Empire State (RE)Building

There’s never a dull moment at the W&H Properties-owned Empire State Building, which has been undergoing perhaps the largest upgrade program in Manhattan—the $500 million top-to-bottom, inside-and-out renovation of the landmark space. More

Better Wind Turbines

ExRo Technologies, a startup based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has developed a new kind of generator that's well suited to harvesting energy from wind. It could lower the cost of wind turbines while increasing their power output by 50 percent. The new generator runs efficiently over a wider range of conditions than conventional generators do. When the shaft running through an ordinary generator is turning at the optimal rate, more than 90 percent of its energy can be converted into electricity. More

Report: Green Building Could Triple in Five Years

A new study from McGraw-Hill Construction says the potential for continued growth in the green building market is huge and projects a possible tripling in the value of eco-friendly construction starts to reach as much as $140 billion. More

Video Surveillance is Becoming a Sought-after Technology to Provide Security

The issue of security in industrial buildings was often a secondary issue—on the radar screen, but not the front burner. Safety was always paramount and generally addressed through instrumentation, fail-safe design, documented procedures, training and good management. Today, the world is very different, and security has become the new, high-priority issue. Protecting the operating integrity of a plant, a system, and personnel is now a strategic imperative. More

Green Building Council Upgrades Commercial Certification Program

Before its seventh annual international conference, the U.S. Green Building Council announced that its upgraded certification program for commercial building known as LEED 2009 has passed member balloting and will take effect next year. More

More Construction Executives Count on Mobile Applications

From time and attendance tracking, to recovering stolen assets, today’s construction professionals are placing great demand on their mobile applications. The good news is network providers are helping provide the infrastructure to accommodate these demands and more, with more robust and scalable networks. More

Economic Crisis Dims Prospects for Funding Clean Energy

President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to promote clean and renewable energy, reiterating this week that his "presidency will mark a new chapter in America's leadership on climate change." But the nation's power companies suddenly are struggling to turn that promise into reality. More