World's First LEED Platinum Data Center Opens in Germany

Germany recently joined the ranks of the green elite with the completion of Citigroup’s stunning new Data Center in Frankfurt. Designed by leading sustainable architecture and engineering firm Arup Associates, the 230,000-square-foot facility’s efficient use of energy and resource-conserving design have made it the first data center in the world to achieve LEED Platinum! That’s no small task considering the energy required to keep stacks of servers running smoothly in a climate-controlled environment. More     More

Facilities America to be Held Oct 29 - Nov 1, 2009 - Register Today!

AFE will present Facilities America, a comprehensive conference program on the latest in facilities management topics being held in conjunction with the Carolina Industrial & Facility Maintenance Show October 29 – November 1 in Greenville, SC. More

Why Nuclear Power Is Part of Our Future

America is falling behind in the race to develop green energy technologies. As John Doerr, a partner at the venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, recently told a U.S. Senate energy panel, "The United States led the world in the electronics revolution, and we led in biotechnology and the Internet. But we are letting the energy technology revolution speed by us." MoreMore

NASA Goes Green with New Sustainability Base

One of NASA's most ambitious new projects isn't in space, but on the ground. The agency is planning to build its most environmentally-friendly building at its Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. The structure, to be called Sustainability Base, will likely be the "greenest" building in the federal government, said Steve Zornetzer, Associate Center Director at NASA Ames. More

Certified Plant Engineer (CPE) Online and Classroom Review Classes Now Scheduled!

Online CPE Review: Join instructor Jim Taylor of Machinery Management Solutions for an extended review of the CPE Review Pack. This online class is double the instruction time of the traditional week-long review to allow working professionals to dedicate the appropriate time to prepare. Classes will be held from 12-2 EST. Traditional Classroom Review: To be held Sept. 19, Sept. 26, Oct. 3 and Oct. 10, 2009 in Eastern Massachusetts. For the schedule, pricing and registration, please click here. or contact Carol Lawrence at (571) 203-7238 or CLawrence@AFE.org.More

Less May Be More for Wind Turbines

One of the first R&D grants to a renewable-energy developer from the economic-stimulus funds approved by Congress this spring could have a dramatic impact on the design of wind turbines. The $16 million loan guarantee offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to Berkeley, CA-based Nordic Windpower will accelerate commercialization of the company's Swedish-designed, two-bladed wind turbines, marking the first utility-scale alternative to the industry's dominant three-bladed design in over a decade. MoreMore

New LEED Reporting Requirements Benefit Building Owners, Contractors and Managers Say

U.S. Green Building Council's LEED 3.0 rating system, which launched earlier this summer, focuses more on energy usage than previous versions did -- and a new requirement is the first to focus on facility maintenance during the life span of the building. More

Vegas CityCenter Project Bets Big on Bringing Green to the Strip

When Al Gore, T. Boone Pickens, Steve Chu, Van Jones and Wesley Clark hit town for the National Clean Energy Summit, Las Vegas CityCenter developers hope to showcase their sweeping 18-million-square-foot, $8.5 billion project as the greenest thing on the Strip since felt. More