Last week, my friend and former classmate Saul Griffith visited Continuum’s Boston office to share some of his thoughts on energy.

Saul is a busy guy and, among other things, he runs a renewable energy startup in Alameda, California called Makani Power.  Many folks have inquired (with rightful interest) about Makani’s work with high altitude wind, but given that the company is still operating in “stealth” mode, there’s not been much to share.  Instead, Saul has been taking his speaking engagements as opportunities to talk about another topic close to his heart, energy literacy.  He believes, as do I, that we need to reframe the conversation from being about what is politically possible to what is technically necessary.

At Continuum, Saul shared two stories with us – one global, one personal – aiming to give us a more tangible sense of our energy consumption, and of what it will take to meet that consumption in the future.  He told us the global story in very big numbers, addressing the issues of climate change, global energy consumption, and fossil fuels.  He shared his second story, the personal one, by focusing on the decisions we make in our everyday lives and the energy impacts that come with them.  While sick in bed with the flu last winter, Saul rigorously calculated his own energy footprint, taking into account his home, his workplace, his travel and commuting, even getting into the nitty gritty detail of the stuff he owns, the food he eats, the trash that’s hauled from his house to the dump every week, and his 1/300 millionth share of the U.S. government’s energy expenditures. By combining a broad world view with his individual perspective, he clearly illustrated the magnitude of the energy challenge.

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One of our goals at Continuum is to partner with the best designers across the globe.  Elephant, a leading design consultancy in India, has become our newest partner in the quest to offer the best design and innovation to our clients worldwide.

Continuum and Elephant share a belief in the value of design. Both firms believe that design can help drive business success and that it is an essential contributor to the creation of value for economies, businesses, citizens and society.

Continuum and Elephant will use this partnership to: educate, share a cross cultural understanding of ideas and processes, assess emerging opportunities together and provide thought leadership on design’s ability to enact economic and social change.

Over the past five years, Continuum’s business has shifted dramatically toward a diverse project portfolio with global emphasis.  This partnership will help further strengthen this reality.

“Elephant is a respected and inspiring member of the global design community. Working with them thus far has provided a wealth of opportunity and learning. By formalizing this partnership we can continue the great work we have started and put our heads together toenvision bigger and better possibilities,” noted Dan Buchner, vice president of organizational innovation.

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I have found myself in some interesting research situations in my career, but none quite like my recent project. This time I was talking to people because they were HOMELESS. Along with Kristen Johnson, a fellow envisioner at Continuum, Chris Miller, a professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design,  I was selected to organize a workshop at the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference (EPIC) 2008. This year’s conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark and focused on using fast and efficient research methods to understand social problems, like homelessness.

Then came the hard part…we actually had to do the research.

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