Working through grantees, it has had significant impact on promoting adoption of state and federal vehicle efficiency standards, more stringent residential and commercial building codes to reduce energy consumption, and development of renewable energy technology.

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With many markets, such as aerospace, industrial gas turbine and commercial building remaining soft, and the residential construction market being hampered by severe winter weather, Alcoa says that it will strengthen its performance by developing innovative products that add value for its customers.

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One of their investments is with a developer who needed 12 years to track down the hundreds of deeds for a property outside Mumbai, where he's building a residential, commercial and office project.

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Losses associated with commercial real estate, especially land development and residential building, were a major factor in the large number of U.S. bank failures since 2008.

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The amount of commercial building space rose about 25%, and total residential space (much less energy-intensive) grew about 50%.

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