Transitions in the New Year

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 estimated death toll has doubled daily—we can’t begin to imagine the suffering, yet we feel something of it ourselves.

Nationally, we’re disappointed at the dearth of Americans who made environmental protection a priority in their choices at the ballot box in November. We understand that all Americans seek happiness—prosperity, security, comfort—we just wish that more had seen value in a different set of priorities as a way to achieve those goals. But we also respect each person’s right to make her or his own choice.

And in the very local category, we are disappointed to announce that our multitalented art director,

Joy Wallens-Penford, is leaving after more than 13 years with

Environmental Building News and BuildingGreen. She started proofreading

EBN with our second issue! Joy’s sharp eyes and amazing memory have caught countless errors and inconsistencies over the years—it will be a real challenge for us to maintain the quality of our publications without her. Joy plans to spend more time on her true passions of art and promotion of the local arts community, including an expanded role as coordinator of Brattleboro’s monthly Gallery Walk (see www.gallerywalk.org).

Not entirely succumbing to despair, however, we’re entering the new year with a couple of positive changes for the company. First, we are excited to welcome seven new individuals to

EBN’s

Editorial Advisory Board. We rely on our Ad Board for input on what we cover in

EBN, for occasional expertise in reviewing articles for technical content, and for inspiration as we strive to move the green building movement forward. The new members are listed below (in alphabetical order):

•

John Boecker, AIA, director of high-performance green design at L. Robert Kimball & Associates and consultant with 7group, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

•

Malcolm Lewis, Ph.D., P.E., president and founder of CTG Energetics, Irvine, California

•

Russell Perry, AIA, partner with William McDonough + Partners, Charlottesville, Virginia

•

Peter Pfeiffer, FAIA, principal at Barley + Pfeiffer Architects, Austin, Texas

•

Bill Reed, AIA, Integrative Design Collaborative, Arlington, Massachusetts

•

Jonathan Rose, developer and president of Jonathan Rose Companies, LLC, Katonah, New York

•

Gail Vittori, codirector of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, Austin, Texas

We’d also like to express our tremendous gratitude and appreciation to those who are stepping off the advisory board—Bruce Coldham, Pliny Fisk, Carol Franklin, David Gottfried, BJ Harris, Steve Loken, and

Mike Nicklas. You’ve been a great resource and source of inspiration!

The second change we’ve made is to enroll BuildingGreen as a founding participant in

New Earth, a revolutionary new initiative to provide energy, ideas, and resources for positive change around the world (see www.newearth.info). As a New Earth participant, BuildingGreen will contribute 1% of profits to the New Earth Fund, allow employees to spend 1% of their paid time volunteering for something they believe in, and work to improve our impacts on society and environment. Not a lot, but hopefully a small step to start us off in the right direction for 2005.

– The Editors