Yup, same building. 

David Fisher is an Italian architect who is building his first sky-scraper. Well, two actually, one in Dubai and one in Moscow.

It's 80 stories, produces enough energy to power itself (with a little left over to share) and, oh ya, each floor rotates independently on voice command. That's just cool. According to one article, Fisher "loves the idea of seeing the sun rise and set in the same room." I know what you're thinking, but the rotation takes up to three hours, so sea legs are probably not necessary.

What's really cool is how the building generates energy. There are the usual photovoltaic sensors that pick up and convert sunlight, but there are also wind turbines mounted horizontally between each story of the building. It's a sky-scraper and a windmill. 

Another interesting feature is that most of the building will be pre-fabricated off-site. The center core will be erected on site. Strong enough to hold the floors in place, the core also holds the buildings elevators (which can transport people and cars). The floors will be pieced together in Italy and brought to the site. This way, each story will take about six days to complete, as opposed to about six weeks.

Construction should start this fall. You can reserve your apartment here.

Meet the 31 Tannery Project in Branchburg, New Jersey. 31 Tannery is a 42,000 square foot office and shop building, and is the first building in the U.S. that actually produces more energy than it consumes on an annual basis.

According to a Realcomm article, "This project has 'raised the bar' on energy standards. 31 Tannery received an Energy Star® certification with a previously unheard of perfect rating of 100."

Interesting features include:

• "A radiant heating system that consists of approximately 9 miles of PEX tubing embedded in the concrete slabs. The concrete slabs act as a thermal mass for the system to provide comfortable efficient heating." For this it won the Radiant Flooring Association’s Commercial Project of the Year Award for its innovative efficient heating application.
  
  
• "A solar thermal system with rooftop panels, a heat exchanger, and storage tanks eliminate the need for fossil fuels to provide potable hot water also with renewable energy from the sun."
  
  
• " A ... real-time energy and building systems monitoring, visualization, and diagnostic system by Noveda Technologies. This system monitors the building’s utility supplied energy, the solar photovoltaic and solar thermal renewable energy systems, and the buildings HVAC systems. Because the system is Web-based, it can be viewed anywhere, at any time."

LEED certification is a good start, but some are now saying that LEED certification won't get corporations to the benchmark set by the 2030 Challenge. Whether or not you're up for the 2030, it will become the new standard soon enough.

Feeling overwhelmed yet?  Take a deep breath. Here are three easy ones to get you started:

• Find a way to add shade to your parking lot. More trees around the perimeter, maybe.
• Set up preferred parking spaces for energy-efficient cars and/or car and van-pools.
• Get some of those silly-looking, energy-efficient light bulbs for the offices.

I read yet another insightful article on the emerging/digital/Y/iGeneration recently. This one is titled "Why Gen Y Is Going to Change the Web," but has less to do with the Web than Gen Y. Gen Y is also the next generation of tithers and volunteers in your church ... or not, because they're already the generation that needs the most honest, authentic, Christ-like evangelism our nation has ever seen. This is who you need to reach, which means this is who we're building for, and they're (we're - since by any of several definitions of "Gen Y," I qualify) changing much more than the Web.

 The article points out "How they're different:"

• They're plugged in. Multi-tasking is normal, and everything is digital. Just this past Sunday one of the teenagers sitting next to me during the 10AM service slid open her cell phone and started typing away. I paused to consider whether I should say something or just silently take it out of her hand. During that pause I looked over and realized that she wasn't texting someone across the room; she was taking sermon notes. Take the leap and make sure your worship space is tech-ed out so they can access YouVersion or Twitter you while you're preaching.
  
  
• Work isn't their world. "Sometimes dubbed 'Generation Why?' they need to 'buy in' as to why something is being done. Old school bosses may find their questioning insubordinate behavior, but they would be best to just change their management techniques and adapt." The same is true of your church. They won't take your word for it just because you're the pastor; they want to talk about it. Maybe that means your worship space needs to be more accommodating for conversation. Maybe that means you need more small group space.
  
  
• They're socially conscious. Maybe your current congregation doesn't care if your new building is LEED Certified; the next generation will. They want to know what you're doing in the community and around the world. If your building is their first impression, what does it tell them?
  

There's much more in the full article, but these three should paint a vivid picture of where we're headed. Coming to social power is a generation of people who do not define themselves by their job title, are looking for something they can buy into, are aware of what is happening all over the world, and are convinced they can do something about it. They will take what they've learned from the Web (networking, multi-tasking, voice, etc.) and change the world.

They're also spiritually hungry. It's impossible to deny the spiritual awakening that is dawning in our society, but will they find in Christianity - in your church - what they're looking for? Do you have the space, the room, the resources, to be and do what they want to be and do with you?