Buildings

In order to increase the quality of the electricity in urban areas, a new energy storage idea suggests that we transform tall buildings into batteries.Scientists propose converting tall buildings into batteriesIn order to ensure that the supply and demand of electricity are appropriately balanced, energy storage technologies are becoming more necessary due to the significant decline in the cost of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. The electricity quality in metropolitan areas may be improved by using…

Amazon.com Inc is pausing the construction of six new office buildings in Bellevue and Nashville to reevaluate the designs to suit hybrid work, the tech giant said on Friday. The pausing and delay of construction will not affect Amazon's hiring plans, a company spokesperson said, reiterating the firm's proposal to create 25,000 jobs in Bellevue and another 5,000 in Nashville. "The pandemic has significantly changed the way people work ... Our offices are long-term investments and we want to make sure that we design them…

A venture of a New York investment firm and a U.S. residential developer has agreed to pay $1.75 billion for six Manhattan rental apartment buildings, according to people familiar with the matter, the highest price tag for a New York multifamily portfolio since the beginning of the pandemic.The planned purchase of the portfolio, which includes about 1,700 mostly market-rate units, by Black Spruce Management LLC and Orbach Affordable Housing Solutions LLC represents a big bet on New York. The deal indicates that demand for…

The secret to a whodunnit in the modern age is all in the editing. There are always clues and titbits – some real, some red herrings – that will keep viewers guessing week-on-week about what exactly is going on. No show has encapsulated this better than the comedy-mystery hit Only Murders in the Building, which debuts its second season today.  The show stars the powerhouse trio of Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selina Gomez who all play residents of New York’s Arconia Building. The three are united in creating a…

Wilfried Eckl-Dorna / Bloomberg: Siemens plans to buy Brightly, a North Carolina-based provider of buildings and infrastructure management software, from Clearlake Capital for $1.58B — Siemens AG will buy US firm Brightly Software for $1.58 billion to add digital services for buildings and infrastructure as the German company continues … Wilfried Eckl-Dorna / Bloomberg: Siemens plans to buy Brightly, a North Carolina-based provider of buildings and infrastructure management software, from…

CLIMATEWIRE | In 2010, the Dutch government launched a program to sharply cut carbon dioxide emissions from one of the world’s largest and most problematic sources: homes. It put up $40 million and called it “Energiesprong,” or “Energy Jump” in English. The idea was to convert drafty old row houses into solar and electric heat-pump-powered, well-insulated homes that reduced their CO2 emissions to near zero. The first phase ended with the refurbishment of around 6,000 homes in the Netherlands, but it has since spread…

This week eastern Afghanistan was struck by a middle-of-the night earthquake that became the country’s deadliest in two decades. The epicenter was in the province of Paktika, about 30 miles from the city of Khost. Hundreds of homes and buildings collapsed. Entire villages were knocked to the ground. At least 1,150 people were killed, and at least another were injured, according to official reports. And a subsequent aftershock on Friday added to the toll. But the initial quake had a relatively moderate magnitude of 5.9,…

In this image taken June 18, Kitt Peak’s telescopes appear to have been spared the worst of the wildfire.Image: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURAThe Contreras Fire in Arizona reached Kitt Peak National Observatory late last week, but while some of the facility’s buildings were destroyed, it appears that the observatory’s telescopes have been spared.Astronomers across the world held their breath on Friday as the Contreras Fire approached the telescopes of Kitt Peak National Observatory, an astronomical research facility in the…

A giant digital sign is seen at Facebook's corporate headquarters campus in Menlo Park, California, on October 23, 2019.Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty ImagesTechnology hub Menlo Park, California, home to Meta, is teaming up with Brooklyn, New York-based BlocPower in a new form of public-private partnership to electrify thousands of buildings to help meet a 2030 climate goal of carbon neutrality.The small California city, with a population of roughly 35,000, estimates the fossil fuel consumption of buildings at 41% of its…

We spend 90 percent of our lives indoors, yet most of us seldom spare a thought for the quality of the air we breathe there. More than a century ago, pioneering nurse and statistician Florence Nightingale proclaimed the importance of open air and bedroom ventilation for tuberculosis patients. Today in Nordic countries, it is common practice to let babies nap outside, sometimes in freezing temperatures. But even though humans have long attributed health benefits to fresh outdoor air, it is a lesson many of us seemed to…