GreenClips.136 01.26.00
US WIND ENERGY CAPACITY ON THE RISE
From July 1998 to December 1999, wind energy companies increased US generating capacity by almost 900 megawatts, bringing capacity to over 2,500 MW, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Four factors spurred this growth: supportive state policies, "green power" programs, the wind energy Production Tax Credit, and decreasing production costs. Iowa and Minnesota account for more than half the new capacity. Minnesota has required its largest utility to install 425 MW of wind capacity by 2002 in return for the right to store nuclear waste from its power plants within the state. In Wisconsin, 2.2 percent of the state's electricity must come from non-hydroelectric renewables by 2011. In Colorado, the conservation group Land and Water Fund of the Rockies works with the local utility to promote Windsource, a wind energy program that has become one of the nation's most successful green power programs. At the federal policy level, the Production Tax Credit [a 1.5 cent per kWh credit for new wind power installed through 12.31.01] is helping make wind energy competitive with conventional technologies. And production costs have been steadily decreasing: the cost of producing electricity from wind energy declined more than 80 percent from about $0.38 per kWh in the early 1980s to today's range of $0.03 to $0.06 per kWh. [More: http://www.awea.org>] - Solar Today, Jan/Feb 00, p 28, by Christine Real de Azua.
KEEPING ROOF WASTE OUT OF LANDFILLS
With close to $13 billion spent annually in the US on reroofing, the disposal of roofing membrane and asphalt roofing waste is an environmental and economic concern. A few companies are actively recycling roofing waste. In Oregon, RoofGone Inc. has two asphalt collection facilities for recycling roofing and construction waste. In New England, Sarnafil, a manufacturer of PVC roofing, works with Conigliaro Industries in Framingham, Massachusetts to promote recycling PVC membrane. Conigliaro recycles about one million square feet of PVC membrane per year. For large reroofing jobs, the company charges a flat price comparable to the cost of landfilling the waste. While thermoplastics such as PVC and TPO are recyclable, thermoset membranes such as EPDM are not. Here's why: thermoplastics can be melted, purified, and reextruded; thermoset plastics have been changed during the polymerizing process and cannot be changed back. To recycle EPDM, it must be chopped up and added to another material, such as rubber flooring. Meanwhile, some roofing manufacturers are using waste from other industries. EcoStar, Inc.'s Majestic Slate Tile is a 100% recycled lightweight rubber slate tile made from waste supplied by manufacturers of car hoses, shoes, tires and other rubber products. - Architectural Record, Jan 00, p 142, by Alex Wilson (roofing membrane/PVC recycling), and Environmental Design and Construction, Jan/Feb 00, p 45, by Heidi J. Ellsworth (asphalt/rubber recycling). [More: http://www.edcmag.com/archives/100-7.htm]
SUGAR CANE WASTE TURNED INTO PANEL PRODUCTS
Increasingly, agricultural residues are being used to manufacture construction panel products such as particleboard and the sturdier, more costly medium density fiberboard (MDF). In January, the Acadia Board Company of New Iberia, Louisiana will begin producing particleboard made from bagasse, the fibrous portion of sugar cane stalks that remains after removing the juice. The plant will use 50,000 tons of bagasse to produce 18 million square feet of 3/4-inch board. The bagasse comes from the nearby Cajun Sugar Cooperative, which processes sugar cane from 95 farmers. Although there are five other bagasse-to-particleboard plants in the world, this is the first in North America. Acadia Board's product, called DuraCane, falls between the categories of particleboard and MDF, as do many agricultural fiber-based boards. DuraCane is expected to exceed ANSI standards for particleboard, but doesn't meet all of those for MDF. DuraCane is bonded with MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate), a formaldehyde-free resin. DuraCane's applications include ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen and bath cabinets, and laminate flooring. For more information email <duracane@bellsouth.net>. - The Carbohydrate Economy, Fall 99, p 14.
UK INTRODUCES TWO ECO-DESIGN AWARDS PROGRAMS
In September, the first International Design Eco Awards program (idea) was launched in London with the goal of promoting ecological design and innovation. The main awards categories included fashion/textile design, packaging design, architecture and landscape design, and production innovation. Among the winners was Joanna Lambert, whose laminated bamboo multi-use table won the eco-furniture category. And in October, The Design Museum [London] staged its first Design Sense award. Judges looked at products and buildings for evidence of sustainability and design quality. Charlie Paton of Light Works Ltd. won top honors, receiving L40, 000 for his architectural project Seawater Greenhouse, a desalination/horticultural factory built on Tenerife's coast in the Canary Islands. Paton's building uses the sun, cold deep seawater and the atmosphere to produce fresh water and cool air, creating optimum conditions for low-cost horticulture. Conventional materials were used alongside innovative materials such as corrugated cardboard strengthened with calcium carbonate from seawater to make the evaporators. The judges felt Light Works' desalination building offered great potential to other arid areas in the world facing problems of fresh water and food supply. - EcoDesign, Vol 7 No 3, p 30, by Alistair Fuad-Luke.
GROWING MARKET FOR VERSATILE BAMBOO
Bamboo, a fast-growing, renewable resource, is attracting more interest in the US as a home accessories and construction material. Smith and Fong, located near San Francisco, imports Plyboo, a plywood paneling and flooring product manufactured in China from kiln-dried, laminated bamboo strips. "Plyboo flooring is twice as stable and nearly as hard as standard red oak flooring" and is comparably priced, says Dan Smith. Home & Planet, a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania store offering environmentally responsible home furnishings, carries bamboo sofa tables, end tables and coffee tables. Millions of people in Asia and Latin America depend on bamboo structures, but in the US few designers are familiar with using bamboo as a construction material. Although it's not approved by any US building codes, this may change. ICBO, an international standards-setting organization, is writing a report detailing requirements for using bamboo in construction. Further proof of bamboo's value as a construction material may be found at the world fair opening in Hannover, Germany in June, where a 9,000-square-foot pavilion is being built using bamboo trusses and framing. - In Business, Nov/Dec 99, p15, by Bob Feinbaum. [More: http://www.plyboo.com]
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