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Greenprints: Sustainable Communities
by Design brings world-class speakers to a broad audience
at one of the country's most comprehensive, affordably priced
green building conferences. In addition to hands-on, interactive
learning sessions, Greenprints Master Speaker Sessions offer
attendees unique access to nationally recognized experts
leading the way in conserving energy and preserving our natural
and financial resources.
Amy Vickers
In her session, "Water and the Built Environment: Cost-effective
strategies for design professionals," Vickers addresses issues
of water conservation. Specifically, she speaks to state-of-the-art
water efficiency technologies and practices.ÿ More than 100
water conservation measures can be applied to the residential,
landscape (design and irrigation), commercial and industrial
sectors.ÿ Her ideas broaden horizons for people who believe
water efficiency is mostly about low-volume plumbing fixtures
and rainwater harvesting. As an engineer, Vickers "talks numbers," including
potential water savings, energy reduction and pollution prevention.
Of course Vickers also touches on investment costs related
to water efficiency measures.ÿ Also, tying to the Greenprints
Visionary Dinner, she explores the importance of efficient
agricultural irrigation and the related effects of organic
farming upon community water systems and the surrounding watersheds.
Vickers is President of Amy Vickers & Associates, Inc. An
engineer by trade, Vickers has worked with cities, water utilities,
government agencies, corporations and NGOs on a diverse range
of water conservation projects in the United States and abroad.
She is the author of the award-winning Handbook of Water Use
and Conservation: Homes, Landscapes, Businesses, Industries,
Farms.
Nigel Howard
At Howard's "What's Up in the land of LEED" session, the audience
can expect to hear how the USGBC's message of market transformation
is being realized, the motivating factors and how LEED works
within the climate of the marketplace to promote change. The
audience will also hear about the development and piloting
of new LEED products. Explore with Howard how to become a USGBC
member, join a local Chapter, seek LEED certification of a
project or become a LEED Accredited Professional.
Howard serves as Vice President of the U.S. Green Building
Council (USGBC) and is responsible for LEED and the overall
day-to-day management of the USGBC Washington headquarters
office. Formerly Director of the Centre for Sustainable Construction
in the UK, Howard has more than 25 years of experience working
on the energy and environmental impacts of buildings.
Alex Wilson
Wilson's session "Cutting Edge Building Technologies: A Look
Into the Near Future" provides an update of the most exciting
technologies, products and trends that are shaping the green
building industry. He elaborates on today's green building
trends, describing a sampling of innovative green building
products and practices. He will enlighten his audience with
thoughts on where the industry is headed. The audience will
be encouraged to chime in with questions and interactive dialog
at the end of the session.
Wilson has written extensively about energy-efficient and
environmentally responsible design and construction. Prior
to starting his own company in 1985, that publishes Environmental
Building News, he was Executive Director of the Northeast Sustainable
Energy Association. He is co-author of the Consumer Guide to
Home Energy Savings and the Rocky Mountain Institute's comprehensive
textbook Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate.
Katherine Ellison
At the opening plenary session, the keynote speech given by
Ellison will primarily focus on the environmental success stories
of New York City. New York City has saved money by investing
in the conservation of its huge natural asset, the Catskill
Delaware watershed. Other examples of conservation success
include the creative approach to flood protection in Napa,
a wine country town in California that has become an elegant
tourist destination. Ellison also talks about emerging markets
in pollution credits, especially for carbon dioxide emissions,
as a controversial tool in the effort to control climate change.
All of these stories exemplify how financial incentives can
lead to new and effective conservation strategies.
Ellison works as a consulting writer for the Center for Conservation
Biology at Stanford University, focusing on recognizing the
value of natural systems and the profitability of their protection.
She is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist with Knight Ridder
Newspapers, and has co-authored The New Economy of Nature.
Judith Heerwagen
Heerwagen will present an overview of what we now know about
the links between the physical environment, health, productivity
and well being. Delivering beyond the current emphasis in sustainability
on air quality and daylight, Heerwagen includes research on
spatial syntax, biophilia, communications processes, social
networks, health psychology and cognitive ergonomics. She will
cover issues, including the latest thinking about how daylight,
sunlight, distant views, connections to nature, privacy, social
spaces and sensory variability influence productivity, health
and well being. The presentation will also discuss the business
value of investing in design for people.
Heerwagen is an environmental psychologist focusing on habitability,
workplace ecology and the human factors of sustainability.
Working with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and
in her own consulting practice, Heerwagen has worked on projects
for Sun Microsystems, Fidelity Investments, Boeing Commercial
Airplane Company, the American Institute of Architects, Herman
Miller, the U.S. General Services Administration, the National
Institutes of Health, the U.S. Navy and Public Works Canada.
Steven Strong
Strong will present a comprehensive overview of how PV is
incorporated in buildings, showcasing BIPV products and applications
in the US, Europe and Japan using the best built examples as
case studies. In the day-long workshop, "Solar Powered Design-Photovoltaics
in Buildings," architects, designers and electricians will
learn how to "plug in" to solar power. This workshop provides
an overview, from rooftop to building-integrated systems, with
one of the world's foremost experts in solar design.
Strong is regarded as the pre-eminent authority on integration
of renewable energy systems in buildings in North America.
Drawing on his background in architecture and engineering,
he has earned a reputation for pioneering integration of renewable
energy systems - especially solar electricity - with environmentally
responsive building design. His firm consults to architects
in the integration of solar electric power, and to industry
leaders on product development for building integration. And
Strong is the U.S. Representative to the International Energy
Agency's expert working group on PV in Buildings. He is the
author of The Solar Electric House and Solar Electric Buildings,
an overview of today's applications, editor and contributing
author of Photovoltaics in the Built Environment, a design
guide for architects and engineers as well as contributing
author to Photovoltaics in Buildings and Building with Photovoltaics.
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