Championing the
Changemakers

An ironic side effect of cleaning up the water in America’s harbors over the last two decades has been an increase in the population of marine borers. These small animals bore into and destroy any submerged wood and are undeterred by chemical wood treatments. As a result, ports are forced to replace their pilings... Read more

Environmental issues are not considered a significant factor for 1995 by carpet industry analysts, according to an extensive collection of industry trends and predictions published in

Carpet & Rug Industry, November 1994. Of the fourteen featured consultants and executives from all segments of the carpet industry, only Mac Bridger,... Read more

Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” contains some admirable goals, including attacking the budget deficit, streamlining government, and cutting red tape. Hidden in the fine print, however, lurks a radical—and dangerous—anti-environment agenda. On examining the package, one can only conclude that the new leadership either doesn’t believe... Read more

A personal note: The people perhaps most responsible for the recent resurgence of interest in straw-bale construction, Matts Myhrman and Judy Knox, are facing a severe medical situation. Due to this problem and our country’s unresolved health-care needs, they also have a financial crisis to contend with. A group of their friends have organized... Read more

Environmental Code of Practice for Buildings and Their Services by S. P. Halliday. Published May, 1994 by The Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA), Old Bracknell Lane West, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 7AH, United Kingdom; 44-344-426511, 44-344-487575 (fax). Cost is £45 (about $70)... Read more

by Peter Katz. McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1994. Hardcover, 288 pages, $49.95.

The New Urbanism is one of the most important books to have appeared on what is emerging as a new paradigm in land-use planning and community design. Sometimes referred to as “neotraditional town planning,” this school of... Read more

Decisions about insulation are among the most important you will make relative to the environmental impact of buildings. Because insulation reduces the energy consumption, it provides ongoing environmental benefits throughout a building’s life. However, not all insulation materials are equal environmentally.

In assessing the... Read more

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has completed a nationwide county-by-county survey of radon in buildings and produced a map showing relative risk. The study found the highest radon levels in the western mountain states, upper Midwest, Appalachian Mountain states, and Maine. The Southeast across to Texas and Pacific Northwest... Read more

Inventor Day Chahroudi of Suntek was one of the key developers of low-emissivity (low-e) coatings for window glazings in the 1970s. Since 1980 he has focused much of his creative energy on a radically new energy-control glazing system: Cloud Gel™. Cloud Gel is normally clear with high solar transmittance, but when warmed up or exposed to... Read more

The wood industry has launched a major advertising campaign aimed at promoting environmental advantages of wood as a building or manufacturing material. The Wood Works™ campaign promotes wood as a renewable resource that is energy efficient and results in little pollution during processing. With a budget of nearly $300,000, the campaign is... Read more

A calendar describing the history and importance of the once-vast longleaf pine forests in the southeastern United States has been put together by Carol Goodwin and Julie Moore in Gainesville, Florida.

Longleaf Legacies is a well-illustrated, informational calendar designed to help the user understand the ecology of this species, the... Read more

Whether we should import raw logs from Siberian forests has sparked a hot debate among environmentalists and the wood products industry. Russia is hoping to boost its weak economy by exporting raw logs from Siberia’s vast forests. Some U.S. wood products companies see this as a way to make up for the loss in... Read more

The National Audubon Society headquarters building in New York City was received the Governor’s Award for Energy Excellence this past October. The building was originally constructed in the 1890s, and an extensive renovation by Audubon was completed in 1992. Today, the building is a showcase of environmentally responsible commercial building... Read more

for the Sky

Bioclimatic Skyscrapers by Ken Yeang, 1994. Artemis London Limited, England (North American distribution by Scovill Petterson Inc., 141 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10010; 212/673-6090, 212/673-6603–fax). 150 pages, $39.95.

An ecological skyscraper may seem like an oxymoron, but Ken Yeang hasn’t... Read more

The aptly named privy works exactly like the company’s well-known composting toilets that convert human wastes into a nutritive... Read more

The State of California has banned the use of “regrind” or recycled plastic resin for use in ABS drain-waste-vent pipe. The new law stemmed from major problems with pipe failure of recycled-content ABS pipe made by several companies during the 1980s. For some homeowners, repairs cost tens of thousands of dollars since all D-W-V pipe had to be... Read more

Tree Talk has lowered the price of the

Woods of the World computer database to $149. The CD-ROM-based database was reviewed in EBN (

Vol. 3, No. 4) and is continually being improved, according to Berne Broudy of Tree Talk.

Fortunately, I can tell them we are not as pessimistic in... Read more

It is now possible for environmentally concerned architects and builders to specify and buy framing lumber, white cedar shingles, and hardwood flooring that have been independently certified to be from well-managed forests. The Seven Islands Land Company, headquartered in Bangor, Maine, has just... Read more

Gridcore Systems International dedicated the world’s first full-scale production facility for Gridcore on November 1, 1994, in Long Beach, California. The plant, which has been in production since April, employs 30 workers and produces a structural building panel out of recycled fiber—primarily cardboard, newsprint, and urban wood waste (see... Read more