• Solel Solar plans to supply Pacific Gas & Electric with 553 megawatts of solar thermal energy for 25 years in California
  
• Scotland plans to develop roughly 25% of the entire European Union's tidal power potential, which could produce more than 1,300 megawatts by 2020
• London England plans to erect more than 340 wind turbines in the outer Thames Estuary through its Array project

Cathedral City California is expected to approve a voluntary Green Building Ordinance, which would allow residential builders to build "green" through a program that exceeds the state energy-efficiency standards by at least 15 percent. Residential builders who apply to the city's Green Building program would agree to have their plans reviewed and their homes inspected by officials from the California Green Builder Program.

On average, one American school per day is registering for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program for green schools, according to an article by the Building Design and Construction Network. Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon and Virginia have the most LEED certified schools to date. The State of Ohio is leading the movement with hundreds of new and renovated schools set to meet LEED for Schools Rating System. The Ohio School Facilities Commission determined it could save $1,415,529,914 in taxpayer money over the next 40 years by reducing the energy consumption of school buildings.

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola Ingenieria has won a $25 million contract to build a 2.3-megawatt solar photovoltaic energy plant in Ecija, Spain. The plant in Seville province will consist of 25 photovoltaic panels mounted on fixed structures and will use two of the latest photovoltaic technologies. In 2007, Iberdrola won nearly $500 million in renewable energy contracts, and has pledged to focus its growth in renewables through at least 2010.

Boston University (BU)’s top administrators have said certifying buildings as environmentally friendly under LEED guidelines is a waste of university funds, but some students and professors support LEED certification if the money involved makes an environmental difference. Currently, BU has no LEED certified structures, but administrators say the costly documentation is unnecessary if new buildings already meet the rating system's standards.

The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, designed by Renzo Piano, may become an essential architectural and environmental stop for those looking for green design ideas. The building has a number of energy saving devices including a complicated system of weather sensors that tell a central computer what motorized windows to open and close, the entire museum is cooled with untreated outside air.