BuildingGreen Report

News Brief

January 1, 2005

Voters in 111 communities in 25 states approved $11 billion in new public funding for conservation in the November 2004 elections, representing a 76% passage rate. “American voters are remarkably consistent in approving three out of every four funding measures for land conservation, both before 9/11 and after, whether in recession or recovery... Read more

Op-Ed

January 1, 2005

As 2004 winds down and we prepare to go to press with the first issue of 2005, recent global, national, and local events give us pause and an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to people and the planet. Globally, we’re still reeling from accounts of the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunamis in South Asia. For nearly a week the... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 2005

by Jerry Yudelson, 2004. Green Building Marketing, 4727 S.W. Vesta Street, Portland, OR 97219, 503-246-4111. Three-ring binder, 206 pages, $79.95.

The Insider’s Guide to Marketing Green Buildings is a no-frills book that delivers. Author Jerry Yudelson, a professional engineer with a master’s degree in business administration and... Read more

News Analysis

January 1, 2005
Falcon Waterfree Technologies, LLC has introduced a new cartridge design for its nonflushing urinals. The new design, which is compatible with the company’s existing urinals, includes a protective shield over the cartridge orifice to reduce the amount of sealant fluid lost to splash-out. The shield will result in a “more durable cartridge life... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 2005

A CD-ROM promoting the recycling of lamps containing mercury is available at no charge from the Lamp Recycling Outreach Project, a cooperative agreement between the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers (ALMR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to Paul Abernathy, executive director of ALMR, the recycling rate for... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 2005
“Builders and consumers are realizing that by reducing a home’s footprint through better design, they can put the savings into details that are high-quality, energy-efficient, and environmentally sound,” says Sarah Susanka, whose books started the Not So Big™ movement. A showhouse built according to Susanka’s principles debuts January 13–16, 2005... Read more

Product Review

Toto has expanded its hands-free EcoPower line to include flush valves for toilets and urinals.

January 1, 2005

Toto, the world’s largest manufacturer of toilets and a significant product innovator, has expanded its hands-free EcoPower™ product line to include flush valves for toilets and urinals. EcoPower sensor-activated faucets, introduced in late 2002, use a tiny hydropower turbine generator for operating and back-up power.

Toto’s EcoPower... Read more

Feature

January 1, 2005

We last took a broad look at insulation materials exactly ten years ago: in the January/February 1995 issue. A lot has happened since then—manufacturers have introduced new insulation materials, new product formulations have eliminated problem materials such as HCFCs, and improved understanding of performance and health risks has informed our... Read more

News Brief

January 1, 2005

In a unanimous vote from the Victoria city council, Windmill Development–VanCity Enterprises has won a bid to redevelop Dockside, an 11.6-acre (2.85 ha) brownfield site in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. The CA$300 million development, expected to take a decade to complete, includes 1 million ft2 (93,000 m2) of residential, commercial,... Read more

News Analysis

December 1, 2004
With more than 7,800 attendees, the U.S Green Building Council’s 2004 Greenbuild conference in Portland, Oregon was the biggest yet. The event took place in the Oregon Convention Center, which was among the first projects to achieve certification under the LEED

® for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) pilot program (see p. 3). As in recent years, the... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2004

The City of San Francisco has adopted a Green Building Ordinance, requiring all new city construction projects, renovations, and additions to achieve a LEED® Silver or higher rating. “This ordinance will translate into millions in savings on future operational costs,” said Jared Blumenfeld, director of the San Francisco Department of the... Read more

News Analysis

December 1, 2004
The U.S. Green Building Council’s third LEED® rating system, LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) was launched at Greenbuild, following its approval by USGBC members. As with the other LEED products, LEED-CI begins its life as version 2, retroactively making the pilot version 1. LEED-CI is intended to serve tenants who have control only over... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2004
by Steven Winter Associates for the U.S. General Services Administration, October 2004; 578 pages, 3.9 MB file downloadable from www.wbdg.orgThe U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which builds and manages real estate for much of the federal government, now requires all new construction and major renovation projects to be LEED®-certified... Read more

News Analysis

December 1, 2004
After several false starts and numerous delays, the U.S. Green Building Council has gotten far enough along with revisions to its flagship rating system that it is releasing a draft for public comment. LEED® for New Construction and Major Renovations (LEED-NC) version 2.2 will include the first changes to LEED that will be subject to member ballot... Read more

Op-Ed

December 1, 2004

Your September 2004 feature article on porous pavement [see

EBN

Vol. 13, No. 9] could not have been more timely. We at the Portland Cement Association (PCA) have noted a tremendous demand for more information on this innovative construction technique. It is just one of the many applications in which concrete provides a... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2004

The U.S. Green Building Council presented its 2004 Leadership Awards during an evening gathering at the Greenbuild conference in Portland, Oregon on November 11, 2004. The Council instituted this awards program in 2002 in order to recognize companies, organizations, and individuals “whose actions have had a significant impact on the development... Read more

News Analysis

December 1, 2004
The Consejo Mexicano de Construcción Sustentable, the Mexico Green Building Council (MexicoGBC), formally announced its international launch during the Greenbuild conference on November 11, 2004. As a national, nonprofit organization, the Council’s mission is “to promote sustainable development through the realization and construction of a... Read more

Product Review

December 1, 2004
Energy-recovery ventilators (ERVs) replace stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air, transferring heat and humidity from the exhaust air to the fresh air. In this way, they differ from simple heat-recovery ventilators (HRVs) that transfer heat but not moisture. Stirling Technology, Inc. takes ERV design to a new level of controllability and... Read more

News Brief

December 1, 2004

Eighty teams were selected from the submissions to present poster sessions during Greenbuild 2004. These half-hour sessions took place during the lunch breaks on November 10 and 11. Three posters were recognized with Awards of Merit, two tied for Best of Show, and one poster was selected for the People’s Choice award.

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Design for... Read more

News Analysis

December 1, 2004
In November 2004, the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED

® program mushroomed from one official rating system to three, and the Canada Green Building Council launched its own version as well. If the market response to LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) and LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) is anything like what we’ve seen with the... Read more