Green

Weyerhaeuser Co. has announced its official preference for purchasing wood that is certified under the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), a program of the American Forest Foundation. More than 89,000 family forest owners managing 27 million acres of forestland are part of the American Tree Farm System.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are sponsoring a nationwide competition offering awards to any company that develops a personal, portable sensor system that measures air pollution and a person’s physiological response to it.

The “My Air, My Health Challenge” will be formally announced on June 6 at the Health Data Initiative Forum III: The Health Datapalooza in Washington, D.C. Representatives from both the EPA and the NIH will be present.

The Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA), a Reston, Va.-based trade organization for manufacturers of kitchen cabinets, bath vanities, decorative laminate products, has revised the criteria for companies to attain certification under the association’s Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP).

Contech is promoting the ecological benefits of its heart-shaped Rainforest Ecological Sprinklers, designed to lower water consumption. 

The heart-shaped head of the sprinkler breaks up water droplets to improve delivery to the root zone and to prevent wasted water, according to the company. 

“Because they can’t clog, Rainforest Sprinklers are ideal for hard water areas and for low-pressure systems like wells,” said Mark Grambart, president and CEO of Contech Enterprises, the manufacturer of Raniforest Ecological Sprinklers.

SFI Inc., the non-profit organization that oversees the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program, has issued a statement criticizing the third and latest draft of LEED 2012 for only issuing LEED points or credits for certified wood that is “FSC or better.”

SFI maintains that the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which administers the LEED program, continues to put up artificial barriers, shutting out 75% of North America’s forests that are certified by programs other than the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Chestnut Ridge, N.Y.-based Soft By Nature is pointing to clothes dryers as real energy hogs and pointing to its own Woolzies as an energy-saving idea.

The company has launched Woolzies, an all-natural fabric softener for use in dryers. Neither a dryer sheet nor a liquid, Woolzies are New Zealand wool dryer balls that soften laundry naturally, without any of the chemicals found in conventional fabric softeners.

Balqon Corp., a developer of electric drive system technologies for commercial electric vehicles, has unveiled a battery-powered all-electric yard tractor that incorporates the company's electric vehicle drive system.

A running shoe company that wants to build a “deep green” store -- but needs a major exemption to zoning regulations to do it -- has created a controversy in Seattle. According to an article in the Seattle Times, developer Skanska USA has signed Brooks Sports as the anchor tenant in a mixed-used building it wants to build. But the five-story retail building, which is already allowed an extra 10 ft.