Championing the
Changemakers

On May 18 EPA Administrator Carol Browner announced a program to control hazardous waste combustion that may eliminate the burning of hazardous waste in cement kilns. Effective immediately, all new permits now require comprehensive risk assessment, and existing permits will be reviewed over the next 18 months, according to an EPA press release... Read more

In a settlement reached with the EPA in May, Louisiana-Pacific has agreed to pay $11.1 million for failure to comply with permitting procedures at 14 oriented strand board (OSB) and medium-density fiberboard (MDF) plants. L-P will also install state-of-the-art pollution control... Read more

Dear Editor,

I was sorry to see that in your product review (Vol. 2, No. 3) you folks did not mention that Fiberbond is hard and smooth like plaster (a big plus over sheet rock) but needs to be sized (water proofer, primer) before painting, as it is much more absorbent. Unsuspecting painters can lose their shirts if... Read more

The Drawing-Room Graphic Services, Ltd., Box 86627, North Vancouver, B.C. V7L 4L2, Canada. $40.66/year in Canada (includes GST), U.S. $46 in the U.S.

Sol Plan Review is the thinking builder’s guide to advanced Canadian home­building. Considering how much governmental support there has been for... Read more

The NAHB’s “Builder of the Year,” Realen Homes of Philadelphia, has hired award-winning architect and landscape architect Leslie Gallery to develop a green plan for the company. Early efforts are focusing on protecting vegetation during sitework, but eventually all aspects of the process are to be addressed.

In his Earth Day 1993 address, President Clinton announced plans for an energy-efficiency and environmental retrofit of the White House. The American Institute of Architects is conducting a feasibility study for the project. Results of the study, which addresses indoor air quality, material choices, and energy... Read more

David W. Bearg. Lewis Publishers, 1992. C/O CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL 33431; 407/994-0555. 220 pages, hardcover; $59.95.

David Bearg’s new book is a terrific overview of a very complicated subject. Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems for commercial buildings have become increasingly... Read more

FiberBond, made by Louisiana Pacific Corp., and a similar but now discontinued product, Gypsonite, (which was made by Highland American Corporation), have received a lot of attention among green builders because of their use of recycled cellulose fiber. They have been widely used in environmental demonstration homes,... Read more

Manville brand fiberglass insulation, manufactured by Schuller International, Inc., now carries Scientific Certification System’s “cross and globe” emblem, certifying its minimum 20% recycled glass content (see EBN,

Vol. 2, No. 1). This is the first insulation material certified by SCS. For more information, contact SCS,... Read more

McDonald’s is showcasing dozens of recycled materials—from feldspar floor tiles to a recycled copper roof—in a new restaurant in Kent, Washington. It is the most recent of four such restaurants recently built around the country; the others being in New York, Arizona, and Tennessee. According to McDonald’s... Read more

President Clinton announced in an Earth Day address on April 21st that the United States would commit to “reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases to their 1990 levels by the year 2000.” This policy announcement reverses the Bush Administration’s position at the Earth Summit in Brazil last year. Within the Clinton Administration, this... Read more

Fact: More than 130 sawmills and plywood mills have... Read more

The nation’s first self-contained, commercial-based recycling facility is in operation at the Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota. The mall generates as much trash as a city of 20,000. Built and operated by Browning Ferris Industries, the recycling facility can process 35 tons of material from over 400 stores during an eight-hour work-shift... Read more

The Official Recycled Products GuideAmerican Recycling Market Inc., PO Box 577, Ogdensburg, NY 13669;

800/267-0707, 315/471-3258 (fax)

$155 single issue; $275 annual subscription including updates, monthly newsletter, online database.

Builders, designers, and specifiers who search out recycled... Read more

With new regulations appearing around the country that limit the amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) allowed in paints and varnishes, a host of new products are appearing on the market. This is especially true with varnishes, where new “environmental” polyurethanes are being introduced that use water as the... Read more

Building With Value: Resource-Efficient Construction, a two-day regional conference on sustainable construction issues to be held November 12th and 13th, 1993 in Seattle, Washington. See Calendar for details.