Products, Technology, What's Up
December 7, 2009
By Randall Braaksma

The venerable New York landmark is set for a $20 million upgrade. The goal is to make it a model of sustainability. To help make that happen, the skyscraper will get advanced lighting controls from Convia/A Herman Miller Company. Those controls will contribute to an expected 40% reduction in energy use.
Better World, Design, Technology
November 13, 2009
By Bill Holm

Note: This is the fourth in a series about Herman Miller’s Programmable Environments (PE) initiative. To read the first post, see “Getting Buildings and People In Sync.” Second post: “Cut Electrical Use, Get ‘Stimulused,’ and Earn LEED Credits.” Third post: “Energy Manager Saves Energy, Optimizes Real Estate, Cuts Costs.”
According to Always Building, Herman Miller’s book about PE, “To achieve programmable environments, we think about a digital as well as physical dimension of space.” Integrating the digital dimension can make a building smarter, more efficient, and responsive to the people who use it.
Read more
Better World, Design, Technology
November 6, 2009
By Bill Holm

Note: This is the third in a series. To read the first post, see “Getting Buildings and People In Sync.” For the second post, “Cut Electrical Use, Get ‘Stimulused,’ and Earn LEED Credits.”
What if someone invented a simple, affordable device you quickly attach to your car to save you gas? Genius, right?
Well then, check this out. It’s Herman Miller’s new Energy Manager—a simple, affordable device you quickly attach to your Herman Miller systems furniture (new or retrofit) to save you electrical energy, 24/7.
Read more
Better World, Design, Technology
October 30, 2009
By Bill Holm

Note: This is the second in a series. To read the first post, see “Getting Buildings and People In Sync.”
The nutshell idea for Programmable Environments (PE) is to use technology to fill new or existing buildings with intelligence. The building becomes a digital network so that permanent fixtures become adaptable. You can make them do exactly what you need them to do at any moment, change them instantly, and gather real time information about how they are used.
And it’s easy. Here’s the story:
Read more
Better World, Design, Technology
October 23, 2009
By Bill Holm
Note: This is the first in a series of four posts on Programmable Environments.
You hear it all the time: “Technology has changed everything.” Well, duh. But it’s not totally accurate. There’s one part of our daily lives that’s largely untouched by the changes. It’s the buildings where we work and live—static, rigid, set in their ways.
While technology makes us faster, our buildings often hold us back. Unable to keep up with change—much less enable change—our buildings become out of sync with us.
Read more