CoreNet's workplace and economic development innovations top winners

How office space is truly utilized and a transatlantic partnership among four cities highlight innovations that earned awards from CoreNet Global handed out at the San Diego Global Summit. Herman Miller, which in collaboration with Hewlett-Packard (HP), picked up one of the first of the new Industry Excellence Awards (IEA), will join several other winners in competing for the coveted H. Bruce Russell Global Innovator's Award that will be given out next fall. And four cities - Tucson; Arizona; Ottawa; Berlin; and Manchester, England - created Global Advantage, a partnership to promote internationalization leading to economic growth in high tech sectors in each city. They are a winner of the Economic Development and Leadership Award (EDLA). EDLA winners will also compete for a Global Innovator's Award, which will be announced at the Orlando Global Summit in November. Other IEA award winners include C&W, which persuaded Discovery Communications to pursue Platinum LEED certification for an existing building, as well as an ENERGY STAR rating by the EPA. Gensler and HP created a new guideline that, among other things, helps change attitudes towards work and work styles. And, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and Motorola developed a software tool that utilizes occupancy data to create work profiles for individuals and business units. Occupancy is the focus of Herman Miller and HP, whose space utilization service identifies "what seat is being sat on and when," providing reliable data for more efficient occupancy alternatives. The other winner of the EDLA was Saginaw Future which faced the daunting task of preventing a $1 billion expansion of Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. (HSC) from leaving central Michigan. The company announced a $500m expansion at its Michigan site, but until Saginaw Future stepped in was poised take a $1 billion expansion elsewhere. Those accepting IEA are: * Debra Cesaro, IIDA, Workplace Professional Services sr. manager, sales and marketing, Herman Miller *Joseph Schechtel, director, global client solutions, C&W. *Gervais Tompkin, principal, Gensler *Lenny Beaudoin, senior VP, JLL *Gillian Lunn, iWork global program manager, Motorola IEA judges include: *Mike Webber - Microsoft *Chris Kane - BBC Property *Peter Fordyce - Group GSA *Joel Ratekin - Ratekin Consulting, LLC *Lynda Ward - JLL Those accepting EDLA are: *John Grabo, director- marketing and international programs, University of Arizona *JoAnn Crary, CEcD, president, Saginaw Future Inc. *Lisa Dancsok, sr. VP, MEDC EDLA judges include: *Holly Wiedman - Miami-Dade Beacon Council *Dan Boutross - Bank of America *Blain Trendler - Intel Corp. *Sanjiv Awasthi - Fidelity Investments.