Why Scotland Could be the New Data Centre Hub of the UK Scotland is fast becoming central to the UK’s digital energy future. As developers map out the next generation of AI-ready data centres, attention is shifting northwards. Mounting grid constraints and rising electricity costs are forcing a rethink of where energy-intensive digital infrastructure can realistically expand. Fintan Slye, CEO of the state-owned National Energy System Operator, believes that Scotland can be not only a capacity solution but a more energy-efficient route for data centre deployment. “If in the audience you have a big data centre and you want to go to Scotland, please come talk to me, we will help you. It is actually helpful to the system to do that,” he said at a conference recently. “Conversely, if you put it down in the southeast of England, that is going to just exacerbate a set of grid constraints that already exist in the environment,” he added. “Location really matters when you’re talking about these gigawatt-scale data centres.” Why energy availability is reshaping data centre geography The UK’s data centre landscape has long been concentrated around London, where connectivity and user proximity have traditionally driven growth. That model is now under strain from the realities of energy supply. With approximately 1.6GW of installed capacity today and ambitions to scale to around 6GW by the end of the decade, the UK’s push to become an AI “superpower” is placing unprecedented demands on electricity infrastructure. Nearly 100GW of prospective data centre projects are currently seeking grid connections, roughly double Britain’s peak electricity demand. While not all proposals will proceed, the scale of demand highlights the need for more strategic alignment between energy availability and digital infrastructure. In the southeast of the UK, high power prices and network congestion are becoming significant
Jun 6, 2026 · via energydigital.com
Guest Editors for Scientific Reports Revathy Jayaseelan, PhD, B. S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science & Technology, India Revathy Jayaseelan is a Professor of Civil Engineering and Dean (Academic Research) at B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science & Technology, India. Her research interests include sustainable construction materials, low-carbon and cement-free composites, seismic strengthening of structures, and AI/ML applications in structural engineering and concrete composites. She has led several research projects funded by the Government of India, primarily in structural safety and seismic resilience. Dr. Revathy has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2024. Jiachao Peng, PhD, Wuhan Institute of Technology, China Jiachao Peng is an Associate Professor at the School of Law and Business, Wuhan Institute of Technology, China, and a recognized "Chutian Scholar" in Hubei Province. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Economics, completing postdoctoral research in Business Administration, and has served as a visiting scholar at Macquarie University, Australia. Dr. Peng’s research focuses primarily on energy and environmental economics, sustainable development, and green finance, with extensive publications in top-tier international journals. Dr. Peng has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2025. Sara Shirowzhan, PhD, UNSW, Australia Sara Shirowzhan is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Built Environment, UNSW, Australia. Her research focuses on technologies relevant to the built environment, including AI, advanced GIS, nD BIM, sensing technologies, and digital twins, with applications in sustainable and resilient cities (SDG 11), smart cities, infrastructure, urban strategy development, and construction. Dr. Shirowzhan has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2024. Aydin Shishegaran, PhD, FHM University of Applied Sciences, Germany Aydin Shishegaran is a Lecturer at the FHM University of Applied Sciences and another institute in Germany. He got his first Ph.D. in 2022 from Iran University of Science and
Jun 6, 2026 · via nature.com
The city is focusing on building and developing technological and digital infrastructure in parallel with urban development. In particular, it is strengthening data connectivity solutions and improving the effectiveness of the Intelligent Operations Center (IOC). Focusing on digital governance solutions for smart city development Currently, the databases of many departments and agencies have been synchronized with the city's IOC. The Dong Nai City IOC is being gradually implemented and put into operation, initially establishing a platform for integrating, exploiting, and visualizing data to support monitoring, supervision, and the direction and administration of city leaders. The city is concentrating on implementing plans to apply digital technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) across socio-economic sectors, while completing database systems connected to the city-, commune-, and ward-level IOCs. Leaders of departments and agencies inspect operations at the Dong Nai City Intelligent Operations Center in Tran Bien ward. | By late May 2026, the Department of Construction and relevant units handed over the project monitoring system to the Dong Nai City IOC. The system was sponsored by Construction Corporation No. 1 JSC (CC1) and developed by Xboss Technology Solution Co., Ltd. Nao Thien Anh Minh, Deputy Director of the Department of Construction, said that in the current context, improving the efficiency of management, monitoring, and accelerating public investment projects in particular and construction investment in general are becoming increasingly necessary. Therefore, operating the project monitoring system through the IOC has significant potential for broad application, especially in a locality with a large number of major projects such as Dong Nai. Once operational, the system will provide an integrated and intuitive dashboard, enabling city leaders to comprehensively monitor project implementation progress and capital disbursement, while promptly identifying difficulties and obstacles. On that basis, direction and administration can be carried
Jun 6, 2026 · via dongnai.gov.vn
Türkiye has secured €191.5 million ($219.4 million) in World Bank financing to help expand urban transport networks, improve water services and strengthen local governments' capacity in two of the country's fastest-growing cities. Approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors, the loan will be channeled through state lender Ilbank under a government guarantee. The package is intended to help municipalities address rising infrastructure needs driven by population growth and urban expansion. The funding comes under the Green and Future Cities Project, which seeks to improve public services while helping cities better cope with climate-related challenges. According to the World Bank, the loan will finance projects in Antalya and Konya, where growing demand for public transportation, drinking water, sanitation and energy systems has increased pressure on local services. "Türkiye’s cities are key drivers of economic growth and job creation but also face increasing pressures from rapid urbanization and climate change," World Bank Country Director for Türkiye J. Humberto Lopez said. "This project will help municipalities invest in modern, resilient infrastructure while strengthening their capacity to plan and finance sustainable urban development." Planned works include tramline expansions, the deployment of low-emission public transport vehicles, and upgrades to water supply, wastewater treatment and sanitation facilities. The program will also support energy-efficiency measures and initiatives aimed at helping urban areas adapt to climate risks, including floods, droughts and extreme heat. The World Bank noted that municipalities will also receive guidance in developing investment-ready projects, improving institutional capacity and expanding access to long-term funding sources. "By combining financing with technical expertise, this project will help cities develop bankable, climate-smart investments and improve their access to long-term financing," project task team leader Ahmet Kindap said. The lender added that the program aligns with Türkiye’s development priorities and is expected to lower greenhouse gas emissions, improve
Jun 6, 2026 · via turkiyetoday.com
One degree that changed everything: Rethinking our cities, restoring our seas A couple of months ago, while speaking at a public event, I posed a simple question to the audience. “How much cooler do you think Bangladesh was two decades ago?” A few participants confidently replied, “Five degrees Celsius.” Others went even further and suggested “Ten degrees.” When I revealed that Bangladesh’s average temperature has increased by roughly one degree Celsius over the last five decades, the room fell silent. —One degree? Most people could hardly believe it. Yet that single degree has altered our lives so profoundly that many of us genuinely feel as though the Bangladesh of our childhood was five or even ten degrees cooler. The scorching afternoons, sleepless summer nights, prolonged heatwaves, erratic rainfall, flash floods, waterlogging, and shifting seasons have become part of our everyday reality. This is perhaps the greatest misconception about climate change. We often assume that a one-degree increase is insignificant. But when that increase occurs across an entire country, year after year, it fundamentally changes ecosystems, weather patterns, agriculture, public health, and the way we live. If one degree can create such disruption, imagine what lies ahead if we fail to act. The Urbanization Challenge Bangladesh is undergoing one of the fastest urban transformations in its history. Today, nearly one-third of the country’s population lives in urban areas, and this figure continues to rise steadily. Cities are expanding, new townships are emerging, and millions of people are migrating from rural areas in search of economic opportunities. Urbanization is neither a problem nor something to be feared. Throughout history, cities have served as engines of economic growth, innovation, education, and social progress. The real question is not whether we urbanize, but how we urbanize. Globally, cities consume nearly three-quarters of the world’s
Jun 6, 2026 · via thedailystar.net
Health is a basic need and human right. There are consistent efforts to enhance equity in health and wellbeing within and across countries. This will be achieved through education, community action and healthy public policy. Envisioning a world where all people achieve optimal health and well-being is a welcome reminder of supportive actions to empower people to control their own health and promote healthy societies. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health. The first International Conference on Health Promotion was held in Ottawa in 1986. This was a major milestone in terms of timely response to growing expectations of public health movement around the world. Afterwards, the relevance and scope of health promotion have widened its socio-political horizon in the larger context of global health. Advocacy Despite advocacy and social movements, existing efforts are still inadequate to elevate interventions to new levels. Our scholarship has grossly failed to examine important and timely issues about community health and implement cost-effective interventions to improve health outcomes. Based on lessons learned, multi-sector engagement is crucial for bold policy making in health promotion that aims to embrace equity and wellbeing. Health promotion is a profound concern for policy makers, health workers, civil society, communities, media and private sectors. The complexities and scales of inclusive policies for health are evidently vast to our ecosystems. Framing and scoping health promotion is necessary amid climate change and ecological disruptions, non-communicable diseases, indigenous health, geopolitical shifts, political unrest and many more. From worldviews, the classical divides between North and South, decolonising practices, policies and knowledge systems reveal that we can imagine a resilient and healthy future by building on health promotion legacies at large. Considering evolving challenges in our changing world, while
Jun 6, 2026 · via risingnepaldaily.com
Berg Insight estimates that connected alcohol detection and monitoring solutions reached an installed base of roughly 560,000 units across North America and Europe in 2025. The figures highlight a niche IoT market where connectivity is being driven less by consumer convenience than by compliance, supervision and safety requirements. Alcohol testing is not new, but the operational model around it is changing. For decades, many alcohol detection systems have functioned as point-in-time tools: a breath test, a vehicle interlock event, or a supervised check at a fixed location. The connected version of this market adds a different layer: remote visibility, automated reporting and the ability to respond when a test is failed, missed or potentially tampered with. That is the context for new research from Berg Insight, which estimates that the installed base of connected alcohol detection and monitoring solutions reached 374,000 units in North America and 184,000 units in Europe in 2025. By 2030, the research firm expects those figures to rise to 520,000 units in North America and close to 260,000 units in Europe. The market remains modest compared with mainstream IoT categories such as fleet telematics or smart metering, but it is notable because the connectivity requirement is tied directly to institutional workflows. Berg Insight identifies road safety and transportation, workplace safety, healthcare and rehabilitation, and legal or public safety applications as the main use environments. These are not identical markets, even when they use related sensor technologies. A compliance-driven IoT category The largest connected device segment in both regions is ignition interlock devices, which account for around half of the installed base. These systems are mainly used in Driving Under the Influence offender programmes and in workplace fleet safety applications, where a vehicle can be prevented from operating if an alcohol test is not passed. Other connected
Jun 6, 2026 · via iotbusinessnews.com
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Jun 6, 2026 · via youtube.com
Under the theme "Robots for All," ICRA 2026 gathered top global scientists and researchers, and representatives of innovation centres. The event highlighted the rapid transition of robotics and AI from laboratories to real-world applications in manufacturing, services, and smart cities. Representing Vietnam were VinRobotics and VinDynamics, two tech subsidiaries of Vingroup. They showcased "Make in Vietnam" humanoid robots, demonstrating the country’s growing capacity to integrate into the global robotics value chain. Visiting the Vietnamese pavilions, Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Vu Le Thai Hoang highly commended the engineers' creativity and determination to master advanced technology. He noted that the presence of Vietnamese firms at a premier global forum is a positive indicator of the country's rising status in high-value tech sectors. At the ICRA 2026, VinRobotics introduced VR-H3, its third-generation humanoid robot. Designed for both industrial and daily environments, the VR-H3 can navigate open spaces, interact with humans, transport objects, and perform assembly tasks. "Our presence at ICRA 2026 sends a clear message: Vietnam is shifting from outsourcing to deeply engaging in core technology development," stated Ngo Quoc Hung, CEO of VinRobotics. He emphasised that Vietnamese engineers are fully capable of making substantial contributions to global tech when provided with the right environment. Meanwhile, VinDynamics debuted Dyno, a multi-purpose humanoid assistant tailored for security monitoring, customer hospitality, and smart urban operations. The company also presented core ecosystem components, including specialised actuators and high-dexterity robotic hands matching international standards. The active participation of VinRobotics and VinDynamics at ICRA 2026 underscores Vietnam’s ambition to enters the highly competitive global digital economy, especially in the fields of robotics, embodied AI, and intelligent automation. A key highlight of the event was a vibrant robot parade, allowing visitors to witness the practical operational capabilities of diverse robotic platforms in real-time./. - © Copyright of Vietnamnet Global.
Jun 6, 2026 · via vietnamnet.vn
Musk's SpaceX IPO jolts life back into European retail investingMaaal: «Riyadh»Publish: 6 June 2026Share throughShare through16
Jun 6, 2026 · via maaal.com
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Jun 6, 2026 · via imd.widen.net
NextNRG Reports Preliminary May 2026 Revenue of $9.3 Million, Up 41% Year-Over-Year Gross Profit Grows 75% Year-Over-Year as Platform Operational Efficiency Improves MIAMI, FL, June 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NextNRG, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXXT), a pioneer in AI-driven energy innovation transforming how energy is produced, managed, and delivered, today announced preliminary unaudited financial results for May 2026. “Revenue of $9.3 million, 41% top-line growth, and gross profit up 75% year-over-year, these are not isolated data points, they are telling the same story. We are delivering more value per gallon, managing costs with greater discipline, and building unit economics that matter for long-term performance. The platform is working, and we enter the second half of 2026 with the momentum and operational foundation to keep building on it,” said Michael D. Farkas, Founder and CEO of NextNRG. May 2026 Highlights: • Revenue: $9.3 million, up 41% year-over-year from $6.6 million in May 2025 • Gallons Delivered: approximately 1.9 million gallons, down approximately 4% year-over-year from approximately 2.0 million gallons in May 2025 • Gross Profit: approximately $827,000, up 75% year-over-year from approximately $472,000 in May 2025 (preliminary) • Gross Margin: 8.9%, compared to 7.1% in May 2025 May 2026 revenue of $9.3 million reflects 41% growth over May 2025, achieved on approximately 1.9 million gallons delivered, down approximately 4% from approximately 2.0 million gallons delivered in May 2025. The combination of meaningfully higher revenue on a lower gallon base reflects continued improvement in fleet deployment, dispatch efficiency, and route optimization. May marks the fifth consecutive month of double-digit year-over-year revenue growth in 2026, demonstrating the consistency of the platform’s performance as the business scales. The Company continues to advance its energy infrastructure segment, including its smart microgrid pipeline, while remaining focused on scaling and optimizing its mobile fueling operations. Note on Preliminary
Jun 6, 2026 · via energydigital.com
Nasdaq Confirms Turbo Energy’s Compliance With Minimum Stockholders’ Equity Requirement Recognition follows approximately $5 million in strategic capital raises and continued execution of Turbo Energy's global AI-driven energy infrastructure growth strategy VALENCIA, Spain, June 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Turbo Energy, S.A. (Nasdaq: TURB) (“Turbo Energy” or the “Company”), a global integrator of AI-driven solar energy storage solutions and intelligent energy management systems, today announced that it has received formal confirmation from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) that the Company has regained compliance with the minimum stockholders’ equity requirement under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(1). The confirmation follows Nasdaq’s review of the Company’s Form 6-K filed on June 3, 2026, which reflected a significant strengthening of Turbo Energy’s financial position. Based on that filing, Nasdaq determined that the Company now satisfies the minimum stockholders’ equity requirement of $2.5 million for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market. The milestone reflects the successful execution of a series of strategic financial initiatives undertaken during 2026. Through a combination of a Registered Direct Offering ("RDO") and issuances under its at-the-market (“ATM”) program, Turbo Energy raised approximately $5.0 million in aggregate gross proceeds, strengthening shareholders’ equity and reinforcing the Company’s balance sheet. Shareholders' equity increased from approximately $1.88 million as of December 31, 2025, to approximately $6.48 million as reflected in the Company's Form 6-K filed on June 3, positioning the Company above Nasdaq’s minimum stockholders’ equity requirement. Nasdaq’s confirmation follows a period of substantial operational and strategic progress for Turbo Energy. During fiscal year 2025, the Company reported revenue growth of 107% year-over-year, while significantly improving operating performance and advancing its transformation into a technology integrator AI-driven energy infrastructure platform that integrates solar energy storage, software-defined energy management, and commercial and industrial ("C&I") energy solutions. Over the past eighteen months, Turbo Energy has
Jun 6, 2026 · via energydigital.com
WASHINGTON DC, June 5th, 2026—The World Bank Group approved a EUR 191.5 million (US$219.4 million) loan to Türkiye to modernize urban infrastructure and services in the fast-growing cities of Antalya and Konya, addressing a growing demand for public transport, clean water and sanitation, and efficient energy systems, while generating jobs along the way. The Green and Future Cities Project will be implemented through İller Bankası A.Ş. (ILBANK) with the guarantee of the Republic of Türkiye. Türkiye’s rapid urbanization has intensified demand for efficient and resilient municipal infrastructure. While fast-growing cities are central to the country’s economy, many face constraints in accessing long-term financing for major investments to support people and growing economic activities. “Türkiye’s cities are key drivers of economic growth and job creation but also face increasing pressures from rapid urbanization and climate change,” said J. Humberto Lopez, World Bank Country Director for Türkiye. “This project will help municipalities invest in modern, resilient infrastructure while strengthening their capacity to plan and finance sustainable urban development.” Planned investments include the expansion and modernization of public transport systems, such as tramlines and low-emission vehicles, as well as upgrades to water supply, wastewater treatment, and sanitation infrastructure. The project will also support measures to enhance energy efficiency and strengthen climate adaptation and resilience. These investments are expected to improve urban mobility, enhance environmental sustainability, and raise the quality of life for residents, while contributing to economic growth and job creation. The project will also provide technical assistance to ILBANK and participating municipalities to strengthen their capacity in project preparation, financial management, and sustainable urban planning. This will include developing pipelines of bankable, climate-smart investments, strengthen municipal financial and institutional capacity, and enhance long-term resilience to climate and disaster risks. “By combining financing with technical expertise, this project will help cities develop bankable,
Jun 6, 2026 · via worldbank.org
Brownsville, in south Texas, uses technology from SHI International, a smart city technology provider, to monitor crowds, illegal dumping, vehicle thefts and other events. The technology makes use of AI to analyze visual data for particular incidents. “For example, tell me when somebody dumps trash in a public space. Tell me when there is an animal that is being aggressive, a person with a weapon, a car standing in an unauthorized location … people falling in parks and not getting up, things like that,” Brownsville CIO Jorge Cardenas said in March, explaining how the technology fits in the city’s tech ecosystem. As a border city, Brownsville is on the watch for stolen cars that may be heading into Mexico. The city’s cameras are able to scan license plates and compare the data to stolen car databases. Illegal dumping has also been a problem, with residents dumping debris in and around waterways and other areas. “Now we have cameras in strategic locations where people will do this a lot of times, and we have caught lot of people dumping mattresses, dumping tires, just trash,” Cardenas said. Similarly, he said, crowd monitoring “helps us to control the crowd, and identify things like weapons detection.” That level of surveillance may be helpful for city operations, but it may also not sit well with the public or digital privacy advocates. The data, Cardenas stressed, “never leaves our city data center, and access is strictly limited to assigned city employees.” “We intentionally chose to keep everything in-house, both to ensure the privacy and security of our community’s information, and to avoid the significant costs associated with external services,” he said in an email. The city’s relationship with SHI, which includes Centific’s VerityAI, NVIDIA AI and Lenovo’s AI-Accelerated platforms, delivered through SHI’s Smart City solution, only
Jun 5, 2026 · via govtech.com
Abstract Disaster-response systems have been progressively installed in smart cities through IoT-enabled systems that assist in early warning, situational awareness, and coordination of emergencies. Nevertheless, the majority of existing studies measure such systems by means of data analytics, accuracy of prediction, or anomaly detection by AI, and the quality of the system-level design is not quantified in most cases. Specifically, no standardized framework exists to evaluate the complexity of architecture, resilience, recoverability, and reusability of IoT disaster-response systems before their implementation. The paper presents a graph-based design evaluation model, which represents the IoT disaster-response architectures as layered graphs and suggests a collection of quantitative design quality measures. In contrast to the learning-based approaches, the suggested framework is also algorithm-free and assesses the structure of the system, which can be compared objectively among the various IoT system setups. The framework is validated through a flood-response case study conducted in Pakistan where changes in sensor density, gateway connectivity, and interactions on decision-layers are examined. Evidence indicates that network redundancy is a validated variable that minimizes the complexity of detection and increases system recoverability, whereas sparse connectivity enhances the severity propagation and response latency. The developed framework offers a viable pre-deployment assessment tool, which augments AI-based monitoring systems and that will aid in robustly designed disaster-response systems. Similar content being viewed by others Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Ethics declarations Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Additional information Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Rights and permissions Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the
Jun 5, 2026 · via nature.com
Eastern High School will implement the new education model at the start of the 2026-27 school year. The school already offers its 106 students a mixture of virtual and on-site learning. Superintendent Grant Hegenauer said the most significant change to the education model will be the introduction of AI technology. “We are putting a great deal of care and energy into this new chapter for Eastern High School, and we look forward to our students experiencing it firsthand,” Hegenauer told MLive in a statement. The redesigned education model is being introduced to provide students with the opportunity to learn in a “cutting-edge, nontraditional setting” that supports the progress of individualized and alternative education pathways. Students will use AI technology from the Subject AI learning platform to customize their educational path and pace. “Day to day, our students are moving into a much more dynamic, personalized, and engaging learning environment where their daily routine is tailored entirely to their unique pace, strengths, and interests,” Hegenauer said. “This model is intentionally designed to ignite curiosity, maximize daily engagement, and ensure no student is left behind or held back from reaching their full potential.” The introduction of the subject-specific AI platform also marks the school’s shift away from using the Edgenuity learning platform. “While technology has always been present in our classrooms, this new platform represents a massive leap forward, allowing us to customize the educational experience for every student in real time,” Hegenauer said. The new model also offers expanded career training and face-to-face specialized courses through a collaboration with the Bay-Arenac Intermediate School District. In addition to opportunities for face-to-face education, students will have the chance to take part in community service projects. Educators will be available for on-site, in-person tutoring, small-group lessons, hands-on projects and emotional and academic support, Hegenauer
Jun 5, 2026 · via govtech.com
How European cities are making AI work for people 05 June 2026 by Eurocities Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming part of everyday urban life. It is changing how residents access services, how children learn, how civil servants work and how cities respond to complex challenges, from mobility and climate adaptation to social inclusion and public safety. For local governments, the question is no longer whether AI will be used, but how it can be used responsibly, inclusively and in ways that improve people’s lives. Across Europe, cities are moving from experimentation to implementation. They are testing AI assistants, building data platforms, developing ethical frameworks, training public servants and exploring how AI can strengthen public services. But their experience points to a clear lesson: technology alone is not enough. AI can only support better services if it is built on trust, good data, strong governance, public-sector capacity and a clear understanding of residents’ needs. From tools to public value In the city of Espoo, AI is being tested as a way to improve internal services and support municipal staff. The city is piloting an intranet AI assistant to help its 12,000 employees find internal information more quickly, combining GPT-based solutions and Microsoft Copilot to improve the efficiency and usability of internal information. For Espoo, the key lesson is that AI must be tested carefully before being scaled. “Data quality and structure matter and experts and end users must be involved early,” states Anni Orttenvuori-Ganter, Lead Data and Knowledge Architect at the City of Espoo. The city is also exploring emerging technologies in education and recruitment, including Minecraft-based sustainability learning and virtual reality for staff orientation. But for Orttenvuori-Ganter, the purpose matters more than the tool. “What’s important here is not the technology itself, but how it is used and for
Jun 5, 2026 · via cities-today.com
Dive Brief: - Since Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, achieved LEED Gold status in 2014, 31 stadiums in North America have been certified by the U.S. Green Building Council under its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. - MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., home of the New York Jets and the New York Giants professional football teams, is the most recent stadium to be recognized, receiving Gold LEED certification in May. The stadium uses on-site solar generation, LED lighting, motion sensor lighting and hybrid-electric vehicles as part of its energy conservation strategy. - USGBC in June released an interactive map detailing the features that help the facilities operate efficiently notwithstanding their size and complex operations. These “year-rouund civic landmarks … demonstrate what good stewardship looks like at scale,” Rhiannon Jacobsen, managing director, U.S. market transformation and development at USGBC, said when the map was released. Dive Insight: Levi’s Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers, can accommodate more than 68,000 people. The 12-year-old facility has 1,162 solar panels, low-flow plumbing fixtures and grows more than 40 crops in a 7,500-square-foot rooftop garden, called Faithful Farms. It’s the largest on-site farm at a stadium in North America, USGBC says. Its crops include broccoli, squash, eggplant, peppers, artichoke, strawberries, garlic and herbs. The produce shows up in hors d’oeuvres passed around in suites, salads served in premium clubs and menu items made available in concession stands. Surplus produce is donated to local food banks. “It’s not just for show,” Jon Severson, the regional executive chef for Levy, the hospitality team at Levi’s Stadium, said in a Food & Wine article in February, shortly before the stadium hosted the 2026 Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. In Canada, the 54,500-capacity soccer stadium BC Place
Jun 5, 2026 · via facilitiesdive.com
A major bill that sought to impose statewide zoning measures in Illinois to allow more types of housing failed to make it out of the state’s legislative session earlier this week. The bill — SB 640 — would have mandated approval for multifamily housing on all single-family lots 2,500 square feet or larger, among other housing-related mandates for localities. The legislation did not get called to a vote in the state senate before the state’s spring legislative session adjourned June 1. The Illinois Municipal League, which strongly opposed the measures, going so far as to craft counter legislation, described the legislative session’s outcome as a challenging but ultimately successful fight to preserve municipal authority. “If we learn one thing from this session, it should be that we are only successful when we stick together and present a unified voice to legislators,” IML CEO Brad Cole said in a statement. Other housing bills opposed by the municipal group, including one allowing faith-based organizations to build mixed-use facilities regardless of local zoning and one requiring stricter timelines for local governments regarding building plan reviews and inspections, also stalled in the state legislature. Gov. JB Pritzker, who proposed much of the legislation in his State of the State address earlier this year, said at a June 1 press conference that he was undeterred by the outcome and that he’ll be campaigning on the housing proposals. “I believe we need to do even more about housing in this state,” Pritzker said. “I proposed bills that may not have passed this session but … a whole lot of things that were important take years to get done,” pointing to a bill eliminating “junk fees” that he said took two years to secure. Pritzker did manage to secure $250 million in funding for “missing middle” —
Jun 5, 2026 · via smartcitiesdive.com