12 'World Changing Ideas'

Fast Company has announced the winners of the first-ever World Changing Ideas Awards. The magazine chose 12 winners out of 1,000 entrees and 192 finalists. "Each of these projects represents the best of social entrepreneurship, where innovation and impact are intersecting," according to the post announcing the winners.

Among the winners are several ideas of direct relevance to planners, planning, and communities of all sizes, such as:

• Fair Value Commuting, by Joint Venture Silicon Valley. This idea would create incentives for shared commuting "by aggregating mobility services like Lyft and Car2Go in a single platform, incentivizing employees to make use of those services by fining single-occupancy vehicle commuters (who will be tracked on real-time commute dashboard), and supporting better public transportation and bike infrastructure."
• Grid OS, by Opus One. According to Fast Company, Grid OS isn't a clean energy source: "It’s a better way of managing the impact of clean energy on the grid." Improvements are achieved by data analysis software that models distributed energy sources in real time, "bringing greater visibility 'inside' the grid." Grid OS aims to provide a key benefit to the expanding use of microgrids.
• Homes for Hope, by the USC School of Architecture and Madworkshop Homeless Studio. Students from the USC School of Architecture "designed modular houses that can be stacked and provide fast and simple housing to get people off the streets."