Introduction
The Robert L. Preger Intelligent Workplace™ at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) was made possible by an unprecedented collaborative effort between industry, government and the university. Opened in December 1997, the IW demonstrates the economic feasibility to:
- Improve user satisfaction
- Provide unprecedented levels of organizational flexibility
- Provide unprecedented levels of technological adaptability
- Maximize energy and environmental effectiveness.
This is accomplished in a "living" (always updated to feature advanced systems, components, and materials) and "lived-in"(that is occupied by "real" users and organizations) laboratory setting.
At Public Works Canada, he co-developed the Total Building Performance Evaluation method. Since 1988, Dr. Hartkopf has directed the Advanced Building Systems Integration Consortium (ABSIC), an industry-university-government partnership dedicated to improving the quality of the workplace.
Mission
The mission of the Intelligent Workplace is to research and demonstrate advanced building systems and their integration for total building performance.
The IW demonstrates the economic feasibility of a four-fold improvement of quality of life (as measured through occupants' satisfaction) and a three- to four-fold reduction in energy consumption and environmental impact. As up to 40% of the greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the energy expended for heating, cooling, lighting and ventilating buildings (almost half of that in commercial buildings), the Intelligent Workplace™ demonstrates the potential of reducing greenhouse gas emissions during the life of the project by a factor of three to four while simultaneously improving the quality of life, thereby de-coupling the argument that by reducing greenhouse gas emission in the United States our quality of life would have to suffer.
Goals and Objectives
The goals of the IW™ are to provide:
- User comfort and satisfaction
- Organizational Flexibility
- Technological Adaptability
- Environmental Sustainability
Implementing advances in individual comfort and productivity will require that both interior system and engineering infrastructures are "plug and play" to ensure that furniture and space reconfigurations for individual productivity and creativity are immediately matched by technology and environment reconfigurations for occupants' comfort and health.
Implementing advances in organizational flexibility will require that all workplaces be reconfigurable on demand to ensure "organizational flexibility" for varying team sizes - supporting collaboration and individual thinking for organizational productivity, creativity and innovation.
Implementing advances in technological adaptability will require that vertical and horizontal pathways for connectivity are accessible and open and that both interior systems and servicing infrastructures such as HVAC, data, voice, video, power and controls, support changing technological demands.
Implementing advances in environmental sustainability will require that both energy and resources are used effectively over the facility's, its systems', components', and materials' life cycles. Concepts such as system effectiveness, user controls, micro-zoning for flex-time, just-in-time delivery of infrastructures, environmentally sustainable and healthy materials, and natural conditioning should all be demonstrated and measured compared to standard practice.