. 13, No. 3 - March 2004
A Publication of BuildingGreen, Inc.
www.BuildingGreen.com


Volume 13, Number 3 · March 2004
In This Issue:
The Leading Newsletter on Environmentally Responsible Design & Construction
Environmental Building News
TM
Wire and Cable:
Untangling Complex Environmental Issues
E
VEN THE GREENEST OF ARCHI-
tects and builders seldom give much
consideration to wiring in buildings.
Sure, wed like to use products with mini-
mal environmental and health impacts,
but how significant can wiring be? We
dont really install that much wiring, rela-
tive to other materials. And there isnt much
choice anyway, is there? Dont fire codes
pretty much dictate what we have to use?
Before we started investigating this topic,
our primary concern was a vague one con-
cerning the polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
sheathing used on many wires. A presen-
tation at the Pittsburgh Greenbuild confer-
ence by researcher Gail Vittori of the Cen-
ter for Maximum Potential Building Sys-
tems opened our eyes to a number of addi-
tional issues with wiring.
Hundreds of Internet searches, weeks of
reading everything we could get our hands
on, and dozens of conversations later, we
have learned, first of all, just how complex
the issue of wiring is. More important, we
have become concerned about conven-
tional practice todayespecially regarding
communications and data cabling and the
rapidly growing use of fluoropolymer in-
sulation and jacketing. And we have be-
come alarmed about the growing risk of
lead dust accumulation in the ceiling and
floor plenums of commercial buildings
from the 11 million miles (18 million km)
of existing data cabling, most of which con-
tains PVC that is heat-stabilized with lead.
Read on to learn more about these issues
and some potential solutions.
Understanding Wire
and Cable
First some definitions. As
used in this article, wire re-
fers to an individual strand
of material used for con-
ducting electrical current;
cable refers to two or more
wires twisted together. Non-
insulated wire and cable
used for structural purposes
will not be addressed here.
Virtually all wire used for
transmitting electric current
or data is wrapped in plas-
tic insulation. Most electrical
and data cables are made
by bundling multiple insu-
lated wires and sheathing
all of the wires in an addi-
tional jacket.
Feature Article ........... 1
Wire and Cable:
Untangling Complex
Environmental Issues
mail@BuildingGreen .. 2
Greenbuild and Emissions
Flammability and
Nysan Shade Screening
Whats Happening ..... 3
Apollo Alliance Aims for
Energy Independence
EPA Launches SmartWay
Transport Partnership
LEED for Existing Buildings
Out for Comments
Newsbriefs
Awards & Competitions
Product News
& Reviews ........... 6
Toyotomis Wall-Vented,
Oil-Fired Space Heater
Product Briefs
From the Library ...... 15
Two New Books on
Green Homes
Calendar.................. 16
(continued on page 7)
Quote of the month:
There is no significant
difference in toxicity
among the types of
material [used for wire
insulation and
jacketing]. All materials
that burn are toxic.
Patrick Lindner,
Global Business Manager,
DuPont Communications
Cabling Solutions,
defending fluoropolymers
(page 9)
Calgary, Alberta-based Critical Mass uses miles of data cables for its
Web design and Internet consulting business. Cables are run in a
Haworth/SMED access floor.
Photo: Haworth/SMED 2

Environmental Building News · March 2004
Environmental Building News
Executive Editor · Alex Wilson
Editor · Nadav Malin
Associate Editor · Jessica Boehland
GreenSpec Managing Editor · Tori Wiechers
Interns · Mark Piepkorn, Alex Stadtner
Art Director · Joy Wallens-Penford
Publisher · Dan Woodbury
Outreach Director · Jerelyn Wilson
Director of Online Services · Jim Newman
Webmaster · Ethan Goldman
Financial Manager · Willie Marquart
Circulation Department
Charlotte Snyder, Mgr. · Martha Swanson
Advisory Board
John Abrams, Chilmark, MA
Bob Berkebile, FAIA, Kansas City, MO
Terry Brennan, Rome, NY
Bill Browning, Hon. AIA, Snowmass, CO
Nancy Clanton, P.E., Boulder, CO
Bruce Coldham, AIA, Amherst, MA
Dr. Raymond Cole, Vancouver, BC
David Eisenberg, Tucson, AZ
Pliny Fisk, Austin, TX
Carol Franklin, ASLA, Philadelphia, PA
Harry Gordon, FAIA, Washington, DC
David Gottfried, San Francisco, CA
B.J. Harris, Santa Fe, NM
John L. Knott, Jr., Dewees Island, SC
Gail Lindsey, FAIA, Raleigh, NC
Steve Loken, Missoula, MT
Joseph Lstiburek, P.E., Westford, MA
Sandra Mendler, AIA, San Francisco, CA
Mike Nicklas, FAIA, Raleigh, NC
Greg Norris, Ph.D., N. Berwick, ME
Marc Rosenbaum, P.E., Meriden, NH
Michael Totten, Washington, DC
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mail@BuildingGreen
mail@BuildingGreen
Correction on Water
Consumption by Toilets
In our article on toilets (Vol. 13, No.
1), we reported on page 7 that toilets
consume an average of 20.1 gallons
of water per day in households
where water-conserving fixtures
have not been installed and 9.6 gal-
lons per day in households where
water-conserving fixtures have been
installed. Those are actually per-
capita figures. The average household
water usage by toilets is two to two-
and-a-half times as great. The per-
cent figures we provided are correct.
Our Find the Hidden Error award goes
to Terry Brennan.
Flammability and
Nysan Shade Screening
Please explain what makes polyes-
ter yarn impregnated with an
acrylic-based material fire resistant,
as claimed in the article PVC-Free
Interior Shade Screening from
Nysan (Vol. 12, No. 12). As far as
we know, polyester and acrylics are
both flammable.
Tim Burns, President
The Vinyl Institute
Arlington, Virginia
Editors response:
We checked with
Nysan Shading Systems, Ltd., who says
that while they describe the material as
acrylic-based, it is actually a Trevira
®
CS polyester to which a polyurethane
coating has been applied. The company
describes the polyurethane coating as
being similar to acrylic in its application,
but, as you note, quite different from
acrylic relative to flame resistance. All
of Nysans GreenScreen
®
PVC-free fab-
rics have been tested in accordance
with the North American and European
fire standards, according to the com-
pany, and all have passed.
Greenbuild and Emissions
Thank you for the excellent article on
the U.S. Green Building Councils
Greenbuild conference (Vol. 12, No.
12). I would like to take issue, how-
ever, with the claim that the confer-
ence was free of carbon dioxide
(CO
2
) emissions.
The chart accompanying the article
shows that this claim was made be-
cause USGBC received a donation of
over 10 million pounds of CO
2
cred-
its from DuPont Antronan amount
which more than offset the calcu-
lated CO
2
created by the conference,
including emissions resulting from
the energy used by attendees to
travel over 7.5 million miles to and
from the conference site in Pittsburgh.
Receiving donated credits from cor-
porate sponsors does not mean that
USGBC and/or conference partici-
pants did anything at all to reduce
air pollution or net out the energy
and atmospheric impacts associated
with the conference and all that travel.
DuPont deserves praise for its con-
servation efforts, but I dont see how
credit for that can be transferred to
USGBC or the conference. This feels
like greenwash and is very disappoint-
ing, especially coming from USGBC.
If USGBC is serious about mitigat-
ing the environmental impacts of its
conferences, it should assess a man-
datory green fee from attendees
which would be sufficient in and of
itself to finance, incentivize, or lever-
age new conservation measures
equal to the anticipated emissions
impact of the conference.
Walter Simpson, CEM
LEED-Accredited Professional
Energy Officer, SUNY Buffalo
Buffalo, New York Volume 13,