Beijing is building up for the Olympics, spending $40 billion -- and pushing commercial architecture to its limits. National Geographic's May 2008 special-edition issue, "China, Inside the Dragon," features dozens of articles, most of them short, all of them about China.

Carbon emissions increased faster than electricity demand in 2007. As much as two-thirds of the greenhouse gas increase was due to increased demand for electricity, much of which was met by coal-fired power plants. Can we hope to make progress against greenhouse gases and continue to exempt ageing coal plants from the Clean Air Act of 1970?

Financial justification tools face three major challenges: Prospects don’t believe their output; facilities managers are not financially trained; and sales reps are not trusted to explain the numbers.

The upcoming issue of Time Magazine will be all about "How to win the war on global warming." It's interesting to note that this is the cover story in all worldwide editions of Time, except for Europe. That edition focuses on US-UK relations.

HelioVolt and Architectural Glass & Aluminum Co. today announced a partnership to incorporate solar energy systems directly into standardized curtain wall products, the exterior glass facades that dominate modern urban construction.

PG&E Chairman and CEO Peter Darbee called a handful of journalists into his boardroom and talked about being a successful utility in an era when it's is less about building centralized power plants and more about tapping renewable energy and balancing supply and demand.

We explore three commercial buildings without power bills, and contrast the many meanings of "zero" in energy and carbon. (podcast) (photos)