Employees in the office used to ponder this question about corporate technology not easily available to consumers. Today the question, usually asked from home or a cafe, is: "Why can't I do this at work?" Innovative, user-friendly offerings—Skype, Facebook, Twitter, mash-ups, YouTube, wikis, and the like—take root and thrive as consumer offerings. Corporate IT departments meanwhile often seem oblivious to their potential usefulness, even as workers wonder at their absence. But increasingly such technologies are being used for business. More
First Smart Building for Bahrain Under Construction
from Gulf Daily News
A first-of-its-kind project in Bahrain, where occupants can control various systems in their apartment through the Internet was one of many attractions at the International Property Exhibition (Bipex2008). Bahrain's MJM Investment Company showcased its state-of the-art Blue Marine Tower, which is equipped with the Smart Building Solution. More
EU Pushes for Ban on Smoking at Workplace
from BusinessWeek
EU officials said they are in talks with employers and trade unions over plans to impose a blanket Europe-wide ban on smoking in the work place, from the factory floor to restaurants and pubs. EU spokeswoman Chantal Hughes says the European Commission would like to see a ban on smoking in all workplaces "for both health and safety reasons." More
Germany Leads Europe's Wind and Solar Energy Revolution
from Cafebabel
Europe leads the world in production of wind power, and Germany leads Europe. The 20,000 windmills that line the landscape generate 8 percent of Germany’s electricity, power 10 million German homes and save an estimated 42 million tons of carbon dioxide. The northern state of Schleswig-Holstein’s 2,600 wind turbines fill one third of its electricity needs by utilising just 1 percent of its land mass. Over 84,000 people nationwide have found employment within the wind industry. Germany plans to build an additional 30 offshore wind farms, with some 2, 000 windmills in the North and Baltic Seas. More
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Product Showcase: LogiSon Acoustic Network
 More than 70 percent of employees say they would be more productive if their workplace was quieter. The LogiSon Acoustic Network increases speech privacy and reduces disruptions by introducing a masking sound that makes conversations and noises more difficult, or impossible, to hear. It’s a cost-effective method of improving overall acoustic comfort. More info
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Workplace Rewards Kept Simple
from The Christian Science Monitor
When nearly 100 independent insurance brokers for American International Group (AIG) gathered at a posh resort in California last month as a reward for stellar performance, probably no one expected the event to make national headlines. But because the retreat came on the heels of a federal bailout for the company, the US$440,000 bill—including US$23,000 for massages and pedicures—sparked public outrage. AIG cancelled a second retreat. The ill-timed celebration raises a question for other companies: What rewards are appropriate or possible during an economic downturn? More
Sick Building Syndrome: Healing Health Facilities
from BusinessWeek
When we think of Sick Building Syndrome, the first context that comes to mind for most of us as the cause of the coughing, discomfort, and irritation usually associated with it is a hermetically sealed, over-air-conditioned high-rise office building. The last place you would expect to encounter it is in a building meant for healing. Yet hospital occupants, patients and staff included, are just as likely to fall victim to building-related illness as office workers. In fact, a recent study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health shows that, outside of the manufacturing sector, work-related asthma rates are higher among those employed in the health care industry than in any other group of workers. More
MIT Energy Storage Discovery Could Lead to ‘Unlimited’ Solar Power
from CleanTechnica.com
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered a new way of storing energy from sunlight that could lead to ‘unlimited’ solar power. The process, loosely based on plant photosynthesis, uses solar energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. When needed, the gases can then be re-combined in a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity whether the sun is shining or not. More
Five Projects in U.S., Canada Strike LEED® Gold
from GreenerBuildings
The Massachusetts Maritime Academy's Cadet Residence Hall, a vast mixed-use project on a former Canadian Forces Base, a key facility in a Savannah business park, a Rockwell Collins building and a clubhouse and pro shop at a Vail resort are among the projects to attain LEED Gold status recently. More
Ad or Art? Chanel’s 2.55 vs. Zoning’s C5-3
from The New York Times
Vinyl billboard blankets have been draped over all kinds of buildings, but they’re not usually found obscuring the glittering luxury outlets along East 57th Street in New York. Chanel, however, has done that very thing: hanging a big piece of vinyl over its building at No. 15, promoting Mobile Art, an exhibition by the architect Zaha Hadid that opens in a temporary pavilion in Central Park. So this billboard is, in effect, an advertisement for an advertisement. And it is illegal, the Buildings Department said, after City Room brought the sign to the agency’s attention. More
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Can Green Industry Save the Economy
from The Washington Independent
Can targeted federal investments in green energies and technologies create jobs and pull the United States out of its current economic funk? That’s the message coming from a growing number of economists and Washington policymakers, who are urging Congress to make green investments a focus of legislation—expected to be debated next month—that would inject hundreds of billions of dollars into the flailing economy. Not only would such investments, as part of of a new stimulus package, boost jobs and drive development in the short-term, these experts say, but they would go a long way to make the United States more competitive in the decades to come. More
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AgilQuest Corporation
 Most office systems end with hoteling, but that’s just where we get started. We’ll help you make your entire workplace as agile as your workforce. More |
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Employees in the office used to ponder this question about corporate technology not easily available to consumers. Today the question, usually asked from home or a cafe, is: "Why can't I do this at work?" Innovative, user-friendly offerings—Skype, Facebook, Twitter, mash-ups, YouTube, wikis, and the like—take root and thrive as consumer offerings. Corporate IT departments meanwhile often seem oblivious to their potential usefulness, even as workers wonder at their absence. But increasingly such technologies are being used for business. More
