Workplace Health May be Declining -- What to Do
CNN
Amid the highest unemployment rate in recent decades and massive job losses around the country, most workers feel happy to at least be employed. What they aren't feeling, however, is healthy.More

New Tower for MoMA Gets Go-ahead
BBC
An 82-story extension to New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has been approved by the city council. The extension, to the west of the current museum building, will include three floors of new gallery space, hotel rooms and luxury apartments. Paris-based architect Jean Nouvel, whose previous work includes the Arab World Institute in Paris, will design the soaring steel and glass tower.More

How to Keep Track of Climate Change
The Christian Science Monitor
It's a vexing problem—how to keep the public and policymakers informed and engaged on what many scientists say is the primary long-term challenge to humanity's well-being: global warming.More

Plans to Rebuild Damaged CCTV Building Under Way
The Associated Press
The chief architect for the landmark new headquarters for China's powerful state broadcaster said the part of the complex that burned in a massive fire earlier this year can be repaired and does not need to be torn down. Architect Ole Scheeren said that initial inspections show that the high-rise's steel structure largely withstood the fire and that preparations were underway to repair the China Central Television building.More

Hidden Costs of Energy Production and Use
Science Daily
A new report from the National Research Council examines and, when possible, estimates hidden costs of energy production and use—such as the damage air pollution imposes on human health—that are not reflected in market prices of coal, oil, other energy sources, or the electricity and gasoline produced from them.More

House of Music: Denmark's Solar Powered Symphony Hall
Inhabitat
Multi-functional centers are great—same complex, different uses, minimal infrastructure. The House of Music in Aalborg, Denmark, is just such a place, combining public and performance space with cultural and education functionality. Designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au this multifunctional center is a marvel of solar passive design and features a south-facing façade covered with thin-film photovoltaics that help to reduce its energy use. With a concert hall, auditoriums, public courtyards and sustainable design features, Denmark has a wonderful addition to its cultural scene.More

Testing Cheap Wind Power
Technology Review
Federal stimulus funds awarded to a wind-energy research consortium led by Illinois Institute of Technology will accelerate testing of small wind turbines that could point the way toward more efficient utility-scale machines. The 8-kilowatt turbines, the product of Cedar Park, Texas-based Viryd Technologies, use a mechanical approach—continuously variable transmission technology—to convert fluctuating wind speeds into the precise stream of alternating current required by power grids. If it can replace the pricey power electronics that regulate power in most turbines today, the same technology could cut the cost of wind-power generation at any scale.More

Woods Stacks Up for Skyscraper
Architecture & Design
Constructed entirely in timber, a nine-story high-rise in Hackney, England, combines both private and affordable housing in 29 apartments. The building, called Stadthaus, was awarded the Judges' Special Award at the British Construction Industry Awards 2009 for pushing design boundaries in the use of structural timber. The structure uses a system of panels formed using timber strips glued together into a solid mass with minimal movement.More

Ten Tips to Help Employees Maximize Their Workplace Benefits in Today's Economy
Reuters
The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) offers employees and employers tips for leveraging their employee benefits in one of the worst economic environments since the Great Depression. More

Recession Slows Electricity Demand and Renewable Energy Growth, NERC Finds
The New York Times
The recession and increased energy conservation have slammed the brakes on the growth of electricity use in North America over the past year, according to a new forecast by the grid's reliability overseer. More