Taiwan’s Solar Stadium is 100 Percent Powered by the Sun
from Inhabitat
Taiwan recently finished construction on an incredible solar-powered stadium that will generate 100 percent of its electricity from photovoltaic technology. Designed by Toyo Ito, the dragon-shaped 50,000 seat arena is clad in 8,844 solar panels that illuminate the track and field with 3,300 lux. The project will officially open later this year to welcome the 2009 World Games. More

Pentagon Says Cutting Energy Use is Big Priority
from Reuters
The U.S. Defense Department, the nation's single largest consumer of energy, is putting increased focus on cutting its energy consumption and ensuring that future weapons are more energy efficient, the Pentagon's new chief weapons buyer said. More

The Top Seven Management Myths in Today's Workplace
from New York Daily News
Nowadays, the workplace is more and more high pressure and the workforce is more and more high maintenance. Strong highly-engaged leadership is clearly the order of the day. Yet, the pendulum of management thinking, books and training is still swinging in the wrong direction—toward weak hands-off leadership in which managers are supposed to soft-pedal their authority. Why? More

Dragonfly Skyscraper Farm Will Give Livestock the Best Views of Manhattan
from Gizmodo
The pigs are advancing so quickly in their world domination plans that now they are opening headquarters in New York City. This is the Dragonfly Vertical Farm, a skyscraper designed for animals and agricultural production. The farm skyscraper is based on the shape of a dragonfly's wings. It extends 132 floors and 600 meters up in the air, totaling an area of 360,000 square meters. More

A go-to guide for FM products and services both local and worldwide! If you have not yet received your 2009 FM Resource Guide—contact kim.coffey@ifma.org
from Technology Review
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) developed in Germany has the potential to produce the same quality of white light as incandescent bulbs but with power efficiencies considerably better than even fluorescent lighting. More

Wales Becomes First in U.K. to Set a National Green Building Standard
from Greener Buildings
Strict thresholds for reduction of carbon emissions, energy efficiency, decreased water consumption and use of more sustainable materials in new buildings take effect Sept. 1, in Wales, whose Assembly Government adopted the first national green building standard in the U.K. More

Concentration Solar Power Module Integrates Into Side and Roof of Buildings
from Science Daily
A concentration solar power module that produces heat, cold and electricity and that can be integrated to façades or building roofs constitutes the new patent obtained by the University of Lleida in Spain. More

Intelligent Workplace Lab Designs Offices of Future
from VOA News
Buildings account for 40 percent of the world's energy use and are the largest source of climate-changing emissions. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh are addressing these problems in a roof-top laboratory called the Intelligent Workplace. More

LEED®'s Latest Overhaul: Itself
from BusinessWeek
Since its launch in 1998, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program has become widely accepted as the standard measure of sustainability for buildings. To date, almost 21,000 projects, representing more than 5 billion square feet, have registered their intent to seek certification under the system. Another sign of the program's success is the long list of municipalities, state governments and federal agencies that have adopted LEED, incorporating it into construction guidelines, legislation and requirements for incentive programs. More

Flexible Work Arrangements: A Smart Strategy in Troubled Times
from Forbes
Eighty percent of the 5.1 million people who have lost their jobs in this recession are men. Many working wives and mothers are now the sole breadwinner. Since women shoulder a disproportionate load of family responsibility and earn 20 percent less than men, this adds up to a great deal of pressure. Unfortunately, precisely when the need for flexible work arrangements is going through the roof, it's becoming harder and harder to take it. More