AMD\'s new Austin Campus will include a "Halo Studio", a virtual meeting room that is equipped with the latest telepresence technology and is optimized for video collaboration between globally dispersed teams. AMD\'s telepresence system will utilize broadcast-quality cameras and optics to deliver seamless, no perceived delay collaboration around the world, eliminating the need for airplane and automobile travel for in-person meetings. Telepresence recreates face-to-face meetings virtually so employees and partners can build relationships, review products and documents and make decisions faster without leaving their offices. Halo users can interrupt one another, express their emotional reactions when they feel them, and otherwise, act as they would in a regular face-to-face meeting. The end result: everyone feels as if they are in the same room, when in reality, they may be thousands of miles away on different continents. By reducing employee travel, these systems minimize the greenhouse gas footprint for Halo-enabled buildings while improving worker productivity, satisfaction and health. In addition, Halo rooms use US EPA Energy Star rated plasma displays and revert to standby mode when not in use, reducing energy use by 40%. AMD\'s offices are spread around the country and around the world. "Americans make more than 405 million long-distance [over 50 miles] business trips per year, accounting for 16% of all long-distance travel" (from "America on the Go", U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics, October 2003). Halo rooms have the potential to significantly reduce the number of long-distance trips made by business travelers and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions. Bill McGee writes in USA Today of a Consumer Reports study on carbon footprints for air travel: "We used 11 leading carbon calculators to assess our footprint using the standard measurement of pounds of CO2. For a flight from New York to Los Angeles, we found that one passenger generated anywhere from 1,924 pounds to 6,732 pounds." (from "On the Road with Bill McGee", USA Today, online: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/mcgee/2008-01-30-fuzzy-math_N…) These statistics indicate that a single "Halo Studio" meeting with a mix of attendees from around the country and within Austin can divert roughly 15,512 lbs. or 7.8 tons of CO2. Over the course of a year, this single "Halo Studio" could divert hundreds or even thousands of tons of CO2. (Calculation: 4 cross-country round trip plane flights= 1,924 lbs. CO2 x 2 trips x 4 attendees = 15,392 lbs. CO2; 4 short distance car trips = 15 lbs CO2 per mile x 2 trips x 4 attendees = 120 lbs. CO2; total = 15,392 + 120 = 15,512 lbs. CO2) Telepresence systems are offered by several companies including Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Teliris and Polycom. AMD\'s Halo system was developed by Hewlett-Packard. These systems are distinct from traditional videoconferencing due to the immersive quality of communication provided by the telepresence solutions. For example, the offerings from HP utilize multiple display screens, broadcast quality cameras, a fiber optic network and include technology that enable people to connect to multiple sites around the world at the same time, offering everyone a "same-room" communication experience. There are up front investment requirements, including the cost of the studios (pricing varies depending on the type of telepresence solution, but top of the line HP studios, for example, list for $349,000 USD per studio) and some systems also have a monthly service fees. We would like to establish a precedent Innovation in Design credit that recognizes telepresence technology and significant efforts to reduce the ecological footprint of meetings in standard business practice. Is this an appropriate innovation credit?