GreenClips.17 03.01.95 GEOTHERMAL PUMPS HOT Sales of geothermal heat pumps are estimated to increase by 20% this year. Geothermal pumps capture heat from water-filled pipes located three feet underground where temperatures are between 40 and 70 degrees at all times. Seventy-one utility companies-who benefit from less demand during peak hours-and the Department of Energy have pledged $100 million to bolster sales. -Fortune, February 20, 1995, p. 20, by John Wyatt. PENTAGON GOES GREEN Using $1.25 billion authorized by Congress five years ago, Defense Department planners are modernizing the Pentagon building in a green way. The recent greening of the White House and encouragement from Vice President Gore and Kathleen McGinty, the White House director of environmental policy, prompted the Pentagon to install energy-efficient lighting, double-pane windows, and energy-efficient computers to make the Pentagon less wasteful and more comfortable. According to Ms. McGinty, green materials and designs must pay for themselves in about three years. –The New York Times, February 22, 1995, p. A8, by Keith Schneider. U OF OREGON'S GREEN PROGRAMS Rob Pena and John Reynolds' course in Environmental Resource Design is just one of many programs at the University of Oregon's Department of Architecture that addresses sustainable design. Other programs include Charlie Brown's Energy Studies Buildings Laboratory, Don Corner's Center for Housing Innovation and John Reynolds' Solar Information Center. A group of students have organized an eco-design conference in April called HOPES, for Holistic Options for Planet Earth's Sustainability. -Building With Nature, #16, p. 11. SALVAGED LUMBER Big Timberworks Inc., with the support of client Floyd Berggren, constructed a house using salvaged lumber high in the Montana Rockies. Salvaged lumber is high quality, dimensionally stable lumber that comes from obsolete industrial structures such as factories, warehouses, bridges and trestles, and sawmills. It is an alternative to old growth timber and marginal quality timbers that are responsible for many shrinkage and movement problems. Salvaged timbers, after re-sawing and planing, cost about 25% more than new green timber of comparable grade. Waste averages about 35%, but some waste may be saleable as siding or flooring. Two companies grade salvaged lumber: Timber Products Inspection (503.254.0204) and West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau (503.639.0651). -Fine Homebuilding, February/March1995, p. 86, by Merle Adams. WASTE ASH Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois are using ash from incinerated waste to produce a paste that can be poured and shaped like concrete. The new material, twice as strong as concrete, could be used in waste generating facilities, containment sites, and in roads within waste disposal areas. -The Construction Specifier, February 1995, p. 8. GREEN LUXURY RESORT IN COSTA RICA Construction began in February on a $50 million luxury resort in Costa Rica designed by architect Yves Ghiai. The first phase of the resort includes a 60,000 square-foot hotel, casino and night club. The second and final phases include a health spa, gym, sauna, pool, restaurant, business center, auditorium and marina. A special yellow outdoor lighting will be used in deference to giant turtles that come on land at night, cars will be excluded from the hotel area, the hotel will use solar roof panels, and fly ash from steel production will be used in a cement substitute. -AIArchitect, February 1995, p. 19, by Michael Jack. MARKETING GREEN "Producing an environmentally friendly product isn't enough to persuade most consumers to actually buy the thing, say marketing experts. Only 14% of consumers are 'true-blue green' - they'll buy something purely for the environmental benefit, regardless of price. For most consumers, the environmental message must be combined with competitive price and quality. Products that have been most successful are ones that consumers interact with directly: food, cosmetics, lawn-care goods and household cleaning products. These types of items also tend to be bought by women, who form the leading audience for environmental pitches." -Nation's Business, February 1995, p.3.