Makes a Difference” category. Also recognized are architect (and

EBN Advisory Board member) Gail Lindsey, landscape architect Julie Bargmann, eco-designer Wendy... Read more

The

Architecture + Energy: Building Excellence in Sustainable Design awards program from the AIA/Portland Chapter recognizes the integration of design excellence with sustainable principles and conservation technology in commercial buildings. Historically restricted to buildings in the Northwestern U.S., this year the program invites... Read more

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) are partnering to establish the

best available practices in

life-cycle assessment. The Life Cycle Inititative should go a long way toward harmonizing existing methods, databases, and life-cycle tools. This initiative... Read more

by Richard Pinkham. Rocky Mountain Institute, 2000. Spiral-bound, 64 pages. Available printed for $12 plus shipping from RMI, 1739 Snowmass Creek Rd., Snowmass, CO 81654; 970/927-3851; or available for free in PDF format from the RMI Web site:

www.rmi.org

On March 13, Governor Parris Glen-denning’s Executive Order made Maryland the first state to mandate sustainability measures for all government operations in clean energy, green buildings, pollution prevention, and alternative fuel vehicles (www.gov.state.md.us/gov/execords/2001/html/0002eo.html). The order features a new High Efficiency Green... Read more

by Jennifer Corson, 2000. Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River Junction, Vermont. Paperback, 157 pages, $24.95

Every once in a while, a book comes our way about building and the environment that just about anyone will find practical and delightful—Sarah Susanka’s most recent book, Creating The Not-So Big House, comes to mind.... Read more

Osmose, Inc. and Chemical Specialties, Inc. (CSI) announced an agreement allowing Osmose to produce and sell ACQ, a copper-based alternative to CCA wood preservatives developed by CSI. This agreement should lead to a significant expansion in the availability of ACQ-treated wood products in North America and elsewhere. Terms of the deal were not... Read more

www.eeba.org. Spiral-bound paperbacks, 328 to 473 pages, $30 (EEBA members), $40 (non-members)

EBN

Vol. 6, No. 5), we gave a pretty hearty thumbs-up to Joe... Read more

A lot of finger-pointing is going on in California these days. The rolling blackouts in January were due to deregulation gone awry … or failure to project rapid growth in demand … or permitting delays … or bottlenecks in power transmission. One thing is crystal clear, however: energy is back on the radar screen. People are talking about the oft... Read more

, an architecture firm in the U.K., has become the first firm we know of to adopt the International Standards Organization (ISO) 14001 environmental management standard. The firm applied the standard to an architectural practice by developing a system to ensure that environmental impacts are considered in its... Read more

The February [

EBN

Vol. 10, No. 2] cover story on site restoration and the editorial on hospice ecology in Hawaii were excellent. In the piece on Hawaii and its loss of habitat and native species, your question of how this relates to green building is so important. It goes to the heart of what is “green” and what is “sustainable... Read more