Celebrating a defining moment for the premier institution of modern and contemporary American art, and a landmark achievement in the public-private revitalization of downtown Manhattan, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the City of New York today broke ground for the Whitney’s new museum building on Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg joined Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney’s Alice Pratt Brown Director, for a ceremony animated by music and performance, held before an invited audience of some 500 guests at the site of the Whitney’s future building, at the southern entrance to the High Line.

Joining the Mayor and Mr. Weinberg for the ceremony were Christine C. Quinn, Speaker of the New York City Council; Scott M. Stringer, Manhattan Borough President; Whitney Board of Trustees Co-Chairs Robert J. Hurst and Brooke Garber Neidich; Whitney Board President Neil G. Bluhm; Flora Miller Biddle, Honorary Chairman and granddaughter of Whitney Museum founder Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney; and world-renowned architect of the new nine-story, 200,000-square-foot building, Renzo Piano. Other City officials in attendance included First Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris, Deputy Mayor Robert K. Steel, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin, Chair of the City Planning Commission Amanda M. Burden, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Councilman Dan Garodnick, and EDC President Seth W. Pinsky.

Cascadia Green Building Council and the Aleutian Housing Authority invite global interdisciplinary teams to design – and build -- an affordable, single-family home in one of the world’s most challenging environments.

Cascadia Green Building Council and the Aleutian Housing Authority seek interdisciplinary teams to design a single-family dwelling unit capable of meeting the imperatives set by the Living Building Challenge 2.0 ™, the built environment’s most rigorous performance standard.

The Living Aleutian Home Design Competition aims to inspire teams to bring the tenets and principles of the Living Building Challenge to Atka, an Aleutian Island community with a population of 61 people. This contest raises the bar for innovation, challenging teams to create a prototype for affordable, sustainable residences in a rural community confronted with sky-high construction costs, an extreme climate and a pressing need for adopting alternative fuel strategies.

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Now Requires All Broadloom and Carpet Tile Purchased by the U.S. Government to Be Certified to NSF International's Sustainable Carpet Standard (NSF/ANSI 140) Gold Level

Current GSA carpet suppliers have until January 1, 2012 to certify their products to the NSF Sustainable Carpet Standard’s Gold Level in order for their carpet products to be considered for purchase

U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Now Requires All Broadloom and Carpet Tile Purchased by the U.S. Government to Be Certified to NSF International's Sustainable Carpet Standard (NSF/ANSI 140) Gold Level.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which serves as the purchasing arm of the U.S. government and oversees more than $60 billion in purchased goods and services annually1, now requires Gold Level certification to NSF/ANSI 140 Sustainability Assessment for Carpet for all broadloom (wall-to-wall) carpet and carpet tile purchased through the GSA. Current GSA carpet suppliers have until January 1, 2012 to certify their products to NSF/ANSI 140 Gold Level in order for their carpets to be considered for purchase through the GSA (http://bit.ly/g5Ifgo).