The 2014 Vision 2020 Sustainability Summit took place last Tuesday at Greenbuild, New Orleans.
For a growing number of industry-leading builders, architects, developers, manufacturers and financers, the summit has been the one place, the one day that has delivered the insight to uncover opportunities for nnovation and leadership in sustainability. Visionary practitioners across the green bulding industry have taken a deep into the future of sustainable design, examining strategies, benchmarks and metrics on what our industry needs to do to achieve critical sustainability goals for 2020 and beyond.
Let’s give a look at the schedule:
PROGRAM
8:00 – 8:20 am
Topic: Energy Efficiency + Building Science
Session Title: Building Science Is Critical To Meeting 2020 Energy-Efficiency Targets
Presenter: Steve Winter, FAIA
“The efficient energy performance of a building is made or broken in accordance with how building science is applied by its designers, builders, and operators.”
Steven Winter, FAIA, is founder and president of Steven Winter Associates. Winter has been at the forefront of the U.S. sustainable/green building movement since its inception. He is past chair of the U.S. Green Building Council and was instrumental in the launching of its LEED program and the Greenbuild convention.
8:20 – 8:40 am
Topic: Energy Efficiency + Building Science
Session Title: Moving Building Technology to the Era of Zero-Energy Buildings.
Presenter: Paul Torcellini
“Today’s buildings will be used for at least 20 to 50 years and the design decisions that are being made today will mortgage energy futures. To change this direction, we must construct buildings that are energy producers instead of consumers—that is, buildings must produce at least as much energy as they consume each year.”
Paul Torcellini is a principal engineer with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and is a recognized expert in methods and technologies to achieve substantial whole building energy savings in both new construction and major renovations.
9:30 – 9:50 am
Topic: Water Efficiency
Session Title: Recent Droughts Are a Renewed Wake-Up Call to Thoughtful Action
Presenter: Doug Bennett
“What we need is a sea change in the way we plan and build communities to ensure all buildings use water efficiently for their entire lifetime—the type of change that can only be accomplished by sensible development policies tailored for each community’s water supply strategy.”
Doug Bennett has more than 24 years’ professional experience relating to water management. As the Conservation Manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority in Las Vegas, he oversees one of the most comprehensive water conservation programs in the United States.
10:05 – 10:25 am
Topic: Indoor Environmental Quality
Session Title: In a Net-Zero Economy, Architecture Will Celebrate Climate, Culture, and Region, Balancing Deep Conservation With the Dynamic Embrace Of Natural Conditioning.
Presenter: Vivian Loftness, FAIA
“We need to design for “environmental surfing”: maximizing natural conditioning in ways specific to each climate, and minimizing energy and water resource extraction and pollution; maximizing local materials and reducing their transportation impact and toxicity; and simplifying technological complexity with just-in-time and just-where-needed technological innovation.”
Vivian Loftness, FAIA, is an internationally renowned researcher, author, and educator focused on environmental design and sustainability, climate, and regionalism in architecture, and the integration of advanced building systems for health and productivity.
11:00 – 11:20 am
Topic: Codes, Standards And Rating System
Session Title: Are Architects Unaware Of Their Legal Obligations Under Licensure, Or Are They Simply Negligent?
Presenter: Maureen Guttman, AIA
“Over the next 10 to 15 years, global pressures—cost and availability of fossil fuels, new and affordable technologies for measurement and verification, a tax on carbon emissions—will ratchet up the “standard of care” for building designers.”
Maureen Guttman, AIA, is president of the Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP).
A licensed architect with more than 25 years of experience in energy-efficient and green building design, she oversees a nationwide campaign to support the adoption and implementation of today’s model energy codes.
11:35 – 11:55 am
Topic: Economics + Financing
Session Title: Smart Metering Needs To Get Even Smarter
Presenter: Philip Henderson
“Commercial buildings often waste gigantic amounts of energy, but it appears normal until the faults are detected. Innovation in information technology has given us tools that can help operate buildings better, and utilities can be great partners in the endeavor by delivering smart meter reports with intelligence and insights.”
Philip Henderson is a senior financial policy specialist with the Center for Market Innovation at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where he works with market participants, utility programs, and government on projects related to energy efficiency in buildings.
1:20 – 1:40 pm
Topic: Material + Products
Session Title: Visible Green: New Material Opportunities in Sustainable Design
Presenter: Blaine Brownell, AIA
“The coming material transformation will be significant. New environmentally attuned materials, assemblies, and applications will bring about a measurable shift in manufacturing.”
Blaine Brownell, AIA, is an architect, author, educator, and former Fulbright scholar. He earned a B.Arch. with a Certificate in East Asian Studies at Princeton University in 1992, and an M.Arch. from Rice University in 1998.
1:55 – 2:15 pm
Topic: Building Design + Performance
Session Title: Architecture, Like Grass, Could Always Be Greener … Lessons Learned From the Hudson Passive Project
Presenter: Dennis Wedlick, AIA
“How do architects motivate their clients to invest in the time, effort, and specialties that are required of energy-conservation guidelines? We believe that finding hard evidence of efficacy is the first step, and this is the purpose of the research for our Hudson Passive Project.”
Dennis Wedlick, AIA, is the founder and co-owner of BarlisWedlick Architects, based in Manhattan and Hudson, N.Y.
2:50 – 3:10 pm
Topic: Building Design + Performance
Session Title: Resilient Design gor The Long Haul
Presenter: Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA
“While the focus on resilient design is critically important, I believe it needs to be a part of a broader understanding of how to effectively design for the future. Beyond focusing on single acute events, like hurricanes and tornadoes, we also need to address the chronic changes that are already underway because of climate change.”
Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA, is a founder of the sustainable design initiative at HOK, a global design firm whose pioneering green leadership has helped propel sustainability from a fringe activity to a significant mainstream movement shaping the future of architecture. She is currently on leave from HOK serving as the Resident Fellow for AIA National on Sustainability and Design for Health.
3:25 – 3:45 pm
Topic: Sustainable Communities
Session Title: Retrofitting Suburbia For 21st Century Challenges
Presenter: Ellen Dunham-Jones, AIA
“The simple fact is that suburbia wasn’t designed with sustainability in mind, but its aging generation of commercial strip corridors, dying shopping centers, and out-of-date office parks are providing us the opportunity for a radical do-over.”
Ellen Dunham-Jones, AIA, is an award-winning architect, professor, and coordinator of the M.S. in Urban Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology, chair of the Board of Directors of the Congress for the New Urbanism, and serves on the national AIA Design and Health Leadership Group.
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