GREEN INVESTMENTS ON CAMPUS
A new National Wildlife Federation report by David Eagon and Julian Keniry titled Green Investment, Green Return highlights 23 environmental projects on 15 campuses - large, small, public, and private - that together save $16.8 million a year. State University of New York at Buffalo has saved more than $60 million by conserving energy. A $17 million retrofit program cuts energy costs by almost 15 percent and, along with other energy-conservation projects, saves $9 million a year. A University of Colorado bus pass program in Boulder eliminated the need for more parking lots. Students pay $19.42 per semester. Annual savings: $1 million. Columbia University in New York cut its water bill by about 25 percent and saved more than 59 million gallons of water by upgrading toilets, shower heads, and faucets. Annual savings: $235,000. Seattle University landscapers replaced chemical weed killers with dense- growing ground cover like rock rose. Annual savings: $1,300. The report notes that "many of the pioneers. . . initially encountered that frustrating institutional inertia, but their persistence and determination made the difference." [For more information or a copy of the report, visit http://www.nwf.org/campus/gigr/index.html.] - USA Today, 9 Mar 98, p 06D, by Mary Beth Marklein.

BIO-BASED HOUSE AIMS FOR BOULDER MARKET
The AARCitecture Environmental Home, designed almost completely of agriculturally derived materials, will be ready for the Boulder, Colorado real estate market by fall. Assistant professor Julee Herdt of the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado at Denver designed the 1,800-square-foot, passive solar, energy-efficient home with help from graduate students Steven Gates and Holt Fuller. Their goals: market competitiveness and low environmental impact. The designers collaborated with the Alternative Agricultural Research and Commercialization Corporation (AARC), the US Department of Agriculture, and Thistle Community Housing. The home's bio-based materials include structurally insulated wheat straw panels for the walls, floor, and roof. The designers incorporated soy panels with masonry units for the trombe wall. Corn, cork, jute, bamboo, and other cellulose-based materials make up the house's interior flooring, shelving, cabinetry, and built-in furniture details. For more information, call Julee Herdt, 303.556.4097. - Environmental Design & Construction, Mar-Apr 98, p 13.

GROWTH INITIATIVE TO CURB ARIZONA SPRAWL
An initiative petition drive aimed at Arizona's November ballot includes tough limits on urban sprawl and full developer payments for public services and utilities. "This is not a no-growth or slow-growth initiative: it's a managed- growth initiative," says environmental attorney David Baron. "Arizona can grow, but it must be responsible and sensitive to the state's natural heritage." The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest and the state Sierra Club are leading the petition drive with the support of an environmental coalition called Citizens for Growth Management. The initiative would require all 15 Arizona counties and its cities and towns of more than 2,500 residents to create urban growth plans and set growth boundaries that become effective January 1, 2001. The growth plans would include policies to ensure growth doesn't impair air and water quality and to protect environmental quality, neighborhoods, scenic vistas, open space, public preserves, and historic areas. The initiative would require counties and communities to collect the full costs - much more than Pima County's current developer fees - of extending police and fire services, schools, parks, roads, and water and sewer lines to commercial, industrial, or subdivision projects. A Pima County supervisor supports the initiative because he says the board hasn't been able to manage growth or ensure that it is sustainable in the Sonoran Desert environment. Critics of growth controls say they'll cost the state jobs and affordable housing. - The [Tucson] Arizona Daily Star, 3 Mar 98, p 1B, by Keith Bagwell.

ROOFTOP GREENING SYSTEMS
Large areas of rooftop vegetation can reduce urban heat islands and control storm runoff. European research has shown that green roofs improve urban air quality by regulating carbon dioxide and producing more oxygen. The components of a rooftop greening system include a waterproofing membrane on top of roof insulation, a layer of drainage material, a synthetic geotextile filter, a layer of growing medium, vegetation, and edge protection. The choice of a particular system depends on the load-bearing capacity of the building's structure, expected maintenance requirements, water source, exposure to climatic factors affecting evaporation, and type of vegetation desired. Unlike heavier, higher-maintenance rooftop gardens and terraces, rooftop greening systems are suited to extensive application. They support low-growing vegetation on new or replacement roofs with up to 40 percent slope without the need, in most cases, for additional structure. The Horticultural Research Centre of Laval University in Quebec is studying a greening system it installed on two rooftops with different heights and exposures on a 30-year- old building. Its aim is to determine which plant species adapt well to the Canadian climate and the type and thickness of growing medium needed for each. A wildflower meadow sown there in autumn 1994 is still blooming. [For more information on the authors' Sopranature rooftop greening system, visit http://greenbuilding.ca/soprema.html.] - Canadian Architect, Feb 98, p 37, by Marie-Anne Boivin and George Challies.

SYNDECRETE
In 1983 architect David Hertz developed a hand-crafted, precast, lightweight cement-based composite called Syndecrete as an alternative to nonrenewable and petroleum-based materials. Mainly specified for reception desks, table tops, basins, and planters, Syndecrete is also available in slabs or tiles for walls and floors. Syndesis, Inc. makes Syndecrete in Santa Monica, California. It is 20 percent industrial waste like milled carpet scraps and fly ash (coal residue from electric generating plants) and 25 percent recycled aggregates (marbles, record chips, golf tees, chains, video cases, wood chips, eyeglass frames - whatever is in the client's waste stream). The remaining 55 percent is water, sand, and cement. At its plant, Syndesis recycles polishing water, form-building materials, and Syndecrete dust. Since each job is custom, the company prices Syndecrete on time and materials. It usually costs the same or more than granite. For more information, visit http://www.syndesisinc.com. - Interiors, Feb 98, p 40, by Katherine Day Sutton.

ELEY SEEKS PROJECTS FOR RESEARCH
Eley Associates is looking for seven projects with a commitment to energy efficiency and environmentally sensitive design. If you have a project in the initial stages before design contract, Eley may want to include it in research the firm is doing with the Rocky Mountain Institute on energy performance contracting. The buildings should be larger than 50,000 square feet and the project must have funds available for energy measurement and verification. Selected projects will receive performance targets, measurement and verification specifications, contract support, general energy performance consulting, review of design drawings, and publicity. The Energy Foundation is funding the research project. For more information, email Charles Eley, charles@eley.com, or Geoffrey Syphers, geof@eley.com, or call them at 415.957.1977. - Environmental Building News, Feb 98, p 4.

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ALAMEDA COUNTY WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY
http://www.stopwaste.org The Alameda County [California] Waste Management Authority and Recycling Board has published "A Builder's Guide to Reuse and Recycling: A Directory for Construction and Demolition Materials." This useful 36-page booklet is designed to provide assistance to construction managers, building and demolition contractors, homebuilders, remodelers and other building professionals. The guide offers practical, cost-saving waste reduction tips and provides a vendor directory for recycling a wide variety of materials including asphalt, bricks, drywall, glass, wood and related items. Every structure we build or demolish can add to our waste stream, and construction and demolition materials comprise one of the largest portions of materials filling up our landfills -- over a quarter million tons every year in Alameda County alone. Often, these materials don't need to be landfilled. Interested persons may obtain a free copy of The Builder's Guide to Reuse and Recycling by calling the Alameda County Recycling Hotline at 510.639.2498.

ENVIRONDESIGN 2
Environdesign 2, slated for April 30 to May 2, 1998, in Monterey, CA, will explore the practical benefits of sustainable design and the "intangibles" that inspire everyone to embrace environmental stewardship. Interior designers, architects and facility planners will join with manufacturers and sustainable design authorities to explore environmental responsibility as the defining issue for the next century. Thirty-two conference speakers and 27 presentation topics include keynotes by William McDonough, FAIA; Paul Hawken; Sim Van der Ryn; and Chief Oren Lyons. Superstars and students will engage in heartfelt conversations; practitioners and manufacturers will share victories and frustrations; questions will be answered and new ones posed. If you care about the quality of life today and tomorrow - especially if you are a practitioner whose decision-making responsibilities impact the built environment - visit "whatIS NEW" at http://www.isdesignet.com, or for a brochure call 561.627.3393 or email ed2@isdesignet.com.