Linseed oil seems as if it should be a great product from an environmental and health standpoint. It’s made from flax seed, a renewable agricultural crop; it’s been used for centuries; and it smells good. The problem is that standard “boiled” linseed oil sold as a wood finish contains heavy... Read more

is cosponsoring, and EBN staff are participating in, two conferences this fall. The First International Conference on Sustainable Construction in Tampa, Florida (November 6-9) will feature researchers and construction managers from around the world sharing data on everything from indigenous materials to high-tech monitoring of the... Read more

Solid mahogany entrance doors might seem like a symbol of the consumerism that’s destroying the rainforest, but not all of them are so destructive. In fact, some doors from Portico S.A. of Costa Rica are made with wood that is certified to be from a well-managed forest. Not only is specifying these... Read more

Stormwater is defined as precipitation that does not soak into the ground or evaporate, but flows along the surface of the ground as runoff. As land is developed, stormwater becomes a bigger and bigger concern.

A number of aspects of development contribute to the increase in stormwater: destruction of natural vegetation, land clearing,... Read more

In what the plastics industry is calling a landmark decision, the German town of Bielefeld has lifted its seven-year-old prohibition on PVC products in publicly funded buildings. According to

Plastics News, the move came “after a re-evaluation of the products, taking into account their long life expectancies, industry recycling programs... Read more

by Anne Simon Moffat, Marc Schiler, and the staff of Green Living, 1993. Appropriate Solutions Press, South Newfane, VT. Softcover, 230 pages, $17.95.

Landscape Design that Saves Energy (Morrow, 1981) was out-of-print, worry no more.

... Read more

Green Seal, the national environmental labeling organization, has added windows and window films to the list of products for which it has established minimum standards for certification (see EBN

Vol. 2, No. 6 for other products). The window standards address energy performance by considering U-values, Solar Heat Gain Coefficients,... Read more

It’s no secret that impervious surfaces add dramatically to stormwater runoff problems: erosion, downstream flooding, and pollution of surface waters. Paved areas are the biggest culprits. For most road surfaces, impervious asphalt and concrete pavement are the only practical options. But for parking areas, low-use driveways,... Read more

by Wesley A. Groesbeck and Jan Striefel, 1994. Environmental Resources Inc., 2041 East Hollywood Ave., Salt Lake City, UT 84108; 801/485-0280. Softcover, spiral-bound, 152 pages, $28.00, postpaid.

The Resource Guide to Sustainable Landscapes is more than just a product directory. It also provides good... Read more

Woods of the World, a database of information on wood species.

Tree Talk, Inc., PO Box 426,

Burlington, VT 05402;

802/863-6789, 802/863-4344 (fax).

CD-ROM or diskettes $299, condensed diskette version $199.

The long-awaited

Woods of the World database from Tree... Read more

A recent court case and ongoing Congressional actions may have broad implications for the ability of government at all levels to regulate activities on private lands. The U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment prevents the federal government from taking private property without just compensation. The... Read more

This is with reference to the article on on-site wastewater treatment in the March/April 1994 issue of

Environmental Building News. In general, it was an excellent and comprehensive discussion of the various alternatives for on-site wastewater treatment.

My main concern is with the section of... Read more

On May 10 The Home Depot home improvement retail chain announced $228,500 in donations to environmental causes. Of the donations, $75,000 went to support environmental building practices, $50,000 to promote recycling, $53,000 to forest conservation and preservation efforts, $35,000 to lead-poisoning prevention, $10,000 to energy conservation,... Read more

The nation’s most solarized electric utility is expanding its photovoltaic generation capacity—on the roofs of its customers. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has just announced an expansion of its “PV Pioneers” program. Under the program, environmentally committed SMUD customers... Read more

Balancing the rights of individuals to act freely, with the public’s interest in preventing potentially harmful actions, has been an age-old struggle of government. Private development on private property, and the regulation of such development by public laws, is a highly visible arena for that struggle. Our society is built around private... Read more

An East-coast version of ReCraft 90, the resource-efficiency demonstration house constructed by Steve Loken and the Center for Resourceful Building Technology, is now under construction. Following several years of research, architect Kate Warner has designed a “modest, traditional New England home” on Martha’s Vineyard, using the most... Read more

1994, 64 minutes. Documentary video from The Ecological Design Project, 36 East 23rd St., New York, NY 10010; 212/505-0655. $75.

Ecological Design will not provide answers to any specific questions you may have about your current project, but it may inspire you to think more broadly about those questions.... Read more

While the debate over steel vs. wood framing continues (see Steel or Wood Framing: Which Way Should We Go?), new ideas for using wood resources more efficiently keep cropping up. One of the most exciting ideas we’ve seen recently is the V-Joist System from Structures Monocoques, Inc. in Montreal, Quebec.

... Read more

by David Goldbeck, 1994. Ceres Press, Woodstock, NY. Softcover, 134 pages, $15.95.

Since it first appeared in 1989,

The Smart Kitchen has been a very useful source of information on practical kitchen design and equipment. The concise book has always had a strong focus on energy efficiency; the new... Read more