The Problem: To build workspaces that effectively support people in everyday work situations, one needs to focus on both the technology and the physical environment in which work takes place. Much progress has been made in recent years in developing technology: Research in intelligent spaces—those spaces in which technology has been embedded in support of people’s tasks—has focused on such issu...

Air conditioning (AC) systems are responsible for the major percentage of energy consumption in buildings. Shared spaces constitute considerable office space area, in which most office employees perform their meetings and daily tasks, and therefore the ACs in these areas have significant impact on the energy usage of the entire office building. The cost of this energy consumption, however, is n...

Collaborative work with office suite documents demands new tools and methods for their control and ease-of-use. We identify twelve challenges to such collaborative software: time and space, awareness, communication, private and shared work spaces, intellectual property, simultaneity and locking, protection, workflow, security, file format, platform independence, and benefit. We use these challe...

Sustainable tall buildings that provide comfortable, healthy and efficient indoor environments are clearly desirable as the densification of living and working space for the world’s increasing population proceeds. For environmental concerns, these buildings must also be energy efficient. One component of these tasks is the provision of indoor air quality and thermal comfort, which can be enhanc...

Sustainable tall buildings that provide comfortable, healthy and efficient indoor environments are clearly desirable as the densification of living and working space for the world’s increasing population proceeds. For environmental concerns, these buildings must also be energy efficient. One component of these tasks is the provision of indoor air quality and thermal comfort, which can be enhanc...