If You Need to Work Better, Maybe Try Working Less
from The Wall Street Journal
Amid layoffs and burgeoning workloads, it seems, working any time, all the time, has become a habit. A survey of 605 U.S. workers last spring by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 70 percent of employees work beyond scheduled time and on weekends; more than half blame "self-imposed pressure." Now, new research suggests some have reached the point where a paradoxical truth applies: To get more done, we need to stop working so much. More

Beijing in Pledge to Spur Energy Efficiency
from the Financial Times
China pledged to substantially improve the energy efficiency of its factories, homes and power plants in a bid to make headway in the stalled United Nations climate change talks. More

Bio-fuel Growing Eco Pods Rejuvenate Stalled Boston Project
from Inhabitat
Halted in November 2008, mid-construction, the Filene development in downtown Boston is currently barely even a shell of a building. The bones of the building are up, but sub street level a giant hole leaves a gouge in the city’s plan. Undaunted, Höweler + Yoon Architecture and Squared Design Lab teamed up to design a vertical tower of prefabricated “eco pods” filled with bio-fuel producing algae for the space. The new tower would act as a center to test new algae species and different growing methods. More

Poll Shows Most Americans Lacking Direction from Their Employers for the H1N1 Flu Season
from Infection Control Today
Most workers have not had any direction from their employers about the upcoming flu season, according to a national survey released by Mansfield Communications Inc. In the survey of a national representative sample, 69 percent of respondents say they have received no communication about policies in the workplace pertaining to H1N1—not even information related to handwashing or sick leave. More

We look forward to seeing you in Orlando at IFMA's World Workplace 2009
from Interiors & Sources
TCF Bank Stadium has been certified LEED-NC Silver as part of the U.S. Green Building Council’s rating system. It’s the first football stadium to earn the green designation. Designed by Populous, the 50,805-seat stadium was developed on a brownfield site atop a former rail yard by Hines for the University of Minnesota. More

Utilities' Cost of Adding Energy Efficiency Continues to Drop
from the Environmental Leader
Increasing total energy capacity by adding energy efficiency measures continues to be cheaper than adding new sources of electricity, such as conventional coal-fired plants. A new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy shows the benefits of utility costs of saved energy, or the act of using utility ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs to increase efficiency, and thus effectively add more electrical capacity to the system. More

Iconic Mexican Skyscraper to House Hotel
from the Latin American Herald Tribune
Mexico City’s iconic skyscraper, Torre Latinoamericana, built in the mid-20th century, will undergo a complete makeover to house a hotel by the year 2010 that will occupy 20 of its 44 stories, sources close to the project told Efe. More

Greening America's Schools
from GreenerBuildings
The U.S. Green Building Council has kicked off the third year of its highly successful National Green Schools Campaign with the launch of the Coalition for Green Schools, the latest move in the effort to make U.S. campuses more energy effiicient and healthier. More

GE Grabs Gearless Wind Turbines
from Technology Review
With a new purchase, GE is betting on an early-stage turbine technology that could make offshore wind farms cheaper to maintain. The acquisition of ScanWind, based in Trondheim, Norway, has also secured GE a foothold in the growing offshore wind energy market. More

Canada's Tallest Office Tower Gets a US$100-million Facelift
from the National Post
Carrera marble is so 1975. The Italian white marble that clads Canada's tallest office tower, First Canadian Place, is coming down next year, all 45,000 slabs of it, the owners announced. In its place, workers will install 7,800 panels of white glass. More