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EUROPE'S TOXIN RULES COULD FORCE U.S. FIRMS TO CLEAN UP

Europe is setting environmental standards for international commerce, forcing changes in how industries around the world make plastic, electronics, toys, cosmetics and furniture. Now, the European Union is on the verge of overhauling how all toxic compounds are regulated. A proposal about to be debated by Europe's Parliament would require testing thousands of chemicals, cost industries several billion dollars, and could lead to many more compounds and products being pulled off the market. Many companies, even those based in America, follow the European rules because the EU, with 25 countries and 460 million people, surpasses even the United States as a market. U.S. computer companies say they are trying to remove lead and other substances banned in the EU from everything they sell. Critics of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency say the agency's search for scientific clarity takes so long that the public often goes unprotected. Risk assessments can take longer than a decade, and in some cases, the EPA still reaches no conclusions and relies upon industries to act voluntarily. For instance, despite research that showed by 2002 that polybrominated flame retardants were doubling in concentration in Americans' breast milk every few years, the EPA has still not completed its risk review. Meanwhile, the U.S. manufacturer of two of the flame retardants agreed voluntarily to stop making them last year after they were banned in Europe and California. EPA has not banned or restricted any existing industrial chemical under the Toxic Substances Control Act since 1991, except in a few cases where manufacturers acted voluntarily. New chemicals entering the market are more easily regulated, and so are pesticides, under a separate law. Instead of banning compounds, EPA teams with industry to ensure there are safe alternatives.
Los Angeles Times, 16 May 05, by Marla Cone.

METROPOLIS NEXT GENERATION DESIGN WINNERS

The two winners of this year's Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition are wildly different on the surface but share an essential quality: They represent an intersection of the design process with the processes of nature. Genware Algorithmic Library, by Columbia University professor Alisa Andrasek, is a "genetic library" of computational algorithms whose genetic configurations form the structural basis of everything from fashion patterns to interior surfaces to urban high rises. The software program uses differential mathematics to produce repetitive patterns with subtle variations that can be applied to architectural and industrial design. The second winner, Biopaver, by Columbia graduate student Joseph Hagerman, is a system of interlocking concrete paving blocks whose precast core becomes the seed head for phytoremediating plants (those that remove pollutants from the soil). Biopaver is not only a stormwater management solution, but potentially a way to prevent pollutants from seeping into the ground. The cast-concrete has a biodegradable core composed of bioplastics. This is a living core, featuring soil stabilizers, nutrients, seeds, inoculants and biota—all supporting a system of phyto-remediating plants. "You lay out the biopavers, let the sun and rain degrade the bioplastic mold, and in two months you have the garden growing," Hagerman says. "It's a controlled delivery of biological materials in a paved environment."

THE ETHICS OF BRICK

The total value of domestic construction has neared a trillion dollars annually. Imagine the buying power if some of these resources were applied toward altering poverty around the world. We can do just that by purchasing more materials and products from developing countries. To qualify for certain LEED credits, 20 percent of a building's materials must come from regional sources. If 2 percent of the remainder originated in Third World markets, the funds sent abroad could almost match the U.S. foreign aid totals. Already many of the materials and systems used in American buildings are imported. For example about one-quarter of all steel and cement used here is made abroad. Yet at the moment we have no way to observe or control the conditions under which these products are made. Who is making them and what is their standard of living? LEED does not address these critical questions. Green standards tend to focus more on end users than producers of buildings, and as a result we have no way of knowing who makes what and how. To call attention to these issues, the building industry needs new standards of evaluation that more thoroughly consider the circumstances of production. Like the fair trade coffee movement, we can ensure a humane environment and more equitable wages for workers by monitoring the entire stream of production. The Forest Stewardship Council's "Chain of Custody" is a good model. But it deals only with one material and in reality focuses more on the treatment of wood than its handlers. It's time we embrace the people who produce buildings, not just the people who design and occupy them.
Metropolis, Jun 05, p 128, by Lance Hosey.

DIRTY SECRET: COAL PLANTS COULD BE MUCH CLEANER

Almost a decade ago, Tampa Electric opened an innovative power plant that turned coal, the most abundant but dirtiest fossil fuel, into a relatively clean gas, which it burns to generate electricity. But even now, with gas prices following oil prices into the stratosphere and power companies turning back to coal, about nine out of 10 plants on the drawing board will not use integrated gasification combined-cycle technology. The reason is simple. A plant with the low-pollution, high-efficiency technology demonstrated at Tampa Electric is about 20 percent more expensive to build than a conventional plant. The technology's main long-term advantage—the ability to control greenhouse gas emissions—is not winning over many utilities because the country does not yet regulate those gases. The plants' efficiency offers operating savings because they make use of at least 15 percent more of the energy released by burning coal than conventional plants do. The plants also need about 40 percent less water, a significant consideration in arid Western states. But for those who anticipate stricter pollution limits, the primary virtue of integrated gasification combined-cycle plants is their ability to chemically strip pollutants from gasified coal more efficiently and cost-effectively, before it is burned, rather than trying to filter it out of exhaust. It is doubtful whether Congress will intervene because it would involve regulating carbon emissions for the first time, something that many industry leaders and sympathetic lawmakers oppose. "We would not want to put all of our eggs in one basket as far as a single technology is concerned," said William Fang, deputy counsel for the Edison Electric Institute. Besides, he added, many of his members think that mandatory carbon controls, in place in much of the world since the Kyoto Protocol came into force in February, can be kept at bay in the United States, possibly indefinitely.
The New York Times, 22 May 05, p. BU 3, by Kenneth J. Stier.

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BALL STATE UNIVERSITY

Greening of the Campus VI: Extending Connections. This interdisciplinary conference allows people representing diverse areas in university communities to share information on environmental issues, including the practical day-to-day management of the physical plant to "green" curriculum development and utilization of campus resources. The conference is September 15 - 17, 2005. For more information and to download a registration form, visit www.bsu.edu/greening/

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CIWMB LANDSCAPE AND BUILDING DESIGN COMPETITION

The California Integrated Waste Management Board seeks participants for its is sponsoring the "Landscape and Building Product Design Competition" at the California State Fair. Participants Designers will develop prototypes of products crafted from waste tires, crumb rubber, and other tire-derived materials. Entry forms are due by June 24, 2005, and can be downloaded at www.itsgoodforcalifornia.com

CRADLE TO CRADLE DESIGN CONFERENCE

Cradle to Cradle Design is being embraced as a powerful new framework for thinking about how we can build more beautiful products and a healthier bottom line, while having a beneficial impact on the world. Get involved in the dialogue by attending the Business and Sustainablity Group's workshop with Dr. Micheal Braughart June 6-7 in Palo Alto, CA and special guest speaker Dr. Peter Senge. To register visit: www.globalcommunity.org/business/braungart.shtml

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RUMSEY ENGINEERS

Rumsey Engineers, a preeminent leader in sustainable HVAC and Plumbing design, has openings in our Oakland, CA office for mid to senior level articulate and innovative HVAC and/or plumbing engineers with at least 3-5 years of energy efficient design experience. Please e-mail resume: cbonner@rumseyengineers.com
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About the Publisher
Sustainable design consultant Chris Hammer publishes GreenClips in San Francisco. Ms. Hammer helps her clients with environmentally responsible approaches to urban planning and development, and to building design, construction, and operation. Email or call for more information: chrishammer@greenclips.com; 415.928.7941. GreenClips is edited by Susan Vogt, a Portland, Oregon freelance writer with 25 years of experience in energy-efficient and sustainable buildings.

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