Keep watching the US Green Building Council which has an active program
in developing ecological benchmark criteria for Green Building. (My web
link to them doesn't work, does anyone have a new address for the USGB
Council?)
Also, In the next few years ISO 14000 should take hold on the
international scene. see: http://www.stoller.com/iso.htm From the ISO
14000 web site:
"The emerging set of ISO 14000 standards is the most comprehensive
environmental quality management initiative ever
undertaken. This standard is expected to be the international
environmental quality benchmark for conducting business
in the global marketplace of the 21st century. The first edition of the
standard is expected to be issued in 1996 and will
prescribe requirements for environmental quality management as defined
by the International Organization for
Standardization in Geneva, Switzerland. "
Just about every manufacturer these days seems to claim their product is
Green and can produce an "industry earth friendly standard" which is
usually green veneer. ISO 14000 will separate the wheat from the
chaff. I'm the US Green Building Council standards will give a good
measure of the sustainability of a given product or material.
Tom
-- Thomas A. Fisher Architectural Design & Envionmental Design Collaborative http:// www.cstone.net/edc/index1.htm __________________________________________________________________ This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by Oikos (www.oikos.com) and Environmental Building News (www.ebuild.com). For instructions send e-mail to greenbuilding-request@crest.org. __________________________________________________________________