GREEN BUILDING CHALLENGE '98
In October, international teams at the Green Building Challenge '98 in Vancouver will present assessments of green buildings from their countries. Each team is using the newly developed GBC '98 assessment framework with analysis software called Green Building Assessment Tool to set green standards and evaluate their projects. This detailed evaluation of many projects will test both the assessment framework and the software. By weighting the values for energy efficiency, daylighting, and building materials to reflect local conditions, the software promises to be useful for comparing building performance assessments from around the world. Heat loads, for example, have different values in assessing the performance of a Swedish school and a Filipino one. The American team, led by architect Gail Lindsey of the American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment and Drury Crawley of the US Department of Energy, will present five projects representing sustainable building in the US. [For general information on GBC '98 and the upcoming conference, visit <http://greenbuilding.ca/gbc98.html>. For more on the US Team and the projects it's assessing, visit <http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/gbc98/gbc98.htm>.] - Architecture, Aug 98, p 116, by Sara Hart.

THE NOT-SO-BIG HOUSE
"Too big" is a lament that Minneapolis architect Sarah Susanka hears more often these days as new homes increase in size. Sometimes dubbed trophy houses or McMansions, today's showplaces illustrate what Susanka calls a "Versailles complex - the notion that houses should be designed to impress rather than nurture." Susanka isn't advocating a small house but rather a not-so-big one. In October, Taunton Press will publish her book titled The Not So Big House: a Blueprint for the Way We Really Live. "Spaciousness," she explains, "just isn't conducive to comfort." By favoring quality of design over quantity of space, homeowners can spend more on details that define the character of a home than on simply making it bigger. Beyond offering more comfort, not-so-big houses consume less energy. "We're using so much of our resources in these humongous houses," Susanka observes. "Isn't there a better way to use our resources? Make every tree that goes into the building of a house really enhance the life that it's enclosing." A principal with Mulfinger, Susanka, Mahady and Partners, she speaks boldly about the need for "a revolution" in the housing industry. "When about 80 percent of your clients come in the door and say, 'We live informally, but we need a living room and dining room for resale,' you realize the tail is wagging the dog." - The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Aug 98, by Marilyn Gardner.

PHYTOREMEDIATION FOR BROWNFIELDS
Phytoremediation, the science of cleaning polluted soil and water with plants, is emerging as an approach to returning some of the 450,000 abandoned, polluted industrial sites in the US to productive use. Though slower, phytoremediation costs much less than other methods of brownfield decontamination like trucking soil to a processing plant for chemical and mechanical cleansing and then returning it to the site. Phytoremediation works by extracting, containing, or degrading the contaminants. Extraction involves planting species that take up and accumulate contaminants in their shoots and leaves. Harvesting the plant removes the contaminant from the site. Containment uses plants to immobilize the contaminants. Certain trees, for example, can sequester large concentrations of metals in their root systems. Degradation breaks down contaminants - mainly hydrocarbons and other organic compounds - so they're no longer toxic. Some plants degrade contaminants in their rhizosphere (root zone) through microbial or fungal symbiosis, root-zone chemical effects, or enzymes the roots exude. Other plants use elements of organic toxins as food and, in the process, detoxify them. But phytoremediation is no panacea. For one thing, it won't be effective on every contaminated site - particularly the profoundly contaminated sites of the Superfund variety. And it's still experimental, with valid questions about its effects on the food chain and air quality requiring more research. For more information, visit [the Remediation Technologies Development Forum at] <http://www.rtdf.org>. - Landscape Architecture, Aug 98, p 38.

EARTHWISE DECONSTRUCTION
Seattle's Earthwise, Inc. deconstructs homes scheduled for demolition and markets the salvaged materials at its retail store. "I had to do something about the massive waste I saw, and having built houses, taking them down was second nature," says Earthwise owner and general contractor Kurt Petrauskas who took on his first deconstruction project four years ago. Today Earthwise's hand demolition projects range from interior strip-outs to complete tear-downs that salvage reusable items like cabinets, light fixtures, windows, studs, exterior siding, and moldings. For one house, Petrauskas advertised a presale of its more reusable items and took verbal bids on them as potential buyers walked through the property. But competing with mechanical demolition on a time and labor basis is difficult. Though many people would like to deconstruct, they usually can't afford it except where difficult access improves its economics. And now that salvaged materials are more common and owners are beginning to ask for return on the sale of salvage, Earthwise is shifting its focus toward selective removal. [For more information, phone Earthwise at 206 624 4510.] - BioCycle, Aug 98, p 30, by Adrienne Pandora Touart.

MARKETS FOR DECONSTRUCTED WOOD
Increasing demand for reclaimed lumber in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond has strengthened markets for used and remanufactured wood products and has created the potential for new ones. Re-milled timbers and beams are typically used as structure in large, high-end homes and in traditionally joined post-and-beam construction, a thriving niche market. Re-milled dimensional lumber four inches in depth and smaller may be the broadest, most promising market but is still relatively untapped. Using reclaimed wood for flooring, paneling, and siding turns average-to-difficult stock into fast- selling products. But millwork shops buying stock for these products are particular about safety and quality. Many flooring makers are reluctant to risk their equipment on recovered wood though some use it exclusively. Finer architectural millwork - moldings, rails, sills, and trim - requires clear stock without knots, checking, or fastener marks. Aggressive grading of rough and re-milled stock for the clearer pieces and techniques like finger jointing could make architectural millwork from reclaimed stock marketable. [For more information, visit the Materials for the Future Foundation at <http://www.materials4future.org/Rec.woodworks.html>.] - Resource Recycling, Aug 98, p 15, by Lisa Geller.

DIAGNOSTIC TOOL TO AID PRODUCT REDESIGN
Current efforts to improve products environmentally involve analyzing the problems caused by the product and then generating improvement options. Now a new study from IVAM Environmental Research at the University of Amsterdam suggests an approach that identifies aspects of the product that cause an environmental burden but don't contribute to its function. The study proposes a diagnostic tool based on a structured assessment of the relationship between product functions, physical components, and production materials on the one hand, and the contribution of each to the product's environmental burden in production, use, and disposal on the other. This diagnostic tool bridges environmental analysis and product redesign by targeting key improvement opportunities and by estimating the potential reduction of the product's environmental burden through redesign. - The Journal of Sustainable Product Design (The Centre for Sustainable Design, The Surrey Institute of Art & Design), Jul 98, p 42, by Marije Lafleur, Rene van Berkel, and Jaap Kortman.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

GreenClips is free of charge thanks to these sponsors -

EPA'S ENVIRONMENTALLY-PREFERABLE PURCHASING PROGRAM
Working to make the environment a consideration in federal purchasing. http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp

THE SMART GROWTH NETWORK
Metropolitan development that serves economy, community, and the environment. http://www.smartgrowth.org

INTERFACE, INC. More than a carpet company. Much more. http://www.ifsia.com

WSU ENERGY PROGRAM
http://www.energy.wsu.edu Providing objective research, information and solutions. Washington State University Cooperative Extension Energy Program in Olympia, Washington. To subscribe to GreenClips and/or other mailing lists related to energy and the environment, go to <http://listserv.energy.wsu.edu/guest/RemoteAvailableLists>.

ENERGY RESOURCE CENTER
http://www.socalgas.com/erc Get the answers you need to benefit from electric deregulation. Electric deregulation has been a California reality since March, but it's still shrouded in confusion. The Energy Resource Center's Evaluating Electric Deregulation Opportunities seminar from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 23 will give you the opportunity to engage in an interactive discussion of your options instead of merely listening to a prepared lecture. Your questions will be solicited before the event and given to speakers so that the presentation will reflect the needs of participants. The ERC is located at 9240 E. Firestone Blvd., Downey, CA, 90241-5388. To register for the $50 seminar (Seminar #2853), call 800 427 6584 and press option one, or dial direct to 562 803 7500.