The "intelligent workplace" at carnegie mellon university has, without question, the best view on campus. Built atop an existing building, it commands an almost 360-degree panorama and, equipped with state-of-the-art office technology, is an unusually pleasant place to work. But it's also a place with a tough job: to prove that an initial investment in a "smart" facility not only benefits workers but also saves money in the long run.

The showcase office is a collaborative effort of Carnegie Mellon's Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics (CBPD) and the Advanced Building Systems Integration Consortium, made up of government agencies and manufacturers of building and office products and systems. The project tests new technologies and hopes to demonstrate that these systems together as an integrated whole can result in significant savings over a building's lifetime.