1) Low walls, teaming spaces, and light colors keep our space open and well-lit.

Sound clouds keep our desk spaces quiet while we work on solitary projects.

2) Throughout the planning process, we prioritized skylights and daylighting to minimize our lighting load.

3) Occupancy sensors and dimmable lamps help minimize electricity used for lighting. In the background, you can see we’ve used special whiteboard paint that lets us write on the walls.

4) Our new plans include several small meeting rooms for meetings, informal brainstorming sessions, and webinars.

5) The Innovation Exchange library holds reference materials, CEE reports, and books. Browsing sharing resources can spark interdisciplinary problem-solving.

6) Our lab houses research activity closer to the rest of the CEE staff, encouraging questions and idea sharing. We use this “mini fume hood” for air quality research.

7) We’re moving towards a paperless office with iPads, laptops, shared monitors, and projector screens. And by shifting some of our files to the Google cloud, we’re reducing our server’s energy use while building a collaborative work culture.

8) We make it easy for our staff to use public transportation, walk, or bike to work.