I was glad that my employer, BuildingGreen, picked up the cost of my LEED-AP exam.
The title of this post is taken from a question we received about the source of recycled rubber used for a parking-bumper and speed-bump manufacturer. It motivated me to do some digging to get a better understanding of the scrap tire industry. As it turns out, it's actually kind of fascinating. The following is unverified single-pass research, and any thoughts, additions, or corrections are welcome.
The braking mechanism on a large wind turbine failed in high winds (the second such occurrence in Denmark last week), leading to the spectacular failure in this video clip. There has been a rash of reported breakdowns in the last two months of turbines manufactured by Vestas, which has a 28% market share and 33,500 units deployed worldwide, according to its website.
Jerelyn Wilson — who has the inadequate title of "Outreach Director" for BuildingGreen — came down the hall and into my office a few minutes ago, bright-eyed and holding the current issue of YES! magazine in front of her, folded open. "Have you seen this?!" she asked, holding it out for me:
Twice each month, BuildingGreen publishes an email news bulletin with current news and product information briefs. Sign up here — it's free. We will never share or sell your email address, and you may unsubscribe at any time.
Read the current bulletin"In the case of guerrilla gardening, the soldiers are planters, the weapons are shovels, and the mission is to transform an abandoned lot into a thing of beauty.
The tech folks here at BuildingGreen just rolled out some great website improvements. A few are invisible ones of the sort that quietly improve the experience... but very visibly and most significantly (in my opinion), the News page — which is available by clicking the "News" button near the upper right of each page on the site — has been redesigned and ramped up. It rocks. The editorial team will be making expanded use of the News page in the near future — stay tuned for that...
I tagged along with Tristan Korthals Altes, top-notch managing editor of Environmental Building News, on an interview with a global distributor of carbon nanotubes who just happens to be located in our little Vermont town.
As a follow-on to the previous post, representatives from BuildingGreen are scheduled to attend the following conferences this year: Better Buildings by Design Burlington, VT
February 13-14, 2008 International Builders Show Orlando
February 13-16, 2008 Building Energy 08 Boston
Twice each month, BuildingGreen publishes an email news bulletin with current news and product information briefs. Sign up here — it's free. We will never share or sell your email address, and you may unsubscribe at any time.
Read the current bulletinThe GreenSpec review team has been debating the relative environmental merits of steel cabinets as compared to other alternatives. (GreenSpec is reserved for the very top green products — and within that top few percent, those products that rise above the rest.) Generally speaking, the up-side is that steel cabinets don't support mold; are low- or zero-VOC (depending on finish, principally); are long-lasting; almost always have some amount of recycled content; and have good end-of-life recyclability.
In November 2007, the Research Committee of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released A National Green Building Research Agenda, in which it set priorities for green building research and called for funding of this research.
