Kudos to

EBN for a superb article on the greening of healthcare [Vol. 14, No. 6]. You did an excellent job of describing how these projects are bringing health concerns into green building in ways that will have important implications for the rest of the building industry.

Members of project design teams who are interested in... Read more

Vermont Governor Jim Douglas signed a bill in June 2005 requiring retail electricity providers to meet all growth in demand through new renewable resources or renewable energy credits. The law affects growth through 2011. To read the bill, visit www.leg.state.vt.us (search bill S.52).

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed the “Precautionary Purchasing Ordinance” into law in June 2005, requiring city departments to consider public health and environmental responsibility when making purchases, which amount to about $600 million each year. “By exercising our economic power, San Francisco can encourage market development of... Read more

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has signed into law a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requiring public utilities to purchase at least 5% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2008. Eligible technologies include wind, solar, geothermal, small hydropower, most biomass, and fuel cells using one of these fuel sources. The RPS... Read more

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has revised its estimate of the size of the global market for FSC-certified products. Previously believed to fall somewhere between $3 billion and $5 billion (see

EBN

Vol. 13, No. 10), the market is now believed to be “in excess of $5 billion.” The revision is based on the results of a global... Read more

Ecotone Publishing has announced plans to publish

Who’s Green?, envisioned as “the preeminent resource book for locating firms, organizations, and institutions that are actively participating in the growth of the sustainable design and construction field,” according to Ecotone. It will include architecture, engineering, interior design... Read more

The organizers of the Rethinking Sustainable Construction 2006 (RSC06) conference, set for Sarasota, Florida, in September, are calling for “creative content” proposals, ranging from research papers to problem-solving workshops. The international conference is intended to “produce an agenda for the future of green buildings,” as described in... Read more

Lewis Mumford Award winners. The award for Peace went to Architecture for Humanity for its “passion and dedication connecting architects and designers with communities in need around the world.” The award for Development went to United Indian Health... Read more

The U.S. distributor of the Uridan® nonflushing urinal, USA-GDK International, has abandoned the product, citing the relatively high price point (exacerbated by the recent drop of the dollar against the euro) and the unavailability of a vitreous china model as reasons for the slow sales. Uridan is seeking a new U.S. distributor. For more on... Read more

EBN Vol. 10, No. 2) to require that all new municipal facilities achieve LEED® Gold certification (joining only Scottsdale, Arizona, and Vancouver, British Columbia, in calling for Gold). Major retrofits and existing occupied buildings will... Read more

The Council of the District of Columbia has enacted a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that applies to all retail electricity sales in Washington, D.C. The two-tiered system establishes yearly benchmarks for tier-one and tier-two resources. By 2022, all utilities must generate 11% of their electricity from tier-one resources, including solar... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy has released version 1.2.2 of its EnergyPlus modeling software, compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems. The new version features more weather files and the ability to model more complex ventilation designs, among other enhancements. Details are at www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energyplus/.

Stains and sealants can reduce the cancer risk posed by decks and playground equipment treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA), according to preliminary results from a study being undertaken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. “Oil- or water-based stains that can penetrate wood... Read more