Industry News

The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International has announced the release of Where America Goes to Work: The Contribution of Office Building Operations to the Economy, 2012, which details the impact of commercial office space on the national and local economies. The report shows that the short- and long-term expenditures that sustain office building operations—management, maintenance, repairs, building services and utilities—generate significant, continuous and growing expenditures that support local businesses, create job demand and contribute significantly to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).

Check out the differences when it comes to ROI, insulating performance, and the installation process to see which option will work best for your building and its occupants.

Bedbugs: 70% commercial, 30% residential.

Scientists have concluded that the larger the wind turbine, the greener the electricity it produces. Their report appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology.  This study could solidify the trend toward construction of larger wind turbines.

'Green grabbing' - the rapidly-growing appropriation of land and resources in the name of 'green ' biofuels, carbon offsetting schemes, conservation efforts and eco-tourism initiatives – is forcing people from their homelands and increasing poverty, new research has found.

The 2012 ASHRAE Handbook – HVAC Systems and Equipment discusses systems and the equipment that comprises them, including features and differences. It is designed to help system designers and building operators select and use equipment. It contains 52 chapters. 

The Energy Department has announced more than $7 million for three innovative lighting projects at companies in California, Michigan and North Carolina that aim to lower the cost of manufacturing high-efficiency solid-state lighting (SSL) technologies like light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). 

The cost of managing a building can be measured by the cost per worker, per square foot. Reducing that cost, however, requires a more in-depth building analysis. Integrating a thermal imaging-based people counting system can evaluate an office building’s utilization, for example, with a layered approach. Rather than apply sweeping changes to an entire building, the system intricately studies specific areas.

The Energy Department has announced winners for the “Apps for Energy” competition, with app developers submitting more than 50 innovative mobile and web applications that will help utility consumers save money by making the most of their “Green Button” electricity usage data. 

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) concludes that up to about 22% of current U.S. energy consumption could be replaced by what experts are calling "intelligent efficiency."