GreenClips.248 09.15.04 HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREENCLIPS! This year is GreenClips' 10th birthday! Celebrate by donating to GreenClips. Your donations keep us going year after year. Visit www.greenclips.com for info. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MOLD CLAIMS HITTING CONTRACTORS HARDER THAN A&E PROFESSION Although members of the building industry have become increasingly worried about liability issues related to mold in buildings, Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, the Chevy Chase, Maryland-based firm that underwrites professional liability insurance for architects and engineers nationwide, hasn't seen an explosion of mold-related claims directed at these design professionals. Vice President Lorna Parsons reports that "over time, 3 percent of our claims have involved water intrusion, which is where you get mold from, and they are still running the same to date. So mold is not handicapping the A&E profession as it goes about getting insurance and pursuing business." Contractors, on the other hand, have been hit hard. As a result, since about 2002, a growing number of companies that provide comprehensive general liability insurance to contractors have begun to exclude mold coverage from new policies. Frank Musica, assistant vice president at Schinnerer, says that architects may one day feel the effects of this recent change. But he also thinks that the industry's growing sensitivity to the issue has introduced better procedures and products that will temper the severity of such a situation. Architectural Record, Sept 2004, by Nancy B. Solomon. [Full text (requires free registration): http://archrecord.construction.com/resources/conteduc/credit.asp] MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY DEVELOPING SHEETS PRINTED WITH SOLAR CELLS Konarka Technologies, a start-up solar power company based in Lowell, Mass., has acquired from Siemens of Germany the technology to print power cells on flexible sheets of plastic. Known as organic solar technology, such solar cells would, in theory, be cheaper to make and more versatile than the most widely used solar power systems, which employ rigid sheets of crystallized silicon to convert sunlight to electricity. Siemens previously announced that it had achieved 5 percent energy conversion using organic solar technology, a record for the materials but less than a third the rate of standard silicon cells. The company predicted that its technology could be marketed as early as next year in portable devices to recharge cellphones. The New York Times, 7 Sep 2004. [More: http://www.konarkatech.com/] EUROPE MOVING TOWARD HFC-FREE REFRIGERANTS At the Natural Refrigerants Forum in London this summer, the refrigeration and air conditioning industry was urged to act now to avoid a scramble to get out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). And at a conference the following day supported by Greenpeace and the United Nations Environment Programme, Coca Cola, McDonald's and Unilever -- three of the world's largest users of refrigerants -- announced they were aiming for an HFC-free future and were pinning their hopes on refrigerant technologies based on hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide. "HFCs are gases that have strong global warming potential," a joint statement said. "According to independent research (unveiled by Greenpeace), if current trends were to continue in the industry, the contribution of HFCs to global warming would increase from 1.5 percent today to between 6.2 and 8.6 percent by 2050." The F-Gas Regulation, which has been adopted by the European parliament, is only the first stage in a process that could eventually lead to a total phaseout of HFCs. As well as hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide, other HFC-free refrigeration technologies such as Stirling, thermoacoustic and solar cooling are being looked at by the major users. Building Services Journal, Aug 2004, p 42, by Ewen Rose. [See US EPA for info on global warming potential of HFCs: http://www.epa.gov/ozone/geninfo/gwps.html] PORTLAND COMPETITION PROMOTES NARROW-LOT HOUSE DESIGNS Politicians in Oregon like to quip that Portlanders hate two things: urban sprawl and density. But running a close third has been the city's attempt to find a middle ground between sprawl and density: the so-called "skinny house." That's a term for what is officially known as R-2.5 zoning, which allows the traditional 50-by-100-foot Portland lot to be halved lengthwise. With required side-yard setbacks, the result is a 15-by-85-foot-house. Courtesy of an international design competition, Living Smart, Portland now has 49 alternative designs for skinny houses to consider. The competition drew 426 entries from 22 nations and 36 states. However, despite having environmental sustainability as one of the competition's chief criteria, few of the winners offered more than the passive solar designs and rainwater harvesting systems. And few, if any, of the 49 finalists the jury selected could be built for the current Portland market, where skinny houses typically sell for less than $200,000. This was only the first phase of the competition, which singularly emphasized pure "design excellence." In November, phase two begins. That jury will select designs from the entire 426 that can be built under current codes and more realistic budgets. The Oregonian, 15 Sep 2004, by Randy Gragg. [More: http://www.livingsmartpdx.com/] INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS RECONCILE GREEN AND STYLE We've come a long way from the days when sustainability meant ugly. Today, a plethora of goods reconcile earth-friendly features with innovation and style. These include the EcoVeil by MechoShade Systems, Inc., a window shade that's washable, UV-resistant and PVC-free. EcoVeil was developed in association with MBDC, a green design firm founded by architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart. More: http://www.mechoshade.com. From the design firm MIO comes V2 wallpaper, a series of three-dimensional tiles made of waste paper that can be arranged in different patterns. More: http://www.mioculture.com. And among MetaForm Studio's many products made from discarded materials is the new Sunflower light, made of slats and strips of old crates found on the streets of Manhattan's flower district. More: http://www.metaformstudio.com. Dwell, Oct-Nov 2004, p 174, by Amara Holstein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual members and these sponsors: ALAMEDA COUNTY WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY SEEKS GREEN HOMES Green Home Tour organizers seek homes built or remodeled using green building techniques and materials. The Green Home Tour will take place on Sunday, May 1, 2005. Qualifying homes will be located in Alameda County and must demonstrate a variety of green building features and techniques. For more information or to download an application visit www.stopwaste.org. Application deadline is November 5, 2004. ARMSTRONG CEILING SYSTEMS http://www.armstrong.com/commceilingsna/article10790.html Armstrong offers an expanding portfolio of sustainable ceiling products. Through the Ceiling Recycling Program, an industry first and only one of its kind, old tiles are shipped to an Armstrong plant, not a landfill; 20 million square feet recycled to date. 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