Design smart.

Imagine if every office building had solar panels on the roof. After all, the roof serves no real purpose other than to keep the rain out, so why not put all that empty space to work? But wait, solar panels also probably require less maintenance than a refrigerator. Here is a real-world example of this: the new sustainable parking structure in Santa Monica:

Apparently, it generates $90,000 worth of electricity a year. Not too shabby.

Also, imagine if profit-minded developers designed buildings to maximize natural lighting? One such building is the Nederlandsche Middenstandsbank (NMB) headquarters in Amsterdam, Holland. This pdf provides a more detailed article for the curious reader.

The design team used special ceiling designs that let in sunlight and reflected and redirected to provide an entirely naturally-lit interior. This translates into burning far less lightbulbs, which means consuming far less power.

Part of the design is that amazingly, no desk is 23 ft (7 m) away from a window! This is a world away from the United States, where a window seat is a hard-fought privilege, and common practice is to divide up a warehouse into lots of teeny tiny fluorescent-lit cells...

All the technology in this building is from the early 80's. What new possiblities have technological advances opened up?