William McDonough, prominent environmental architect and dean of the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, has now founded a new Institute within the School he heads. The Institute for Sustainable Design has goals nearly as broad as McDonough’s vision, aiming to reinvent industry and... Read more

During May 1997, the United States reached an all-time high in petroleum imports, with 52.4% net imports, according to the

Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Total imports in May were 57.2% of petroleum supplied, but the U.S. exports some petroleum to U.S. territories, resulting in lower

... Read more

One factor driving up the size of American homes may have been removed with the recent changes to the U.S. tax code. The August 8, 1997 issue of the lumber industry newsletter Eastern Quotes & Comments notes that people who sell homes in expensive markets and retire to less expensive areas often bought huge houses to avoid paying the... Read more

Reid Lifset, Editor-in-Chief. MIT Press Journals, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142; 617/253-2889, journals-orders@mit.edu (e-mail). Quarterly, $40/year for individuals; $30/year for students.

Robert Hinchee, Editor-in-Chief. CRC Press, 2000 Corporate Blvd. NW, Boca Raton, FL... Read more

Joseph Romm is the Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, having replaced

Christine Ervin, who has moved over to the President’s Council for Sustainable Development. Romm, the author of

Lean & Clean Management: How to Boost Profits and Productivity... Read more

You stated in response to a letter from Structural Board Association President John Lowood in your July/August issue that “while formaldehyde emissions from panels made with PF (phenolic formaldehyde) binder are quite low, they are still problematic for some individuals.” While this could be true for some... Read more

I recall quite clearly my first introduction to Amory Lovins. It was 1980, in Abiquiu, New Mexico. Amory was speaking at the annual Life Technics Conference at Ghost Ranch. Amory was then—as he is now—an energy guru, but his message that day was not primarily about energy. He made the point that dealing with our energy woes was relatively easy... Read more

Industry targets for the recycling of packaging waste in Germany were met in 1996, the first full year that specific quotas had to be met, according to the June 2 issue of Plastics News. Under the German Packaging Ordinance of 1991, the manufacturers and distributors are required to take back used packaging. The industry’s Green Dot program... Read more

I just ran across your Web site during research on oriented-strand board (OSB) mills and was dismayed to see how you’ve succumbed to the green-washing of engineered lumber companies. There is a forest feeding frenzy playing out in the eastern U.S. as industries rush back to remow the native forest after a 70-year... Read more

“Advanced” seems to be popular in the new-name department: The Brownsville, Oregon, company formerly known as Oregon Strand Board is now Advanced Wood Resources, Inc. Still a division of Jeld-Wen, Inc., the company no longer makes exterior sheathing or siding products. Its only remaining product is COMPLY Sturd-I-Floor subfloor/underlayment... Read more

The Good Wood Alliance, formerly the Woodworkers Alliance for Rainforest Protection (WARP), is shifting its direction to serve as a trade association for the sustainable forest products industry. Based in Burlington, Vermont, with chapters in Canada, the Pacific Northwest, and Scandinavia, the Good Wood Alliance has a membership of... Read more

Vol. 1, No. 1 through

Vol. 6, No. 4. The CD-ROM format allows us to make back issues available at a very reasonable price, and adds the capability of full-text... Read more

Atlas Series

from E Source, Inc., 1033 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80302; 303/440-8500, 303/440-8502 (fax), esource@esource.com (e-mail), www.esource.com/atlas. Five-volume paper-back set or CD-ROM for Windows or Macintosh. 1,700 pages, $750 for either format, or $950 for both.

It’s not often that we’ll label... Read more

Supporters of tropical forest conservation were optimistic at the recent biennial meeting of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) but were disappointed as delegates failed to restrict mahogany trade for the third consecutive meeting. The 10th... Read more

AURA vacuum panel insulation, reviewed in EBN

Vol. 4, No. 1, has been mothballed by manufacturer Owens Corning. A press release from the company blames a lack of interest from refrigerator manufacturers, after they succeeded in postponing new energy standards from 1998 to July 2001. The AURA panel was used in the freezer compartment of... Read more

Concerning “More on the Redwood Boycott” in your May issue (EBN

Vol. 6, No. 5), I would like to address several inconsistencies in Mr. Platt’s observations.

The Pacific Lumber Company has been in continuous operation on the same contiguous timberland in Humboldt County, California for the last 128 years... Read more

The Alternative Energy Corporation, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, has a new name: Advanced Energy. The nonprofit AEC was established in 1980 by the North Carolina Utilities Commission and has been a valuable resource for technical support and training related to energy efficiency in buildings, among other areas. Advanced Energy can be... Read more

I recently was provided with the January 1997 issue of EBN (Vol. 6, No. 1) and found the information

of considerable interest. However, I would like to offer a few comments on “Material Selection” and the use of a simplified life-cycle analysis (LCA).

I can relate to the statement... Read more