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As part of the Gulf Coast Tree Assessment (GCTA) Project, ISA recruited arborists and donated resources to volunteers traveling to Mississippi and Louisiana. Volunteers worked in teams assessing storm damaged trees as well as developing treatment and rebuilding plans.

GCTA volunteers looked for trees that could be saved, offered suggestions to bring those trees back to full health, and helped develop replacement plans for those trees that were lost. The project was organized through a collaborative effort involving several government agencies as well as community and non-profit organizations. As part of the GCTA, ISA helped to:

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ISA has also become part of the Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition (SUFC) which is a national coalition to advance a unified urban forest agenda for our nation?EUR??,,????'?????<

National Lighting Bureau

Skilled employees are one of the most important components of a successful lighting business. Photo by Erik Skindrud

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The most significant occurrence was, arguable, the Bureau?EUR??,,????'?????<

The Bureau today is sponsored by professional societies, trade associations, manufacturers, agencies of the federal government, utilities, and other, all working to ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Landscape lighting becomes High-Benefit Lighting when it is designed to accomplish everything it can. Yes, it can beautify. It can also direct people where to walk. It can also provide safety and security, by eliminating unwanted shadows and otherwise providing the visibility that those up to no good don?EUR??,,????'?????<

For 2007, the Bureau will keep on keeping on, with the goal of continually trying to educate those with a need to know about the value of High-Benefit Lighting and how quickly it can pay for itself when those who design it know what they are doing. Do you? If so go to www.nlb.org and let others know about your capabilities.

Portland Cement Association

Although many regional markets throughout the U.S. experienced strong cement consumption growth earlier this year, a new forecast from the Economic Research department at Portland Cement Association (PCA) expects the near-term future to be quite different.

Growth in cement consumption is expected to be in par with estimates for planned capacity expansions and paralleling usage, most expansions and plant updates will occur in China.

The Fertilizer Institute (TFI)

Increase In Global Demand
Increased global demand for fertilizer has played a large part in recent years in placing upward pressure on fertilizer prices. World fertilizer demand increased by 13 percent or nearly 20 million nutrient tons from FY00/01 to FY04/05. This increase in demand is nearly equivalent to total nutrient use in the United States, which stood at 22.1 million nutrient tons during FY04/05. Over this four-year period, world nitrogen demand grew by 10 percent, phosphate demand grew by 14 percent and potash demand grew by nearly 23 percent.

Supply Factors
Supply factors have also played a significant role in driving up fertilizer prices, particularly for nitrogen. Before we address that issue, we need to take a quick look at the major fertilizer nutrients and their sources of supply. While fertilizer materials can contain one, two, or all three of the macronutrients nitrogen, phosphate and potash, the sources of these nutrients vary and, thus have differing impacts on their respective prices.

Nitrogen
Anhydrous ammonia is the source of nearly all the nitrogen (N) fertilizer produced in the world. Ammonia is produced by combining N with hydrogen (H). The N is obtained from the atmosphere, while the H is obtained from natural gas. The cost of natural gas accounts for 70-90 percent of the production cost of ammonia. Thus, when U.S. natural gas prices increased significantly beginning in the year 2000, the cost of domestically produces ammonia also rose significantly. Average U.S. ammonia production costs rose by a whopping 172 percent from 1999 to 2005.

While fertilizer producers can try to pass along these cost increases, the commodity nature of the business and competition from producers in N exporting countries with access to lower cost natural gas, limits this option. As a result, a rise in U.S. natural gas prices causes producer margins to shrink. Eventually, margins turn negative as gas prices continue to increase. Consequently, companies are forced to reduce production, temporarily idle, or even permanently close plants depending on the specific economic situation they face.

Phosphate
Phosphate production begins with the mining of phosphate rock. The United States is the world?EUR??,,????'?????<

Potash
Potash production is based on the mining of potash ore and is the most concentrated of the nutrients. As a resource dependent nutrient, potash is produced in only 12 countries. Over 77 percent of the potash produced worldwide is imported by both producing and non-producing countries to meet their needs. While other countries impact the potash market, potash market fundamentals begin in North America. Canada is the world?EUR??,,????'?????<

U.S. Green Building Council

Landscape contractors create the green spaces that turn a dry hillside into an inviting place to live. Updated Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards from the U.S. Green Building Council address landscapes as well as home structures. Photo by Erik Skindrud

The key to the evolution of green building is recognizing that buildings are more than physical structures. With LEED for Homes and LEED for Neighborhood Development, USGBC will address buildings within the larger context of landscapes and communities. The recognition that buildings are inextricable from our infrastructure is also the key to our efforts on global climate change. Among other programs, USGBC is engaging the World Green Building Council as a partner in Clinton Climate Initiative to support green building programs in the 40 largest cities in the world, and is working with the City of Seattle, the City of Grand Rapids, and Enterprise Community Partners on the creation of a ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Our new educational programs reflect the growing diversity of the green building industry. The Education Providers Program will expand the menu of available courses for professionals in all disciplines, and we?EUR??,,????'?????<