Target, Gap, and Saks Fifth Avenue are among 26 major retailers that have reached a settlement under California’s Proposition 65 to eliminate all but trace amounts of cadmium from jewelry and other accessories, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday. The settlement comes months before the state’s new limit on the amount of of the metal in consumer products goes into effect. Last year, the Center for Environmental Health filed notices under Proposition 65, and a lawsuit, after reports revealed that some commonly sold bracelets and pendants contained more than 90 percent cadmium. The state soon followed with a .03 percent limit to begin in 2012.
The International Standards Organization and the Global Reporting Initiative signed a memorandum of understanding this week to increase cooperation, the two organizations announced. The agreement is aimed at boosting information sharing, leading to new partnerships between the two groups on sustainable development initiatives such as the Rio+20 conference in Brazil in 2012.
The British Fenestration Ratings Council, the main regulator of energy efficient windows in the U.K., will now place its energy efficiency rating label on doors, the council announced. Under the Door Energy Ratings scheme, external pedestrian, French, sliding, and glazed doors will now receive a grade between ‘A’ and ‘G,’ the council said.
The home with the country’s highest LEED score is not in solar-happy California, or even a state with generous subsidies, but rather sits on a ranch in Sarasota, Fla., Earth Techling reported. The Green Building Council awarded the home, built by the state’s first governor-appointed green building commissioner, a score of 118 (LEED platinum status requires a score of 95).
More than five million pounds of methyl bromide, a pesticide on California’s Proposition 65 list “known to cause reproductive harm,” are still in use in the state’s berry-growing counties, according to a new analysis, California Watch reported. The fumigant was to be completely phased out by 2005 under a global pact to restore the thinning ozone layer, but the amount in use in 2009, the last year data was available, was just 50 percent less than in 2000, the new study found.
Vetter, an international company specializing in the aseptic filling of syringes, cartridges and vials, announced that it has earned ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management system in all of its European facilities. The certification was issued by the auditor IQNet following inspections.
Building owners and designers using insulated precast concrete foundation panels by Superior Walls can now earn up to three additional points towards the National Green Building Certification, run by the National Association of Home Builders Research Center. Builders would have to follow practice #903.2.2, “capillary break is added on footing,” when foundation walls are set on a minimum of four-inch thick gravel beds with appropriate foundation drainage.