Championing the
Changemakers

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a draft interpretive ruling on the definition of “showerhead” as used in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). Sidestepping public comment procedures, DOE has defined “showerhead” in a way that makes multi-spray systems illegal. The new ruling states that all of the fixtures used in a... Read more

Synthetic gypsum, which is now used in about 30% of drywall, is a byproduct of coal-fired power plants. It is sometimes confused with fly ash—another coal combustion product that’s been in the news recently—but the two have very little in common.

First Statewide Paint Recycling Program Launched in Oregon—With encouragement from the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), Oregon recently instituted a new paint-recycling program, administered by the nonprofit PaintCare, for unused architectural paint. That makes Oregon the first U.S. state to institute statewide paint recycling for... Read more

According to John Tesh, the sales and marketing director at Earthstone, many... Read more

A bigger tax deduction for energy-efficiency improvements would benefit the troubled commercial real estate (CRE) sector and help prevent climate change, according to Ed Mazria, FAIA, and the nonprofit Architecture 2030. In a new report, “The Imminent Commercial Real Estate Crisis and The CRE Solution,” Architecture 2030 argues for increasing... Read more

Worldwide, the square footage of certified green building space will increase 780%, from approximately 6 billion square feet (560 million m2) in 2010 to 53 billion square feet in 2020, predicts a new report from Pike Research. Most of this space—80%—will be commercial and will be certified under LEED in the U.S. or BREEAM in Europe; programs in... Read more

Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, the first green building insurance provider in the U.S., has added benefits to its Green Financial Incentive Coverage for customers who use grants, loans, or tax incentives to pay for energy-efficient renovations. Since 2006 Fireman’s Fund has offered insurance for both residential and commercial properties... Read more

Sweeping policy changes are in the works for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), moving the agency toward smarter, sustainable development. As HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan told attendees at the Congress for the New Urbanism in May 2010, “It’s time that federal dollars stopped encouraging sprawl and started lowering the... Read more

We’re excited to announce a big change at what is perhaps the most extensive and highest-quality online sustainable design educational resource in the country. (BuildingGreen, publisher of

Environmental Building News, is a key partner in this resource.)

Boston Architectural College (BAC) has created the Sustainable Design... Read more

As editors working under Alex Wilson’s leadership here at

Environmental Building News, we deeply appreciate and enjoy the qualities Alex brings to his work: his seemingly bottomless energy and constant curiosity toward pursuing innovative, bold environmental solutions; his vision in founding BuildingGreen as a mission-based company; his... Read more

Achieving a net-zero building with today’s technologies and occupant expectations is hard. There are projects out there proving that it is possible—for the right building in the right setting with the right team. But sometimes going after the goal of net-zero energy use in the building can have unwanted side effects. For example, a low... Read more

The reuse of buildings is often touted as an environmental benefit, but solid, up-to-date data to support that idea is scarce (see “Historic Preservation and Green Building,” EBN Jan. 2007). A new partnership hopes to change that by early 2011. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Green Building Services, and the Cascadia Green... Read more

A bill being considered in the U.S. House of Representatives may radically alter the way the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates chemicals. Representatives Bobby Rush and Henry Waxman have introduced the Toxic Substances Control Act of 2010, which would require manufacturers to prove chemicals’ safety before introducing them to... Read more

Last week, after reviewing a little physics regarding condensation and latent heat, I described how air conditioners remove unwanted humidity.... Read more

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has now released several sets of LEED addenda for LEED-EBOM 2009—corrections and changes to the rating system since its official release. The earliest of these start in November 2009, and the latest batch came out in July 2010.

Following is a summary of the more useful LEED-EBOM addenda... Read more

Wasco Products of Sanford, Maine, has raised the bar on energy-conserving skylights with its high-performance "Triple Glazed 30/30" option. In a fixed skylight... Read more

Last week, I addressed strategies for controlling moisture sources in homes during the summer--one of the contributors to discomfort during hot humid summers. This week, I'll examine how to remove unwanted humidity using air conditioning equipment, starting with some fundamentals. To understand moisture removal, it's important to brush up on... Read more

In commercial buildings where cast-in-place, reinforced-concrete balconies extend through the insulated building envelope, tremendous heat loss occurs, and this thermal bridging often leads to condensation and associated mold problems. The German... Read more