Source: Energy Information Administration, preliminary estimate for 2007.

Industry bashing seems to be a favorite sport of the U.S. business press. However, with respect to the highly newsworthy topic of carbon dioxide emissions, U.S. industry actually reduced its CO2 releases by 30 million metric tons from 1990 to 2007, while increasing output by 60 percent. This is according to the U.S. Department of Energy report " U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Energy Sources." The report says, "Increases in petroleum and electricity emissions from 1990 to 2007 were more than offset by reductions from natural gas and especially coal emissions (-30 percent)."

Industry's increasingly efficient use of energy can be viewed as a large energy resource in its own right. But the report " The Size of the U.S. Energy Efficiency Market: Generating a More Complete Picture" finds the value of this "resource" is relatively invisible and is often neglected in national energy discussions. The report says, "estimates for 2008 indicate that by the end of this year U.S. energy consumption per dollar of economic output will have declined by more than 50 percent since 1970, from 18,000 BTUs to about 8,900 in 2008. As such, current levels of energy consumption in the U.S. are only half of what they would have been if levels of energy services, the structure of the economy, and overall energy productivity had remained unchanged."

Source: http://www.aceee.org/index.htm

NAIOP Chairman Alan Beaudette

Source: www.naiop.org

The professional association National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) recently issued an energy policy guideline for its members. The organization's Web site says, "Additional energy efficiency and increased use of non-carbon based fuels are needed and will result in lower CO2 emissions associated with the commercial building sector. Such efficiency can be achieved through a combination of forward-thinking building development, retrofits, operational practices and positive incentive based changes in public policy. The policy's top objective is to "Encourage the real estate development industry to employ every technically feasible, cost-effective, sustainable strategy available to increase energy efficiency of new and existing buildings, and to employ cleaner, low carbon energy alternatives (including onsite energy), wherever possible."

Source: www.ibabuzz.com/transportation/2007/09/19/taking-the-commuting-out-of-telecommuting

Here's a tool that can help companies, managers and workplace planners get the most out of teleworking. This is a hot topic these days because of the high cost of gasoline, but teleworking can increase the quality of work and workers' quality of life completely independent of commuting costs. The Telework Exchange was created originally for Federal workers, but most of its resources apply to workers in any company. It includes value calculators, a resource center, and a compilation of research on telework.

We all use spreadsheets. A recent article in CFO magazine, "Spreadsheet Worst Practices — Here's how finance executives abuse the most-useful of computer programs — and how to do better" examines and catalogs the most common abuses of the spreadsheet tool and tells how to avoid them. The article says, "At its worst, spreadsheet sloppiness, reflected in poor design, difficult manipulation, and lack of documentation, can lead an auditor to declare that a company has ineffective controls over some aspect of financial reporting."

Source: CFO magazine

Industrial development bonds (IDBs) are one of the most important funding sources for small manufacturers. " CDFA's 2007 National Volume Cap Report" presents a detailed analysis of how the bonds are used and where. The report says, "Issuance of industrial development bonds ... climbed to more than $2.97 billion in 2007, representing a $1.8 billion or nearly 150 percent increase over the previous year, according to the 2007 National Volume Cap Report released by the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA)." The study finds that the top five states ranked by dollar value of IDB financing are Georgia, $221.7 mil.; Pennsylvania, $121.7 mil.; West Virginia, $119.0 mil.; Virginia, $116.5 mil.; and Michigan, $110.1 mil.

Source: http://research.cibcwm.com/economic_public/download/smay08.pdf

"Globalization is reversible. Higher energy prices are impacting transport costs at an unprecedented rate. So much so, that the cost of moving goods, not the cost of tariffs, is the largest barrier to global trade today. In fact, in tariff-equivalent terms, the explosion in global transport costs has effectively offset all the trade liberalization efforts of the last three decades. Not only does this suggest a major slowdown in the growth of world trade, but also a fundamental realignment in trade patterns," says the introduction to Jeff Rubin and Benjamin Tal's new report " Will Soaring Transport Costs Reverse Globalization?".

A federal study of state and city home prices finds what we already know, they're down. However, the report has potential value for corporate managers who assist employees with company-sponsored moves due to its data on prices at the city level. The report says, "This decline exceeded the 1.4 percent price decline between the third and fourth quarters of 2007 and is the largest quarterly price decline on record. Over the past year, prices fell 3.1 percent between the first quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008." Home prices rose in some areas, however. "The states with the greatest price appreciation between the first quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008 were: Wyoming (6.3 percent), Utah (5.6 percent), Montana (4.9 percent), Texas (4.7 percent), and Alabama (4.5 percent)," says the study.

Source: http://www.ofheo.gov/newsroom.aspx?ID=435&q1=1&q2=None

Some economic development pundits believed that the weakening economy would soften local opposition to new corporate and infrastructure projects that would surely have been stiffly opposed in better times. But apparently fear of these kinds of projects outweighs fear of unemployment. This is what a Saint Consulting Group study has found. An article reporting on the study says, "Asked if, given the current state of the economy, they would support new development in their communities, only 29 percent of Americans would favor new development. In fact, a large majority - 60 percent - expect that the slowing economy will make development less likely in their communities, yet 75 percent still oppose relaxing land use regulations to encourage new local development."

Heather Jones

Source: http://www.fminet.com/

Construction industry consultancy FMI has reduced its projections for 2009 commercial building activity. The firm's press release says, "Recently released economic indicators are somewhat mixed. Housing, credit tightening, consumer spending and inflation continue to hinder the economy. While the general economy begins to stabilize somewhat, nonresidential construction is expected to falter late in 2008 and into 2009." Looking at the national infrastructure, FMI reports, "water is an important concern in our nation. Aging infrastructure, population growth and net migration are fueling demand for new and replacement construction especially in the Sunbelt and Rustbelt regions. Water supply and sewage and waste disposal construction will increase by 2 percent and 3 percent in 2008 and by 2 percent and 4 percent in 2009 despite a decrease in state and federal revenues."