Electric vehicle owners and enthusiasts can now utilize GreenCharge on their iOS devices.  GreenChagre allows users to view battery data in real time and calculate and share the monetary benefits gleaned from electric vehicle usage.  GreenCharge launches today on all applicable iOS platforms.

As the construction industry recovers from the Great Recession, and more builders resume operations, many will discover a changed world.

In the facility manager’s ideal world, every building would be built like a fortress to withstand any emergency.  In reality, construction costs can be significant and engineers “build to code.”   Meeting minimal safety codes can result in situations that provide minimum comfort and protection when disaster strikes.

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, are developing a low-cost smart paint that can detect faults at the microscopic level in structures such as wind turbines, mines, and bridges before any damage occur.

Survey results from Staples Advantage have been released regarding facility managers – more than 70% of today’s office workers recognize the role of facility managers in the workplace is changing and becoming increasingly strategic to the business.

The EPA has announced the winner of the 2011 Energy Star National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings.   The University of Central Florida has emerged victorious in a contest featuring 245 buildings from across the country, fighting to reduce costs, protect health and the environment, and save energy.

The AIA has released growth forecasts for 2011-2012, with predicting a decline in nonresidential construction spending for 2011 with improvement expected in 2012.  With the costs of key building materials increasing, the design and construction industry has yet to see a recovery.

Most of the nation – from seaside suburbs to our national parks - has experienced health-threatening "bad air" days this year due to smog pollution, according to a new analysis of government air pollution data by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, has won the Hydrogen Education Foundation’s 2011 Hydrogen Student Design Contest for the fifth time in the six-year history of the contest.  The contest is designed to encourage innovation in the hydrogen and fuel cell industry and is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

ASHRAE has released updated guidance for best practices, planning, and implementation of energy auditing with the second edition of “Procedures for Commercial Building Energy Audits”.