8:00 am - 9:15 am

Reflection session and discussion on "Cities and ENERGY"

Dr. Stephen A. Hammer, Lecturer in Energy Planning, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cities and Energy:
   - Overview of the urban energy system
   - The nature of local energy system governance (general + NYC)
   - Challenges/issues to keep in mind over the course of the day

Suggested Readings

Hammer, PlaNYC Energy chapter 2011, City of New York.

Presentation Materials:

Slides: Cities and Energy: An overview + introduction to energy policymaking in New York City
 

9:15 am - 9:30 am

Coffee Break
 

9:30 am - 10:50 am

Sustainable Architecture

Serge Appel, Assocaite Partner, Cook + Fox Architects

Suggested Readings

Terrapin Bright Green, The Economics of Biophilia.

A Conversation With E.O. Wilson. [PDF version]

Eliza Griswold. How 'Silent Spring' by Rachel Carlson Ignited the Environmental Movement. New York Times. September 12, 2012. [PDF version]

Videos

Cook+Fox Architects, Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park in Manhattan, New York City.

A short article on ArchDaily about the Bank of America Tower:
"The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park in midtown New York, designed by Cook + Fox Architects, is the first commercial high-rise to achieve LEED Platinum certification. The design and high performance of this building is intended to set a new standard for commercial construction and for the office-work environment. By focusing on ways to emphasize daylight, fresh air and a connection to the outdoors, the architects redefine the parameters of the skyscraper as more than a glass box."

Janine Benyus, video-lecture on Biomimicry:
In this TED talk about recent developments in biomimicry, Janine Benyus provides heartening examples of ways in which nature is already influencing the products and systems we build. A self-proclaimed nature nerd, Janine Benyus' concept of biomimicry has galvanized scientists, architects, designers and engineers into exploring new ways in which nature's successes can inspire humanity.

Biophilic Design: the Architecture of Life.Executive producer: Dr. Stephen R. Kellert.
[See trailer online]
Dr. Stephen R. Kellert is the Tweedy Ordway Professor Emeritus of Social Ecology and Senior Research Scholar at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Abstract -- Humans have an inherent inclination to affiliate with nature instrumental to their physical and mental health, productivity and wellbeing, something called biophilia. The biological basis for this need will be briefly explained, as well as limited evidence to support it. This need is highly influenced, however, by learning, culture and experience. Unfortunately, data suggests contact with nature in modern society has greatly diminished, especially among children and in urban settings. In many ways, the natural habitat of many people has become the built environment where on average we spend 90% of our time. Biophilic design is a strategy for restoring beneficial contact between people and nature in the modern built environment, which along with low environmental impact design, is viewed as the necessary basis for sustainability, health, and biophilic design in a variety of learning, health, work, and community contexts, particularly in a recently completed film, Biophilic Design: the Architecture of Life. 

Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth. 2006.
The full documentary is available online here.

Lecture at Yale University (February, 2012) with Amory Lovins on Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era.
A conversation with Amory Lovins, co-founder, chairman, and chief scientist of the Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Institute, an independent think-and-do-tank. He will discuss his book Reinventing Fire, which maps business-led pathways for the U.S. to phase out fossil fuels and win the global clean energy race. Building on Rocky Mountain Institute's 30 years of research and fieldwork, Lovins contends that by 2050 the U.S. economy could exist without oil, coal, nuclear energy -- or any new inventions. An advisor to major firms and governments in over 50 countries for the past four decades, Amory Lovins is the recipient of the Blue Planet, Volvo, Zayed, Onassis, Nissan, Shingo, and Mitchell Prizes, MacArthur and Ashoka Fellowships, 11 honorary doctorates, and the Heinz, Lindbergh, Right Livelihood, National Design, and World Technology Awards. In 2009, Time named him one of the world's 100 most influential people, and Foreign Policy, one of the 100 top global thinkers.

Eric Sanderson, video-lecture on Mannahatta's pre-city ecology.
400 years after Hudson found New York harbor, Eric Sanderson shares how he made a 3D map of Mannahatta's fascinating pre-city ecology of hills, rivers, wildlife -- accurate down to the block -- when Times Square was a wetland and you couldn't get delivery. Armed with an 18th-century map, a GPS and reams of data, Eric Sanderson has re-plotted the Manhattan of 1609, just in time for New York's quadricentennial.

Additional Readings

Wilson, Edward O., Biophilia. 1984

Anderson Ray, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose: Doing Business by Respecting the Earth. 2009.

Benyus, Janine, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. 2002.

Browning, William, Greening the Building and the Bottom Line. 1994. This report is downladable here.
This paper, which was written jointly by RMI and the Department of Energy, describes the energy efficiency measures undertaken by eight organizations. In each of the cases presented, improved efficiency in lighting, heating, and cooling increased worker productivity, decreased absenteeism, and sometimes improved the quality of the work being performed. While increasing the worker experience was not the original goal in most of the cases, it was an unexpected benefit for the organizations. The case studies in this paper demonstrate that energy efficient retrofits for existing buildings and new buildings designed for energy efficient performance can have substantial economic returns. Several case studies of retrofits are presented: a retrofit of the Post Office in Reno, Nevada which, with energy savings and resulting worker productivity was able to payback the costs of the retrofit in less than one year; a Boeing assembly space that designed energy efficient lighting in order to save energy costs and improve worker safety; a blade manufacturer that installed a new type of lighting that saved energy costs and improved operators' ability to perform their tasks; an electric utility that improved their in-house lighting system and decreased absenteeism related to eye-strain and headaches. Several case studies of new buildings are also presented: a new office building for Lockheed Boeing was designed for deep daylighting by installing large window walls, light shelves, and an atrium.

Carson, Rachel, Silent Spring.
First published in 1962, Silent Spring alerted the US audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides. This book generated revolutionary changes in the US environmental laws. "Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . [It is] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters" (Peter Matthiessen, for Time"s 100 Most Influential People of the Century).

Chivian, Eric, Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity. Oxford University Press, 2008.
Editorial Review - Library Journal vol. 133 iss. 7 p. 105 (c) 04/15/2008 - This unique work, edited by two Harvard Medical School physicians, explores the symbiotic relationship among the planet's species and how animals, insects, and plants on land and water have provided enormous health benefits through the natural products they produce. Our quest for natural products to treat and cure diseases is dependent upon this biodiversity of flora and fauna for the long term. Alterations that result in pollution, habitat destruction, climate change, exploitation, radiation, war, and conflict threaten the survival of many of the organisms that have been so vital to human health. The editors illustrate this relationship by focusing on amphibians, bears, primates, gymnosperms, cone snails, sharks, and horseshoe crabs whose contributions to human well-being are critical and the tragedy that would ensue if these organisms disappeared. They offer strategies to change the way we eat, farm, travel, live, work, and use energy to sustain the ecological complexity that allows all species to thrive. A powerhouse of information on a topic that concerns us all. Highly recommended. - Irwin Weintraub, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., NY.

Franta, Greg, Cooling the Warming: The Connection Between Climate Change and the Built Environment. 2010. Preface by Former US President Bill Clinton.
This book has inspired Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era

Hawken, Paul, Ecology of Commerce. 2010.

Hawken, Paul, Growing a Business. 1988.

Little, Amanda, Power Trip: the history of America's Love Affair with Energy. 2010.

McDonough, William, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way we Make Things.

Pallasmaa, Julhani, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Sense. [PDF version]

Sanderson, Eric, Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City. 2009.
More about the Mannahatta Project: http://welikia.org/
New York Times Book Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/books/review/Sullivan-t.html

Willis, Carol, Building the Empire State. 2002.

Presentation Materials

Slides
 

10:50 am - 11:00 am

Coffee Break
 

11:00 am - 12:10 pm

Interdisciplinary Design Thinking

Jhaelen Eli, Diller Scodifio + Renfro, Architecture and Design Studio

Interdisciplinary design thinking is a methodology for solving the complex contemporary challenges facing our built environment. The work of Diller Scofidio + Renfro will be discussed in this context. The internationally renowned 100 person design studio – comprised of designers, architects, planners, academics and thinkers - is dedicated to blurring the distinctions between urban planning, architecture, landscape, industrial and information design. The studio often collaborates with economists, environmentalists, statisticians and geographers, robotics engineers, sound designers, software designers and programmers to produce unique and culturally significant projects. The discussion will describe the interdisciplinary design methodology behind the studio’s work, including Blur Building, the High Line, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and other notable projects.

Company website: http://www.dsrny.com/

Suggested Readings

Paul Goldberger, Miracle Above Manhattan, National Geographic, April 2011, Vol. 219, No. 4, p. 122

Diller Scofidio + Renfro, FASTCOMPANY.COM, March 2010, p. 88

Additional Readings

Justin Davidson, The Illusionists, The New Yorker, May 14, 2007, p. 126

Paul Goldberger, The Sky Line - Center Stage, The New Yorker, February 2, 2009, p. 74
 

12:15 pm - 12:45 pm

Sustainable transportation: reinventing the automobile

Prof. Lawrence Burns, Director, Roundtable on Sustainable Mobility, Columbia University and Professor, Engineering Practice, University of Michigan

Ever since Karl Benz drove the first car out of his barn 125 years ago, the fundamental design “DNA” of automobiles has remained nearly the same. Like the first “horseless carriages”, today’s vehicles are based on mechanical drive using a combustion engine, oil for fuel, and mechanical controls. They are also driven by people and operate as stand-alone machines. The convergence of advanced propulsion and communications/information technology has now enabled the emergence of a new automotive “DNA”. It is based on electric drive, electric motors, diverse energy sources, electronic/digital controls, “driverless” vehicle technology and the “mobility internet”. Together, these technologies promise to transform how we move around and interact. This presentation will frame this new “DNA” and discuss the resulting sustainable mobility opportunities.

Suggested Readings

Corwin and Norton, The Thought-Leader Interview: Lawrence Burns, strategy + business Magazine, August 24, 2010

Additional Readings

William J. Mitchell, Chris E Borroni-Bird, Lawrence D Burns, Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century, MIT Press, 2010.

Presentation Materials

Slides: Reinventing the Automobile
 

12:45 pm - 2:00 pm

Lunch at the Columbia University Faculty House
(Ivy Lounge and Coffee Bar - Garden Level – 1st floor)
 

2:00 pm - 3:15 pm

Glass, light, energy and Innovation

Davidson Norris, Principal at Carpenter Norris Consulting,
Adjunct Associate Professor, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

Presentation Materials

Slides: Light in the Public Realm
 

3:15 - 3:30 pm

Coffee Break
 

3:30 pm - 3:50 pm

The History of the Italian Academy

Barbara Faedda, Associate Director of the Italian Academy, Columbia University
 

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Visit of the Campus of Morningside Heights – Columbia University

Prof. Andrew Dolkart, Director of the Historic Preservation Program, Columbia University
 

7:00 pm

Dinner