Conference to Focus on "Green" Building Design

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A conference focusing on the opportunities, strategies and benefits of green building design -- with a special emphasis on the role of solar energy in buildings -- will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 8 in the Buffalo Convention Center.

"Green Design 2001: Solar Energy in Buildings" will feature three nationally recognized experts on solar energy who will address such topics as passive solar design, daylighting and building-integrated photovoltaics during introductory lectures in the morning session. The afternoon session will feature detailed technical workshops for professional training.

The solar experts are Dennis A. Andrejko, University at Buffalo professor of architecture and a registered architect with extensive experience in passive solar and sustainable design, particularly in residential applications; Don Aitken, principal in Donald Aitken Associates and a designer of cutting-edge, energy-efficient and solar buildings, and Steven Strong, president of Solar Design Associates, an architectural firm with an international reputation for pioneering integration of renewable energy systems -- especially solar electricity -- with environmentally responsive building design.

Also speaking with be Hillary Brown, director of New Civic Works of New York City and former director of the Office of Sustainable Design for New York City. Brown is an authority in integrating high-performance building practices into public works programs and the community development sector.

(See speakers' biographies at the end of this news release).

Walter Simpson, UB energy officer, and Erin Cala, environmental educator in the UB Green Office, are conference organizers. Among the numerous conference sponsors are the University at Buffalo's Department of Architecture, the UB Green Office, American Institute of Architect's Buffalo/WNY Chapter, Buffalo Public Schools, ReBuild America, Buffalo Niagara Partnership and the Women's Pavilion Pan-Am 2001.

The registration fee, which includes lunch and an information packet, is $40 ($20 for students). Conference information and a printable registration form are available at http://wings.buffalo.edu/ubgreen. Pre-registration is required.

Keynote speakers will be available for press interviews before the event. To arrange an interview or for more information about the conference, contact Erin Cala at the UB Green Office, 829-3535 or ecala@facilities.buffalo.edu.

CONFERENCE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

DONALD AITKEN, Ph.D. -- Principal, Donald Aitken Associates, Berkeley, Calif.; senior consulting scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists; affiliate faculty member, Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, the continuation of The Taliesin Fellowship, founded in 1932 by Frank Lloyd Wright to provide a learning/living environment for men and women pursuing the ideals of an organic architecture. Previously research physicist at Stanford University; executive director of the Western Regional Solar Energy Center for U.S. Department of Energy. Designed pioneering energy-efficient and solar buildings. Internationally renowned lecturer on daylighting, energy policy, and on implications of global climate change for the building community. Two-time national chairman of the American Solar Energy Society.

DENNIS A. ANDREJKO, AIA -- Principal, Andrejko and Associates, and associate professor of architecture, University at Buffalo. Registered architect in New York, California and Arizona with extensive passive solar and sustainable design experience, particularly in residential applications. His work has been published in numerous books and journals, including Solar Age, Solar Today, Sunset Magazine, Research and Design, and Progressive Architecture, as well as featured in exhibits in West Germany, Japan and Canada. Co-author of Passive Solar Architecture: Logic and Beauty; editor of Assessment of Solar Energy Technologies (ASES).

HILLARY BROWN, AIA -- Director, New Civic Works, New York, N.Y. Integrating high-performance building practices into public works programs and the community development sector. Former assistant commissioner of design and construction (director of the Office of Sustainable Design), City of New York. Managing editor and contributing author of NYC's High Performance Building Guidelines, internationally recognized for its comprehensive approach to green building practices. Board member, New York Chapter of U.S. Green Building Council. Recipient of New York AIA Chapter's 2000 "Public Architect Award."

STEVEN STRONG -- President, Solar Design Associates, Harvard University. International reputation for pioneering integration of renewable energy systems -- especially solar electricity -- with environmentally responsive building design. Designed world's first photovoltaic (PV) powered neighborhood in central Massachusetts. Consultant to project powering the 1996 Olympics Natatorium Complex in Atlanta with the world's largest roof-top PV system. Expert in building integrated PV. Author of Solar Electric House and Solar Electric Buildings. Energy and environmental advisor to two senators, three governors and three presidential candidates. In the spring of 1999, TIME magazine named him an environmental "Hero of the Planet."