Championing the
Changemakers

While we’re talking solar . . . the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in New York City is featuring

a special exhibit of solar designs and technologies entitled “Under the Sun: An Outdoor Exhibition of Light.” Architectural highlights include a glass pavilion made of clear and PV glass panels designed... Read more

First discovered in Florida in 1997,

Asian swamp eels, or rice eels as they are sometimes known, are becoming firmly established in ditches, canals, and streams near Tampa and Miami, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. This highly adaptable tropical species—it can breathe air, survive in just a few inches of water, even migrate... Read more

Five reports from the Portland Cement Association, 5420 Old Orchard Road, Skokie, IL 60077; 847-966-6200, 847-966-9781 (fax). Available at no charge for one year by contacting Natalie Holz at PCA.

by Margaret Suozzo and others, 1997. American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), in cooperation with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Paperback, approximately 200 pages, $25 plus shipping. Order from ACEEE, 1001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 801, Washington, DC 20036; 202/429-0063, www.aceee.org... Read more

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have jointly released an

update on the status of ozone depletion, confirming the effectiveness of international measures to restrict the use of ozone-depleting substances. The new report, “Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion... Read more

On June 25, the GMAC Mortgage Corporation, a subsidiary of General Motors, announced an initiative with the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) to provide

long-term, low-cost financing for solar energy systems. This represents an expansion of the mortgage offerings for energy-efficient housing by GMAC Mortgage. The announcement... Read more

Global Green USA is producing a report which, the group claims, identifies

$1 billion in savings from energy- and resource-efficiency benefits in public and assisted housing. The recommendations resulted from an April 28 Policy Roundtable that Global Green USA hosted on Capitol Hill, and were presented to Secretary of Housing and Urban... Read more

by Alan Weisman, 1998. Chelsea Green Publishing, Inc., White River Junction, Vermont. Hardcover, 230 pages, $22.95.

Radon has received a great deal of attention over the past fifteen years. Most architects and builders today have at least a general understanding of the radon issue, even if they are not familiar with the details of radon control. Though radon is the most serious threat overall, there are many other soil gases that builders of environmentally... Read more

Plants are in trouble. The first-ever worldwide assessment of the status of vascular plants (these are the dominant land plants) does not look good. “The IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants,” published by IUCN – The World Conservation Union, shows that

one in eight

plant species is at risk of extinction. In the U.S., 4... Read more

CertainTeed Corporation, one of the big-three fiberglass insulation manufacturers, has found a supplier of consistently high-quality glass cullet for its Mountaintop, Pennsylvania plant. With the EFTEK Corporation’s recycled glass, primarily from beverage containers, CertainTeed now achieves 40% post-consumer recycled content... Read more

A dozen San Francisco Bay communities, including the most recent, Windsor, have now adopted

urban growth boundaries. According to the May/June issue of

Common Ground, three city counselors who had faced recall elections because of their support of urban growth boundaries have held their seats by a wide voter margin.

Congratulations on an overall very good article on the current state of Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) [EBN

Vol. 7, No. 5, May 1998]. Well-researched articles on building systems are few and far between. I want to add some hopefully helpful thoughts on the subject.

The basic engineering premise of SIPs... Read more

Interest in environmental programs was unexpectedly high at The American Institute of Architects (AIA) convention, held May 13-17 in San Francisco. Standing-room-only crowds packed in to hear about solar-electric buildings and tools for green design. Product manufacturers seemed unprepared for... Read more

sensible heat) and they remove moisture from air, reducing its

latent heat. In some cases the relative balance between these two functions is acceptable, but there are also many applications for which... Read more

The Last Straw, a quarterly newsletter about strawbale building, has been transferred from its founders, Matts Myhrman and Judy Knox, to Network Productions, Inc. in Kingston, New Mexico, a nonprofit organization devoted to sustainability education. The publication will be maintained on a quarterly basis through the leadership of NPI co-founder... Read more

This year’s American Solar Energy

Society (ASES) Passive Pioneer

Award is being presented to Susan

Yanda and her late husband, Bill

Yanda, whose efforts to promote

passive solar design spanned three

decades. During the 1970s the Yandas

began their community-based workshops... Read more

U.S. Department of Energy, 1997. 146 pages, softcover. Single copies available free, while supplies last, by calling 800/DOE-EREC. Copies may also be purchased by calling 800/553-NTIS.

What is perhaps most surprising about

Greening Federal Facilities is the book’s readability. We had expected this... Read more

The federal government has had mixed success promoting energy conservation and renewables since the early 1970s. Some efforts have been great, such as appliance efficiency standards and EnergyGuide labels. Others have been less effective or even counter-productive. President Carter’s appeal to the American public to conserve energy by turning... Read more