But it takes a lot of work to get something like straw bale construction passed in each jurisdiction, and it seems that nearly each new construction project has to reinvent the wheel, educate the local code officials, etc.

To remedy this problem, a group of dedicated baleheads have been working over the past several years to get straw bale construction accepted into the Big Daddy of all codes, the International Building Code (IBC).

International Code Council will hold hearings in Dallas on either Monday, April 30 or Tuesday, May 1 regarding the Fire Resistance of straw bale construction, and a week later on structural considerations.  These hearings are just part of the many important steps needed.

Sustainable Sources founder Bill Christensen will be joining longtime code advocate David Eisenberg (Development Center for Appropriate Technology), builder/architect Ben Obregon (Sustainable Design Center), and architect Gayle Borst (Stewardship Architecture and Design~Build~Live) in Dallas for the Fire Resistance section of the hearings.  Bill, David, and Ben participated in the 2006 fire tests which gained plastered straw bale construction ASTM 1- and 2-hour burn ratings (earthen plastered and cement plastered, respectively).  See the video.

The hearings are free and open to the public, though you are required to register.  They’re also being streamed, in the event you can’t make it but are interested in the proceedings.

To see all the supporting documentation including the proposed Straw Bale Construction chapter, and testing reports regarding moisture, structural, seismic “shake table”, fire, and of course thermal tests, see EcoBuildNetwork.

David and architect Martin Hammer will return the following week for Structural hearings.

To learn about building with straw, see our straw bale construction overview, or see one of the many books on bale construction, or visit The Last Straw Journal, the definitive quarterly journal on bale construction.

Finally, to see an actual straw bale home near you, check our Straw Bale Building Registry.

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• Your listings can now have up to 20 images.
• Easier to list property.
• Easier to update.
• It’s on a much faster server.
• Improved searches.
• Includes green sales AND green rentals.
• New sections for commercial properties, too!  (For lease and for sale)
• Ads from 30 days for $5.00 (that’s right, just $5.00!!) to a full year for $20.00.

Obviously, we’re not looking to get rich off of this – unlike the other sites which list green real estate and start at $19-$25 for a 30 day listing and over $200 for a one-year listing!  Electrons don’t cost that much.

The real estate market has changed a lot since we first started Green Real Estate listings in 1998 -  there is greater awareness of the need for energy efficiency and homes and offices built with healthy materials, and more people than ever are specifically looking for green.  Make sure they find you here!

View the current listings…

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On January 18 from 8am to 8pm, SustainableSources.com will join Reddit, Boing Boing and a growing number of other sites around the Internet in “going dark” to bring awareness of the need to loudly oppose SOPA and PIPA, the pending US legislation that creates a punishing Internet censorship regime and exports it to the rest of the world.

Let Congress know you OPPOSE H.R. 3261 “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and S. 968 “Protect IP Act” (PIPA):

• Reverse Robocall ALL pro-SOPA MOC + Key Lobbyists (Genius! More info on Ars Technica)
• Phone your Member of Congress the old fashioned way (House) (Senate)
• Contact Senators who are refusing to meet with constituents about SOPA/PIPA.
• EFF Congressional Emailer – Oppose Internet Blacklisting (SOPA & PIPA)
• ECA Congressional Emailer - Don’t Censor Our Internet!
• OpenCongress Congressional Emailer – Oppose SOPA
• Generic Congressional Emailer (You’ll need your Zip+4)
• Outside the US? Sign Petition Opposing US Censorship of Global Sites (EFF)

Opponents of SOPA: Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, eBay, AOL, Mozilla, Reddit, Tumblr, Etsy, Zynga, EFF, ACLU, Human Rights Watch, Darrell Issa (R-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Ron Paul (R-TX)

Supporters of SOPA: RIAA, MPAA, News Corporation, VISA, Mastercard, Pfizer, Comcast, Time Warner, ABC, Nike, Walmart, Dow Chemical, Tiffany, Chanel, Rolex, Monster Cable, Teamsters, Lamar Smith (R-TX), John Conyers (D-MI)

Where does your Member of Congress stand on SOPA? (Project SOPA Opera)

SOPA and PIPA Are Too Dangerous To Revise, They Must Be Killed Entirely 

Congress needs to hear from you, or these dangerous bills will pass – they have tremendous lobbying dollars behind them, from large corporations reportedly hoping to prop up outdated, anti-consumer business models at the expense of the very fabric of the Internet — recklessly unleashing a tsunami of take-down notices and litigation, and a Pandora’s jar of “chilling effects” and other unintended (or perhaps intended?) consequences.

For example, Monster Cable considers craigslist a “rogue site” for takedown under PIPA - they want to prevent YOU from selling YOUR unwanted cables so they can increase sales! Many other “rights holders” want to do the same. Boycott anyone? There is an app for that.

Corporations pushing SOPA/PIPA want the ability to block you from reaching any web site they feel might be hurting their profits — without due process of any kind, or review in any court — by literally interrupting all Internet traffic to those sites via DNS at the ISPs and by censoring search engine results.  Incredibly, many lawmakers want to give them that right.

There is still time to be heard. Congress is starting to backpedal on this job-killing, anti-American nonsense, and the Obama administration has weighed in against these bills as drafted, but SOPA/PIPA cannot be fixed or revised — they must be killed altogether.

Sen Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep Ron Wyden (D-OR) are championing an alternative to SOPA/PIPA called Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN) that focuses on cutting off payments to foreign sites dedicated to piracy, and refrains from disrupting basic Internet protocols, or threatening mainstream US sites like craigslist.

Tim O’Reilly, a publisher who is himself subject to piracy, asks whether piracy is even a problem, and whether there is even a legitimate need for any of these bills.

Learn more about SOPA, Protect IP (PIPA), and Internet Blacklisting:

• Growing Chorus of Opposition to SOPA
• Open Letter against SOPA from 83 Prominent Internet Engineers
• Why SOPA and Protect IP (PIPA) are Bad, Bad Ideas (Techdirt)
• Piracy not a problem, SOPA/PIPA unnecessary (Tim O’Reilly on GigaOM)
• SOPA News (Google News)
• SOPA Wikipedia entry
• SOPA FAQ (CNET)

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For more info, see compost toilets and The Humanure Handbook.

Enjoy!

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By Evan Dick

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced revisions to Energy Star requirements for residential dishwashers and furnaces.

Effective January 20, 2012, Energy Star dishwashers will be 8% more efficient than previous Energy Star models and 10%–30% more efficient than conventional models. Standard Energy Star dishwashers will consume no more than 4.25 gallons per cycle and 295 kWh per year, down from 5.8 gallons per cycle and 324 kWh per year for 2009–2011 Energy Star models.

For furnaces, the rules become effective February 1, 2012 and will be regional for the first time, mirroring the U.S. Department of Energy’s new minimum HVAC efficiency standards announced in July 2011 (see “New HVAC Standards Will Be Regional,” EBN July 2011).

Energy Star furnaces must now be 12% more efficient than the baseline in the South and 16% more efficient in the North. Energy Star furnaces in the South will have a special label that lists the states in which the certification is valid.

In addition to the introduction of its Most Efficient label (see “Energy Star to Label ‘Most Efficient’ Appliances,” EBN Aug. 2011), EPA has promised revisions to 20 Energy Star product requirements in 2011.
September 1, 2011

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