ENERGY
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Program website located at 
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/commercial/plan_finance.html offers building owners and managers useful information on how to plan and finance an energy efficient building. The site includes a free energy modeling program and information about becoming Leed Certified.
According to published statistics, for many buildings the total cost of operating and maintaining it throughout its life cycle is much higher than the original cost of its construction. If you own or lease a commercial building, investing in energy efficiency or renewable energy can help to offset the rising price of energy.
If you have not recently evaluated the efficiency of your facility it might be time to revisit your options. Efficiency improvements that at one time did not provide an attractive return on investment may now be a viable alternative to paying higher fuel costs. Consider utilizing light emitting diode (LED) lighting within your facility. When LEDs replace incandescent bulbs they tend to last much longer, are more energy efficient than other forms of electrical lighting, and you gain the added advantage of reducing you air conditioning load requirements during the summer.
BUILDING ANALYSIS
The reasons for building failures are diverse. It is seldom one problem alone that results in a costly failure. The causes for each failed building component can typically be categorized under one of the following standard headings:
§ defective design
§ poor design oversight (management)
§ incomplete construction documentation
§ poor communications
§ equipment or material performance issues
§ inferior workmanship
§ poor quality control
§ poor building maintenance
Building failures still occur today despite the many codes and standards that have been established over the years to mitigate such occurrences. The selected quotations below illustrate observations made years ago that are still relevant: “Failure in traditional, pre-modern, building typically results from the misuse of materials or methods of construction, whether from ignorance of correct practice or willful disregard of such practice to save time, money, or both.” Source: Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène-Emmanuel. Lectures on Architecture Vol. II.
“The risk of enclosure failure is neither as obvious, immediate, nor usually as catastrophic, as is the case with structural failure, so there is less pressure to develop the necessary theoretical or empirical basis. Details often seem reasonable when initially conceived and executed, as their intrinsic defects may be far from obvious. In fact, "obvious" or "common-sense" solutions are sometimes problematic.”Source: [Fitzmaurice, R.]. Principles of Modern Building Vol. 1, 3rd edition.