Thinner Studs Save Wood

As softwood lumber prices continue their wild price gyrations, including a new peak high late last year, pressure to improve the efficiency of wood use is increasing. One solution might be to reduce the thickness of framing lumber.

An Idaho sawmill began producing 11⁄4”-thick (32 mm) 2x4 and 2x6 studs two years... Read more

No More Recycled-content Extruded Polystyrene Insulation

Plastics recycling suffered many setbacks in 1996, not the least of which was the demise of Amoco’s 50%-recycled extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation. The original Amofoam-RCY™, introduced in December 1991, has been officially discontinued. The newer Amofoam-RCX™, which is available in... Read more

International Effort to Standardize Materials Data

Three new committees have been established within the France-based International Union of Testing and Research Laboratories for Materials and Structures (RILEM). Together with one committee established previously, these three aim to assess international standards for reporting on environmental... Read more

Dewees Island: More Than Just a Green Development

Most people involved with environmentally responsible development have probably heard about Dewees Island somewhere along the line.

After all, the project has been featured in dozens of mainstream publications and a half-dozen books. John Knott, the visionary C.E.O. of Island... Read more

Newsbriefs

The International Specular Reflector Association has broadened its scope and changed its name to the

Energy Efficient Lighting Association. According to David Brown, president of the two-year-old organization, “ISRA goals have been achieved—reflectors are now recognized as an effective tool to help achieve energy-efficient... Read more

Handbook of

Sustainable Building:

by David Anink, Cheil Boonstra, and John Mak.

1996, James & James (Science Publishers) Limited.

Paperback, 175 pages, $40.

With their National Green Plan, the Dutch have long been leaders in their environmental thinking, and this book shows that the same applies to their... Read more

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George Brewster

, a long-time advocate for environmental responsibility in the developer community, has been selected as executive director of the California Center for Land Recycling (CCLR), a new project of the Trust for Public Land. CCLR’s goal is to facilitate the redevelopment of brownfields. Brewster is cofounder of BayGroup... Read more

1996 Good Wood Directory

The Good Wood Alliance, 289 College Street, Burlington, VT 05401; 802/862-4448, 802/658-4443 (fax); warp@together.net (e-mail), www.goodwood.org. 30 pages, $15 postpaid (free to Alliance members).

Since its founding in 1989, the Woodworkers Alliance for Rainforest Protection (WARP) has established itself as a... Read more

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The

United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) is now working on promoting the use of environmentally sustainable practices, products, and technologies in building systems within the U.N. Among other initiatives, a pilot demonstration project involving the greening of UNEP’s Regional Office for North America is now underway. A... Read more

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Newsbriefs

A scientific panel convened by the

National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, reports that after surveying hundreds of studies, it found no clear and convincing evidence that exposure in the home to electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) causes any human disease. The panel determined that research... Read more

The Ridgehaven Building:

Lean and Green for a Municipal Office Building

Many commercial buildings that have received attention over the past few years for environmental features are beautiful, high-end corporate buildings, or attractive demonstration buildings for utility companies or environmental organizations. The Ridgehaven Building... Read more

In the Old World, humans and animals have been adapting to each other for a long time, so it should come as no surprise that the owl habitat protected by new local regulations in Britain is of human construction. According to the Autumn 1996 issue of

Building for a Future, the North Cornwall and Derbyshire Dales District Councils now... Read more

Residential Windows

by John Carmody, Stephen Selkowitz, and Lisa Heschong.

W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1996. Softcover, 214 pages, $22.

Simply put, this is one of the best books on energy to come out in recent years. The authors have done a superb job of clearly and accurately describing the complex developments in window... Read more

Halogen Torchieres:

Not a Bright Idea

Halogen torchieres, those highly popular, low-cost, dimmable, standing light fixtures that provide brilliant uplighting, have turned out to be one of the worst lighting products available. First introduced in the 1980s but only gaining widespread use in the past few years, these 300- to 600-... Read more

Submission deadline for the 1997

Quality Building Conference Design Competition is February 15, 1997. Prizes will be awarded to projects that incorporate cost-effective energy and resource conservation systems into their buildings. A range of categories will be judged, including both built and unbuilt projects. Awards will be presented... Read more

Awards & Competitions

Among the recipients of the first

Building Innovation in Home-ownership Awards was the Super-Insulated Straw Bale Affordable Housing Project of Tucson, Arizona. Project organizers receiving the award included Judy Knox and Matts Mhyrmann of Out On Bale, (un)Ltd., David Eisenberg of the Development Center for... Read more