The Smart Growth Network (SGN) is a nationwide effort coordinated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Urban and Economic Development Division. EPA is working through cooperative partnerships with organizations such as the International City/County Management Association, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Congress for the New Urbanism, Joint Center for Sustainable Communities, National Resources Defense Council, The Northeast-Midwest Institute, the State of Maryland, Surface Transportation Policy Project, Sustainable Communities Network, and the Urban Land Institute.

The Smart Growth Network provides tools to create alternatives to sprawl. Smart growth tools address the economic and competitive benefit of alternative growth patterns. The "Why Smart Growth" primer makes the connections between sprawl development and its fiscal and environmental outcomes. The "Best Development Practices" and "Transportation and Land Use Innovations" primers present models for land use, community design, development, and transportation.

A geographic information systems (GIS) tool allows potential home buyers and mortgage lenders to identify homes with "location efficiency" that might qualify for a low-interest mortgage. A series of case studies on successful infill development emphasizes the market potential of infill in a way that lenders and developers can understand. An eco-industrial park optimization tool allows developers, planners, and businesses to identify the specific mix of industries that will maximize profitability, job creation, and/or resource efficiency by locating in an eco-industrial park. The SGN ultimately provides comparative pricing analysis of sprawl and other development options.

The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) serves as the organizational "home" of the SGN and runs its membership program. ICMA is the professional and educational association for appointed administrators and assistant administrators serving cities, towns, villages, boroughs, townships, counties, and regional councils.

Contact: ICMA - Smart Growth Network, 777 North Capitol St., N.E., Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20002-4201 (phone: 202-962-3591; fax: 202-962-3500; e-mail: nsimon@icma.org

The Department of Energy (DOE), in partnership with the Oregon Department of Energy, the Washington State Energy Office, and the California Energy Commission, has produced "The Energy Yardstick: Using PLACE3S to Create More Sustainable Communities."

PLACE3S, an acronym for Planning for Community Energy, Economic, and Environmental Sustainability, is  a land use and urban design method that uses energy as a yardstick to help communities understand how their growth and development decisions can contribute to improved sustainability. PLACE3S clarifies the trade-offs a community must make among its various goals by providing a common yardstick for measuring them.

PLACE3S differs from other methods of community planning by its unique combination of public participation, planning and design, and quantification of the energy, economic, and environmental effects of a plan and its alternatives.

Two computer-assisted planning tools have been developed to help implement the PLACE3S method.  INDEX is proprietary software developed by Criterion, Inc. of Portland, Oregon. Smart Places is public domain software developed by a public-private partnership in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute.

The San Diego Association of Governments used PLACE3S to quantify the benefits of their Regional Energy Plan. PLACE3S revealed energy cost savings of nearly $1.5 billion, the creation of over 5,000 new jobs in energy efficiency services, and the elimination of ½ million tons of air pollutants over 15 years if the plan was fully implemented.

In the Eugene-Springfield region of Oregon, the Lane Council of Governments used PLACE3S to evaluate the region's existing policies favoring compact growth and transit use. PLACE3S unveiled annual energy cost savings of about $10 million to the region in 2015.

More information about PLACE3S method of urban planning is available in the full text of the U.S. Department of Energy publication and is available on the U.S. Department of Energy website at www.sustainable.doe.gov/pubs/place3s/index.html   It can also be order by contacting:

Contact: Nancy J. Hanson, Program Manager, California Energy Commission, MS-48, 1516 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 (phone: 916-654-3948; e-mail: nhanson@energy.state.ca.us )

Chattanooga "Smart Park" Project Presented at ForumThe SMART Park Concept is an innovative model designed to integrate the inflows and outflows of energy, water, and waste streams for multiple businesses. The name stands for Sustainable Manufacturing, Agricultural, and R ecycling Technology. The Chattanooga Institute, a regional non-profit institution chartered to promote sustainable development policies and practices among community, government, and private organizations is sponsoring a feasibility study to define the concept and opportunities it may present the community and businesses for sustainable development in the Southside Development Area. This project initiative is designed to assist the overall Southside community and existing companies to expand job opportunties, improve economic profitability, reduce landfill volumes, and avoid pollution through integrated planning and management of energy, water, industrial waste, and municipal solid waste recovery practices. The Smart Park concept utilizes energy reproduction co-generation techniques to improve operating efficiencies, heat, and water recovery across numerous manufacturing processes, plant facilities, and industries. The overall approach will integrate selected input and output flows of over a dozen existing facilities, and proposes the addition of many new facilities that will create the opportunity for more synergistic exchanges.

The Chattanooga Soutside is a mixed-use neighborhood of residential, retail, commercial, industrial, service, and tourism activities. Covering about 1000 acres of Chattanooga's downtown, it was a vibrant manufacturing and residential district that declined over the last 50 years to where a majority of buildings, structures, and parcels are delapidated, underutilized, or abandoned. The Southside SMART Park Project Feasibility Study is structured with a broad base of partners, participants, and stakeholders from both a funding and organization point of view. Over 20 funding partners are supporting the ongoing study, composed of private companies, local government, and institutional organizations. TEAM Associates is the prime contractor. Subcontractors on Team's project include the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga (UTC), High Technologies Management Corporation (HITEC), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Sverdrup Corporation, and the Work and Environment Initiative Group from Cornell University.

Important existing facilities in this SMART Park network include metal forging foundries; industrial equipment manufacturers; metal recycling facilities, a chicken processing plant; a football stadium; a trade center; hotels; restaurants; commercial offices; the Tennessee Aquarium; industrial laundries; shipping pallet manufacturers; and food and beverage distributors. Some key proposed elements in this project concept include the addition of:

• A municipal solid waste (MSW) classification and preparation facility:
• A central hot water, steam, and chilled water energy facility;
• An agriculture/aquaculture complex;
• A building and wood products manufacturing facility; and
• An underground utility tunnel infrastructure system

Overall, this project will establish a pilot regional program for integrating industrial and municipal solid waste operations with realistic market-driven resource recovery opportunities. The resulting systems and processes will be flexible for application consideration in other communities throughout the country.

Contact: The Chattanooga Institute, Civic Forum 1001 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402 (phone: 423-266-0521; fax: 423-266-1682; e-mail: infor@csc2.org)

Smart Places is a geographic-based software which assists communities in assessing candidate sites for redevelopment and the implications of alternative land use plans. The system can be used for urban planning, environmental remediation and management of natural resources.

Smart Places supports customized community planning through interactive geographic review, plan experimentation, and sustainable indicator evaluation. It was designed with an adustable multi-user interface to support a wide range of user experience and expertise, from computer novice to a software development expert.  Ths system is scaleable to both large, regional and small, local areas.

The system supports interactive land use design and infrastructure specification using a hands-on "What-If" approach. For example, a community designer may ask the question "What if I propose a block of single-family homes with a centrally located recreation facility?" The Smart Places system allows the designer to sketch the design on a geographic palette displaying familiar landmarks, aerial photos, and other features. The designer will also be prompted to specify key attributes of the proposed community components (i.e. average floor space, heating technology, etc.) The designer might then ask "What would the energy requirements be for this community?" or "What are the emissions implications for this particular plan?"

Smart Places supports the decision-making process by running a series of geographic and empirical analysis models. These models are executed through an intuitive graphical user interface. Model results can be displayed in tabular or graphical format. Key community features are evaluated to optimize energy consumption, transportation, natural resource demand, remediation strategies, solid waste, waste water and air emissions.  Smart Places features scenario building, automatic attribution calculation, restriction checking, model selection, results generation, and alternatives.

Created by the nation's electric utilities in 1973, EPRI is one of America's oldest and largest research consortia, with some 700 members and an annual budget of about $500 million. Linked to a global network of technical specialists, EPRI scientists and engineers develop innovative solutions to the world's toughest energy problems while expanding opportunities for a dynamic industry.

Contact: Paul Radcliffe, Manager CEDS Target, Electric Power Research Institute, P.O. Box 10412, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1395 (phone: 650-855-2720; fax: 650-855-2002; e-mail: pradclif@epri.com)

Noting that little of the published material on sustainable development has been targeted at the work of practicing planners, the American Planning Association (APA) has published "A Planners Guideto Sustainable Development" (Planning Advisory Service Report Number 467). The report serves to:

• describe the origins, concepts, and theories of sustainable development;
• overview progress on the global, national, and state levels with respect to sustainable development;
• describe what it means to pursue sustainability as a local initiative;
• propose strategies by which the local planning profession could play a more important role in sustainable development programs:
• suggest and describe elements that may be included in a community sustainable development program;
• describe five locally implemented sustainable development initiatives; and
• serve as a reference for the reader to documents that provide more specific or comprehensive reviews of this topic.

 Chapter 1 of this report evaluates "growth mentality" and makes the case for a new paradigm that addresses the longevity of the world's resources.  Chapter 2 provides a brief overview of the concept of sustainable development, its origin, and a description of current sustainability efforts on the international, national, and state levels. Chapter 3 describes what is involved in changing thinking and trends so that sustainablility becomes meaningful to communities, explains what is needed at the local level, and proposes several roles for the practicing planner. Specific elements of a possible sustainable development program (along with ways in which they may be administered) are presented in Chapter 4. Finally, Chapter 5 describes in detail five community sustainability programs to demonstrate the flexibility and variety of efforts of community initiatives across the nation.

Contact: American Planning Association, 1776 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC (phone:: 202-872-0611)

Sustainability is explicitly included in the new ABET engineering accreditation criteria Engineering Criteria2000 (http://www.abet.org/eac/eac2000.htm ). Criterion 4 states in part: "The curriculum must prepare students for engineering practice culminating in a major design experience based on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier coursework and incorporating engineering standards and realistic constraints that include most of the following considerations: economic, environmental, sustainability, manufacturability, ethical, health and safety, social, and political." (Underlining added for emphasis). Curriculum, as defined by Criterion 4, must have appropriate coverage of mathematics, science, engineering science and engineering design - the technical component - and a general education component that complements the technical content of the curriculum and is consistent with the program and institution objectives.

What sustainability means in industry and engineering practice continues to be debated and students and faculty will benefit by joining in the discussion of the issues surrounding sustainable development. Much of what students will learn about sustainable development and sustainability will likely come from the general education component of the curriculum as they prepare for the major design experience. For faculty teaching design, sustainability is a broad enough concept to motivate students to consider design in its societal and global context.

The Engineering Deans Institute of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) to be held in Maui, Hawaii in March '99 will have as its theme "Ethicsin Technology and Social Responsibilities."  One morning will be devoted to sustainable development, specifically how to integrate the concepts of sustainable development into engineering curricula.  The deans will hear from keynote speakers what is going on in industry and education and then share their own ideas and experiences of how best to teach future engineers about sustainability.

Contact: William Kelly, Dean, School of Engineering, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. 20064 (phone: 202-319-5160; fax: 202-319-4499; e-mail: kelly@cua.edu)

In 1992, attendees of the Rio Earth Summit took up the responsibility of drafting an Earth Charter by drawing on the perspectives of governmental and non-governmental organizations, including groups representing major world faiths. The Earth Council was then formed to facilitate the Summit's initiatives. A world-wide Earth Charter "editing process" was created by the Earth Council and in early 1997 the Earth Charter Commission was formed to oversee the process.

The Commission issued a Benchmark Draft in March, 1997 after the Rio+5 Forum in Rio de Janeiro.  The Draft Earth Charter illustrates the varied contributions received through the consultation process and from the Rio+5 Forum. The Benchmark Draft is currently a work-in-process with an extended deadline for reporting recommendations to the Earth Council of November, 1998. At the end of the consultation period, a final version will be prepared by the Earth Charter Commission. There will then follow a period of advocacy on behalf of the Earth Charter with the hope that it will be endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in the year 2000.

Throughout the entire drafting process, the Earth Charter Commission plans to avoid the traditional, formal inter-governmental process. The Commission stands firmly on the idea that the Charter is a people's treaty and will work to produce a document that reflects "the emerging new global ethics."

The National Congress of the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation (RNRF) on Human PopulationGrowth: Impacts on the Sustainability of RenewableNatural Resources convened at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., September 16-19, 1998

The Congress began with several distinguished plenary speakers. Carl Haub, Information and Education Director of the Population Reference Bureau addressed population growth and trends. David Rejeski, Office of Policy, Environmental Protection Agency, discussed population and the environment/natural resource interface. Herman Daly of the School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland, talked about issues of sustainability.

In addition to the plenary sessions, the Congress was organized into working groups which addressed a series of questions in four renewable natural resource issue areas. The four areas were: (a) urbanization and settlement patterns; (b) terrestrial systems; (c) acquatic systems; and (d) utilization and consumption of resources.

Provided as background for the Congress, the World Population Projection to 2150, prepared by the Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Secretariat, came to the following conclusions:

• According to the medium-fertility scenario, which assumes fertility will stabilize at replacement levels of slightly above two children per woman, the world population will grow from 5.7 billion persons in 1995 to 9.4 billion in 2050, 10.4 billion in 2100, and 10.8 billion by 2150, and will stabilize at slightly under 11 billion persons around 2200.
• Although the high and low fertility scenarios differ by just one child per couple, half a child above and half a child below replacement fertility levels, the size of the world population in 2150 would range from 3.6 billion persons to 27.0 billion.
   
• If fertility rates were to stay constant at 1990-95 levels for the next 155 years, the world in 2150 would need to support 296 billion persons.
   
• If all couples of the world had begun to bear children at the replacement-fertility level in 1995 (about 2 children per couple), the growth momentum of the current age structure would still result in a 67 percent increase in the world population, to 9.5 billion by 2150.
• The future will see a continued geographical shift in the distribution of the world population as the share living in the currently more developed regions will decrease from 19 to 10 per cent between 1995 and 2150.
• Declining fertility and mortality rates will lead to dramatic population ageing. In the medium-fertility scenario, the share aged 60 years or above will increase from 10 to 31 per cent of the world population between 1995 and 2150.
   
• The ultimate world population size of nearly 11 billion persons, according to the medium fertility scenario of these projections, is 0.7 billion persons fewer than previously published by the United Nations in 1992, mainly due to larger-than-expected declines in fertility in many countries.

The Sustainability Transition Study of the National Research Council (NRC) Board on Sustainable Development (BSD) aims to introduce an authoritative, broadly-based scientific perspective into the ongoing debate on sustainable development and to offer an agenda for renewed international scientific collaboration.  The final report is scheduled for external review in October and release by the end of the current year.

The BSD is combining a traditional NRC study will a new methodology for preparing, assessing, and disseminating its results. As part of its study inquiry, the Board has worked to:

• define the concepts of the sustainability transition, to identify what science can contribute in determining the energy, materials, and knowledge requirements for the transition, and the measures to report on progress;
• identify the challenges to the sustainability transition arising in relation to food and agriculture;
• explore the relative contribution of population growth, economic growth, technical change and other factors related to environmental stress;
• evaluate the progress since the Brundtland Report in seven sectors (food security; industrial ecology, species and ecosystems; urban challenges, water, population and human health, and energy), and to map these results against the various chapters in the Board's report concerned with challenges and opportunities to sustainability, indicators, research and development, and policy options.

The work to date was the subject of a symposium at the annual Spring meeting of the National Academy of Sciences.

Contact: Sherburne Abbott, NRC (phone: 202-334-3511; fax: 202-334-2530; e-mail: sabbott@nas.edu)

"Moving Innovation into Practice - Driving Change for a Sustainable Future" is the theme of the Symposium 2000 hosted by the Civil Engineering Research Foundation (CERF). This industry event, to be held in Washington, D.C., August 14-17, 2000, will feature a trade show showcasing the organizations that are transferring technology from laboratories and testing grounds into the global marketplace.

The Symposium builds upon a series of events and activities initiated by CERF. They include:

• The 1996 International Research Symposium, "Engineering and Construction for Sustainable Development in the 21st Century";
• The 1998 CERF/CIB Symposium in Sweden;
• The CERF Global Innovation Forum and Awards Dinner, featuring the CERF Charles Pankow Award for Innovation.

The Planning Committee for the CERF Symposium 2000 held in first meeting in July, 1998. The Committee is chaired by Dr. H. Gerard Schwartz, Jr., President, Sverdurp Civil, Inc.

Contact: Christine Dzingala, CERF, (phone: 202-842-0555; fax: 202-789-2943, e-mail: corporate@cerf.org)

The American Public Works Association has announced the launch of its new web site at www.apwa.net.  < http:// www.apwa.net >. The new site contains a resource database and links to information about sustainable development and livable communities - and how public works professionals are playing an increasingly important role in improving the environment and quality of life in their communities. The site also facilitates contact with members of APWA's Livable Communities Task Force and the Association staff.  Publications and other APWA documents are available for order on the site.

The Public Works Resource Center can be found at http://www.apwa.net/resourcecenter

Contact: Stephanie Osborn, APWA, (phone: 202-393-2792 or sosborne@apwa.net)

At the inception of the Population and SustainableDevelopment Program (PSD) in 1994, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) established an international advisory group and commissioned reviews of the relevant scientific literature to determine which aspects of the population-environment relationship had not received adequate scientific attention, yet were nonetheless critical to achieving environmental sustainability. Through this process the following topics, as they relate to population were targeted: biological diversity, protected areas, climate change, forests, water, marine issues, and natural resource consumption. These topics form the central focus of the PSD.

Specifically, the PSD Program:

• convenes and co-sponsors meetings and symposia for scientists and international, national, and local level policy and field experts, providing them the opportunity to present their work and make recommendations for additional scientific research;
• facilitates, guides, and coordinates scientists from around the world to implement the research recommendations; and
• publishes and disseminates the papers presented and recommendations made at experts meetings worldwide and ensures that government and non-governmental policy-makers, academics, scientists and field practitioners are well informed about the findings.

The PSD is sponsored by grants from the Turner, Summit, and MacArthur Foundations, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and AAAS in-kind support. The Program collaborates closely with organizations such as the IUCN, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), National Audubon Society, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and numerous locally-based non-governmental organizations worldwide.

Current and recent projects include:

• The International Research Cooperation Project (IRCP) is a three-year project which provides coordination, guidance and financial assistance to four scientists or teams of scientists from around the world to implement select research recommendations made at the April, 1995 experts meeting on population, biodiversity and protected areas. The IRCP, which began in the spring of 1996, will conclude with the publication of the research findings and policy recommendations. The IRCP is funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
• A Symposium on Population and WaterResources, highlighting field research case studies from around the world, convened at the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) General Assembly in Montreal in October, 1996. The PSD edited and published the proceedings of the meeting, jointly sponsored by the IUCN and the Population Reference Bureau.
• An international Experts Meeting on Human Population, Biodiversity and Protected Areas:Science and Policy Issues was held in April, 1995. This meeting attended by representatives from 14 countries, was chaired by Dr. Fred Sai, former chair of the Main Committee of the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). The meeting marked one of the first times that scientists, policy and field staff from the various disciplines met to make recommendations for scientific research on this topic. Proceedings from the meeting, which include overview papers, case studies from Kenya, India, Indonesia, Colombia, Ecuador and the United States, and specific recommendations were published in spring, 1996.
• A Symposium on Population, Water, Fisheries, and Coastal Areas was held in conjunction with the AAAS Consortium of Affiliates for International Programs (CAIP) in September, 1995. Papers presented at this meeting were published in fall, 1996

Contact: Victoria Dompka, AAAS (phone: 202-326-6495; fax: 202-289-4958; e-mail: vdompka@aaas.org)

In line with trends in corporate organizational structure, the EPA Environmental Accounting Project is changing its focus to better reflect and target business processes rather than individual functions.

The first target business process is materials management - the acquisition, scheduling, preparation, handling, storage, disposition, and recovery of the physical items consumed by a firm. EPA has identified this business process as a viable focus area both because of the environmental impact of materials management activities and because of the potential for significant financial benefit to firms if environmental accounting techniques are applied. EPA has identified this business process as a viable focus area both because of the environmental impact of materials management activities and because of the potential for significant financial benefit to firms if environmental accounting techniques are applied.

EPA has contracted to Battelle Memorial Institute to: (1) develop case studies of companies' efforts to use environmental cost management to drive materials management improvements and (2) create a guidebook for incorporating environmental costs and benefits into materials management decision-making. These documents will include information on evaluating the relevant environmental costs and benefits throughout the supply chain, integration of environmental cost information with materials planning and tracking systems, and methods for quantifying the economic value-added from "eco-efficiency" initiatives. The first case study, of Commonwealth Edison, is nearing completion and the second case study, at Andersen Corporation, is underway. EPA is in the process of identifying the third case study partner.

To further encourage the identification and implementation of pollution prevention opportunities in small-and medium-sized businesses, the Environmental Accounting Project has set out to incorporate environmental accounting concepts into commercially available accounting software packages typically used by small businesses. The Project thus established a partnership with Best!Ware and Peachtree, Inc., the makers of M.Y.O.B. Accounting and Peachtree Complete Accounting respectively, to integrate environmental accounting concepts fully into their software.

Contact: Susan McLaughlin, EPA (phone: 202-260-4164; fax: 202-260-1078; e-mail: mclaughlin@epamail.epa.gov)

The NSF/DOE Workshop, on Basic Research Needsto Achieve Sustainability, to be held in Tucson, Arizona, October 22-24, 1998, will focus on the "Carbon Problem" and will be structured around six areas: (1) Human and Ecological Impacts; (2) Carbon Cycle; (3) Human Impacts and Management of Carbon Sources; (4) Ecosystem Services; (5) Research and Decision Tools; and (6) Knowledge Dissemination and Knowledge Networks.

This workshop, like its predecessors, will bring together the necessary people representing the disciplines and viewpoints to encompass and define the basic research needs and suggest programmatic steps to be taken by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and other agencies and institutions in order to achieve meaningful progress.

Contact: Tamara Cannon, Columbia Earth Institute, (fax: 212-854-6304)

The World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) has taken on the project of bringing together into one statement its model code of ethics and its Code of Environmental Ethics. In view of the globalization of engineering, WFEO advocates a new code that could function as a global ethical code for engineers. At its General Assembly in 1997, WFEO representatives agreed that the task had to begin with writing a suitable definition for sustainable development. Furthermore, they recognized that ethical requirements laid on engineers would have to be enforceable and would have to be linked to appropriate means of enforcement.

It was agreed that a draft proposal that provided examples of different approaches to different situations would be prepared and developed through circulated drafts and consultation into a single code that could be acceded to by all engineers and national members.

Two WFEO committees are working on this project - the Committee on Engineering and Environment, and ComTech. After a first round of consultation, a draft will be presented and discussed by the WFEO Executive Council later in 1998

Contact: Jane Alspach, AAES, (phone: 202-296-2237, ext. 205; fax: 202-296-1151; e-mail: jalspach@aaes.org)

The General Services Administration (GSA) is inviting professional and trade associations to participate in a series of Planet GSA events by demonstrating environmentally conscious products, services, or projects. Events were held earlier this year in New York and Atlanta. Additional events are planned for Denver (September 24), Chicago (October 1) and Washington, D.C. (December 8).

The PlanetGSA Program has four major thrusts: Building Green, Buying Green, Saving Green, and Driving Green. GSA describes these thrusts as follows:

"Building Green"

"Our goal is to use sustainable principles in designing, constructing, modernizing, and disposing of our buildings. We choose products with recycled content, for example: insulation, cement and concrete, latex paint, carpets, shower dividers, and restroom partitions. We install water-saving devices and plumbing fixtures. We reduce the amount of construction waste we produce."

"Buying Green"

"To help other Federal agencies comply with environmental laws, regulations, and Executive Orders, we offer thousands of environmentally oriented products and services. Our Environmental Products Guide, alone, contains over 3,000 items, including remanufactured toner cartridges and items with recycled content, such as paper, paint, and carpet."
"GSA also manages a nationwide recycling program for 643,000 Federal employees in 1,000 Federal buildings. Last year, GSA collected and sold 41,000 tons of material, including paper, aluminum, cans, glass, and packing materials."

"Saving Green"

"When GSA conserves energy, we're "saving green."  We are one of the largest energy users - and one of the largest savers. Since 1985, we've reduced consumption by 17 percent in our Federal buildings - while adding computers and other energy-using equipment. We install energy-efficient lighting and equipment, add energy management control systems, and test new technologies."

"Driving Green"

"We've bought 18,500 alternative-fuel vehicles (AFVs) for the nationwide Federal fleet we manage.  AFVs can run on ethanol, methanol, natural gas, or electricity, thereby reducing reliance on foreign oil; they also pollute less than gasoline engines."
"To conserve fuel, we also promote teleworking, which can also reduce air pollution. Telework and technology go hand-in-hand. GSA's telework options include working at home, at telecommuting centers, and - with a computer and a cell phone - from wherever an employee happens to be."

Contact: Kimberly Henderson, GSA (phone: 202-501-9164; fax: 202-219-2072)

The WEPSD Board met in Atlanta to discuss options for WEPSD over the next several years. The Board concluded that an international assessment of what engineers have done in support of sustainable development is necessary. The assessment, comprising several "white papers," will form the basis for a meeting to be held either in New York or Paris with the leadership of the international engineering community and others interested in sustainable development. The "white papers" will be presented at the meeting in the fall of 1999 and will determine the future course of action for WEPSD. Georgia Tech will provide assistance in preparing the "white papers" and in planning the global conference.

The report, "Recycling Waste for Agriculture: A Plan for Progressive Action" prepared by the World Engineering Partnership for Sustainable Development (WEPSD) is now complete: for copies of the report contact Mr. Peter Matlon, UNDP, New York, New York, Phone: 212-906-6408; Fax: 212-906-6973. This completes the first phase of a three-phase program conducted in partnership with the World Bank, United Nations Development Program and the private sector.  The last issue of the "Engineers Forum for Sustainable Development," May, 1998, summarized the findings of the first phase. The Swedish government is planning to commit $500,000 of the $2,000,000 estimated cost of Phase 2.

Mike Sanio, the Executive Director for WEPSD, has accepted a new position with the Global Environment Facility Secretariat at the World Bank (GEF). The GEF is a global partnership between the World Bank, United Nations Development Program and the United Nations  Environment Program. The GEF provides financing, normally as a grant, for projects that benefit the global environment in four areas: biodiversity, climate change, ozone depletion and international waters. Mike will be focusing on more actively engaging the private sector in GEF activities. You may contact Mike at Global Environment Facility Secretariat, 1818 H Street, Room G6-019, Washington, D.C. 20433; Phone 202-458-0263; Fax: 202-522-3245; e-mail: msanio@worldbank.org

Contact: The address and phone number for the WEPSD will remain unchanged - WEPSD, 1420 King Street, Suite 322, Alexandria, VA 22314 (phone: 703-684-2893; fax: 703-836-4875; e-mail: msanio@igc.org)