The Eiffel Tower has been named as the most valuable monument of Europe in a new survey. It is difficult to believe now that the Eiffel Tower was originally built to last for only two decades. But thankfully it stayed on and became a permanent fixture on the Parisian landscape. The iconic 324-metre high structure has been named as the most valuable monument in Europe worth a staggering US$ 545 billion, according to a new study. Research commissioned by Italy's Monza and Brianza Chamber of Commerce considered monuments' image, branding and aesthetic qualities to determine a monetary value. Built in 1889 as the entrance arch to the World Trade Fair, the Eiffel Tower is the most visited paid for tourist attraction in the world which last year saw 7.1 million people climb to one of its three viewing platforms. A whopping 200 million visitors have now visited the landmark since it opened and the tower is still the tenth tallest lattice style building on the planet. Construction of the tower had been the subject of some controversy; attracting criticism from both those who doubted it was feasible and those were against the idea on artistic grounds. Their objections were a continuation of the longstanding debate about the relationship between architecture and engineering. Part of the original design rules were that it could be easily demolished but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the permit granted by the city expired. Eiffel Tower's value is five times more than its nearest rival the Coliseum in Rome, which is valued at US$ 114 billion. The gladiatorial Amphitheatre which was completed in 80AD draws about 4 million tourists a year to its crumbling interior. On the third place is the Sagrada Familia. Although it is still not finished Gaudi's famous cathedral in Barcelona is worth US$ 112 billion and is the continent's third most valuable monument. The UK's most valuable monument is deemed to be the 1,000-year-old Tower of London, which is worth an estimated US$ 88.7 billion to the British economy. In excess of 2 million visitors enter the tower, which is now looked after by the Historic Royal Palaces charity, every year. Other famous European landmarks on the list included the Duomo cathedral in Milan worth US$ 102.9 billion, Madrid's Prado Museum worth US$ 72.8 billion and Britain's Stonehenge worth US$ 13 billion. Stonehenge in Wiltshire dates from prehistoric times Wiltshire and is one of the most famous sites in the world. Composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks its attraction lies not just in its age, but also the mystery that surrounds its construction - before the age of mechanical lifting equipment. It is at the center of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds. The gothic Duomo cathedral in Milan took nearly six centuries to complete and is the fourth largest cathedral in the world and the largest in Italy. The survey also put a price of US$ 101.4 billion on the White House in Washington DC. Home to the President of the United States the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aqua sandstone in the neoclassical style. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams.

The government of Dubai has green-lit the Emirates' first sustainable building and construction is now well underway. The building, which is dedicated to the water and civil division of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), is designed to significantly cut down energy consumption and generate 600kW of electricity using solar power. The project is scheduled to be finished within the next few months. The building project, which is coming together on Shaikh Zayed Road in Al Quoz, is a massive undertaking and will have a total space of around 31.6 thousand square meters. The Dubai government claims it will be the first of their buildings to be constructed according to the highest green building standards. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, CEO and MD of Dewa has said that the entire construction process is being done in accordance with the highest green building standards and features in the emirate, specifically the Green Economy for Sustainable Development Initiative announced by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai. Using the city's ever-growing public transport system, the building is situated near First Gulf Bank Metro station and enjoys high connectivity. This building will implement "building management system", which will help save efforts and conserve electricity consumption, and automate all monitoring operations. The management system will manage HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) units in the facility in a way to allow electricity savings and automated control operations. The building also follows the standards of saving electricity and water, and has the ability to generate 600kW of electricity using solar power. The facility is also equipped with high efficiency insulatives and smart building systems. It also uses LED technology in lighting, which allows saving 50 % of the energy used to protect environment as part of the commitment and responsibility towards society. The building offers bicycle parking places with 5% of its parking places designated for environmentally-friendly vehicles.

Mark Zuckerberg wired together nearly 1 billion people on the Web. Now the ambitious young entrepreneur is building another kind of community, this one out of bricks and mortar. Construction is booming along a bustling stretch that cuts through the center of Facebook Inc.'s campus in Silicon Valley, which construction started in 2011. Here the social networking giant is designing its own Main Street, putting in storefronts that will cater only to Facebook employees, whether they're in the mood for a straight-razor shave or nigiri rolls. As reported The Los Angeles Times it will be called "Zucker Burg". Unlike the days of Henry Ford and George Pullman, when industrialists built towns surrounding manufacturing operations, Facebook is bringing retail shops onto its sprawling private campus on the outskirts of Menlo Park where there are few commercial establishments other than fast-food joints. The company is subsidizing the construction; handpicked merchants will offer discounted prices to employees. High-tech superpowers such as Google Inc. and Facebook are engaged in an escalating race to pamper employees with free food and luxuries such as complimentary laundry and dry-cleaning services. But Facebook had to come up with new carrots when it moved its headquarters a few months ago to a suburban outpost at the edge of tidal mud flats and salt marshes cut off from the rest of Menlo Park by a six-lane highway.

Italy's government has unveiled a fire sale of some real gems of the country's heritage due to difficult economic situation in country. The government hopes to raise about 42 billion euro through the property sales. Turning some of this real estate into cash would be a fast way to raise revenue for the country's cash-strapped municipalities, states and national government. Prime Minister Mario Monti's plan for the economy, which is close to final passage, includes the sale of 350 buildings along with cuts to public spending and other austerity measures. The government hopes to raise about 1.5 billion euro through the property sales during first phase. The 350 properties include army barracks in Bologna, which were formerly occupied by the Defense Ministry, and Soriano nel Cimino's Orsini Castle, in the Lazio region, which was built by a pope in the 1270s and later used as a prison. The city of Venice has put a 19 million euro price tag on the 18th century Diedo Palace, which served as a criminal court for years and is now being marketed to foreign investors by Hera Immobiliare. It is one of 18 properties Venice has put on the block. Milan is selling more than 100 buildings, including the Palazzo Bolis Gualdo at 12 Via Bagutta, in the city's famous fashion district. That building's price tag is 31 million euro. But the plan to sell properties faces headwinds. Many institutional investors, fearing a collapse of the euro, essentially have redlined Italy as well as other members of the euro zone with the biggest financial problems, including Spain and Greece. Moreover, investors would have to assume the risk of dealing with the notoriously slow Italian bureaucracy, fixing up the properties and then finding tenants at a time of anemic economic growth. Italy isn't the only struggling European country looking for profit from historical buildings. At the beginning of this year Greece put ancient sites for rent.

London's Blackfriars Tube station is on its way to becoming the world's largest solar bridge. Stretching across South Bank a stone's throw from the Tate Modern, the busy station, built by Solarcentury, has already reached the halfway point to completion. Construction on the world's largest solar bridge began on October 2011. Blackfriars Tube station is still fully functioning, ferrying Londoners and tourists from the popular South Bank promenade to areas all over the city. Yet construction is still underway across the bridge's rooftop. Heavy scaffolding is slowly being removed to reveal the 4,400 solar panels that will serve the station, pumping 900 thousand kWh of solar energy back into the grid each year. The solar powerhouse will also reduce CO2 emissions by 511 tons per year, all while promptly serving commuters with uninterrupted service around the city. The gorgeous Victorian bridge is the only bearing solar panels along the River Thames. With stellar city views, boats pass under the bridge's arches throughout the day, while the station serves 24 trains per hour. Pedestrians strolling along the South Bank walk way pass under the historic bridge, check out the progress of its solar modernization. The idyllic scene could be just a glimpse of London's future. With over 100 bridges crossing the River Thames throughout the city, adding additional solar arrays on any of them could drastically reduce the city's consumption of fossil fuels, and ensure a source of clean energy for generations to come, reducing emissions and overall carbon footprint.