Empire State Building Plans Environmental Retrofit
from The New York Times
Once the world’s tallest building, the Empire State Building is striving for another milestone: It is going green. Owners of the New York City landmark announced that they will be beginning a renovation this summer expected to reduce the skyscraper’s energy use by 38 percent a year by 2013, at an annual savings of US$4.4 million. The retrofit project will add US$20 million to the US$500 million building makeover already under way that aims to attract larger corporate occupants at higher rents. More

In Big Green Push, Australia Thinks Too Small on Solar
from Reuters
At first glance, a new day seems to be dawning for the overshadowed solar sector in Australia, the world's sunniest continent. The government is pushing through a carbon trading scheme that will penalize big greenhouse gas emitters; a major piece of renewables legislation is due for approval within months, setting a target of 20 percent green energy by 2020. More

Can Twitter Really Help Your Business?
from Fox Business
You've probably heard of Twitter, even if you aren't sure what it is. Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service—think public instant messenger stream. From your mobile device or computer you send updates called tweets, which are text posts of up to 140 characters. Your tweets can be read by others, and you can sign up to follow the messages others write so that you can get short, quick updates from them. More

Atlanta Airport Grooving to Clean Music
from CNN
As part of an initiative to keep the airport clean and get people excited about the airport's new shops and dining options, officials there bought the rights to three popular R & B classics: "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches and Herb, "Bustin' Loose" by Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers and "Fantastic Voyage" by Lakeside. With rights secured, Doug Strachan, creative innovations manager for the City of Atlanta Department of Aviation, rewrote the lyrics and invited the original artists to record the revamped songs. More

Green Buildings Earn Higher Rents, Study Finds
from GreenerBuildings
A clear link between buildings boasting a high ENERGY STAR® rating and those commanding high rental premiums has been revealed by a new study of U.S. commercial properties. The study, commissioned by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and carried out by researchers from Maastricht University and the University of California, Berkeley, is thought to be the first to confirm the case for landlords making their properties more energy efficient. More

Study Finds Workplace Web Surfing Increases Productivity
from The Tech Herald
An Australian study has found that workers who engage in Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing (WILB) are more productive than their non-surfing colleagues. The report, compiled by the University of Melbourne's Department of Management and Marketing, found that workers who "surf the Internet for fun at work—within a reasonable limit of less than 20 percent of their total time in the office—are more productive by about 9 percent." More

U.K.: Blade Skyscraper Ready for Launch
from BBC
A £32m skyscraper, the tallest in Reading, is to open later this month. Standing at 420ft (128m), the Blade towers over the town centre, replacing the 12-story Thames Tower as the focal point of the town. Lead developer PMB Holdings believe London businesses can more than halve their business costs by relocating to the 'iconic' building. The Blade will open for business at the end of April and developers are "quietly confident" of its success. More

World's Fastest Elevators for China's Tallest Skyscraper
from Construction & Maintenance
German elevator manufacturer ThyssenKrupp has installed the world's fastest double-deck systems in the 492 meter Shanghai World Financial Center in China. After three years of planning, production and installation, ThyssenKrupp Elevator has created a particularly fast method of passenger transportation in the Shanghai World Financial Center, the tallest building in China and currently the third-highest building in the world. The four double-deck elevators each comprise two cabs attached one on top of the other, each with a capacity of 2,000 kilos, and serve a sky lobby at a height of 240 meters. Visitors can now get there at record speed: traveling at a top speed of ten meters per second (36 km/h), the systems in the new Shanghai World Financial Center are the fastest double-deck elevators in the world. More

LED Technology Leads to Large Reduction in Energy Used
from Realcomm
LED technology has been used in various applications in electronic devices, but its use in commercial lighting is much more recent. The idea of using LEDs in commercial lighting applications has historically been limited for a number of reasons—such as light color, dimming ability and cost. Now the technology has begun to approach mainstream thinking when it comes to commercial lighting applications. There are many reasons why this technology makes so much sense for commercial lighting. This article includes the most compelling. More

Practical Gifts Show Workplace Appreciation in a Tight Economy
from Fox Business
Today's troublesome economy might make it difficult to justify flowers or company-paid lunches—traditional ways to honor support staff on Administrative Professionals Day. This April 22, Sodexo encourages employers to think about an Esteem Pass incentive gift card as a more tangible and practical way to reward hard work and loyalty. More