The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has set tougher standards for clothes washers to qualify for the Energy Star® label, beginning January 1, 2007. The new standards increase the modified energy factor (MEF), the capacity of the clothes container divided by the total energy consumption per cycle, from 1.42 to 1.72 ft3/kWh per cycle. The new... Read more

Environmental Building News (EBN) reported on the first building codes for strawbale construction (see

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Vol. 5, No. 1). The State of Nevada had recently passed a mandate requiring local jurisdictions to permit strawbale buildings, and California had approved voluntary guidelines that could be adopted at the... Read more

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Vol. 11, No. 1), the only downside we found was that the noise might be a little . . . much. The sound of the Xlerator’s 16,000-ft/minute (5,000- m/minute) airstream being deflected off hands can reach 90 decibels. Since that sound level can be a problem in some... Read more

The New York State Education Department and the State University of New York (SUNY) have approved a new four-year undergraduate program in renewable and alternative energy applications, including wind, solar, geothermal, fuel cell, biofuel, and other emerging technologies. SUNY Canton will offer the program beginning with the fall 2006 semester... Read more

2005 set a new record, according to estimates from the Munich Re Foundation, with more than $200 billion in economic losses due to weather-related disasters. Of that total, more than $75 billion was covered by insurance companies. Hurricane Katrina caused much of that loss, with damages estimated at $125 billion, of which about $45 billion was... Read more

To help its 77,000 members meet their green design information needs, The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has signed an agreement with BuildingGreen, Inc. The agreement will bring

Environmental Building News (EBN) articles to AIA members through AIA Knowledge Community publications, including

AIArchitect, and through AIA’... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the winners of its annual EnergyValue Housing Awards, designed to promote and improve the energy efficiency of new homes in the U.S. The program is funded by DOE’s Building America Program and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with support from several private sponsors, including... Read more

Greenpeace International unveiled the Music Wood Initiative at the January 2006 trade show of NAMM, the International Music Products Association. The Music Wood Initiative was created to limit the environmental and social degradation caused in the making of musical instruments. “If you walk through a music store, the instruments are comprised... Read more

A pilot study by Yale and Columbia universities ranked the U.S. 28th in environmental performance. The 2006 Environmental Performance Index ranked countries based on sixteen indicators related to environmental health, air quality, water resources, productive natural resources, biodiversity and habitat, and sustainable energy. New Zealand scored... Read more

Vol. 13, No. 1), quite a bit has happened in the area of standardized testing of toilet performance. The Maximum Performance (MaP™) testing that we reported on has been progressing at a rapid pace. Veritec Consulting, Inc., has now tested well over 200 toilet models, and the... Read more

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with dozens of government, industry, and nonprofit partners, is accepting applications for the 2006 P3 Award, a design competition for scientific and technical solutions to environmental challenges. “P3 highlights people, prosperity, and the planet—the three pillars of sustainability,”... Read more

The new energy tax credits outlined in the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 took effect on January 1, 2006. For more information on the provisions in the act, see

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Vol. 14, No. 9.

On January 4, 2006, the Executive Committee of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) board of directors approved the charter of a Research Committee and appointed its initial five members. This is a core

organizational committee of the Council (as opposed to being a LEED® committee) that focuses on one of the USGBC’s six key goals in... Read more

BuildingGreen is pleased to announce the addition of Drew George, principal of Drew George & Partners, Inc., in San Diego, to our Advisory Board. Drew George & Partners is a sustainable design and business-practices consulting firm with a passion for accelerating the transformation of the building industry to sustainability.

In... Read more

Peter Busby, AIA, managing director of Busby, Perkins+Will, based in Vancouver, British Columbia (a subsidiary company of Perkins+Will), has been named a member of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest honor for lifetime achievement and service.

The Building Envelope Institute, a nonprofit professional association based in Cary, North Carolina, was created in October 2005 “to serve the common interests of individuals involved in issues related to the performance of building envelope systems.” Details, including a list of the organization’s officers, directors, and 13 founding members,... Read more

The Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers has initiated a committee on sustain-ability to advance the understanding of sustainability in the structural engineering community and incorporate sustainability into relevant standards and practices. “This is an exciting development for the structural... Read more

First waterless urinals, now waterless . . . clothes washers? Two students at the National University of Singapore’s School of Design and Environment have won the 2005 Design Lab Award at the international Electrolux Design Lab competition for their design of Airwash, a washing machine that uses neither water nor detergent. Airwash instead... Read more