Before you know it, spring will be here, and the best way to get a jump on spring landscape maintenance is to start planning now. Check out these tips for your facility or building on two important landscape maintenance components: mulching and pruning.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), coordinator of the U.S. standards and conformity assessment system, is supporting an interoperable smart grid for the United States. Ranking among the Obama Administration's top priorities for the nation, the smart grid is a planned nationwide network that integrates information and communication technologies, enabling two-way flows of energy and communications to deliver electricity efficiently, reliably, and securely.

Thirty-six people are being recognized by ASHRAE for their contributions to the Society and the building industry at the Society’s 2012 Winter Conference held Jan. 21-25.

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the first step toward manufacturing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) in the United States.  Through the draft Funding Opportunity Announcement announced today, the Department will establish cost-shared agreements with private industry to support the design and licensing of SMRs.

 The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today released its 2011 list of top 10 states for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita, based on the U.S. 2010 Census information. The District of Columbia leads the nation, with more than 31 square feet of LEED-certified space per person in 2011, with Colorado being the leading state, with 2.74 square feet per person in 2011.

Earth Advantage Institute has announced its annual prediction of 10 green building trends to watch for 2012.  Utilizing information and discussion with policymakers, builders, developers, architects, real estate brokers, appraisers, lenders, and homeowners these predictions are an interesting top level view of a continually developing field.  While many of these trends deal with homeowners, facility managers and building owners may be able to pull relevant takeaways from shifts in the green game.

The GO Group is converting all or part of their airport shuttle fleets to alternative fuel.  Serving San Fransciso International, Seattle-Tacoma International, Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Puerto Rico's Luis Munoz Marin International, these fleets are moving to compressed natural gas (CNG) or propane.

Comprehensive greenhouse gas data reported directly from large facilities across the United States is now available through the EPA’s GHG Reporting Program.  The data available from 2010 features information from facilities in nine industry groups, with over 6,700 facilities included.