Steven J. Strong: Sunlight is Life! The Path Toward a Sustainable Future

Gin D. Wong, FAIA Conference Center, 6:00 p.m. Architects and engineers with vision have come to understand that it is no longer the goal of good design to simply create a building that's aesthetically pleasing - buildings must be environmentally responsive as well. Rather then merely using a little less non-renewable fuels and creating less pollution, buildings of the 21st century will rely on renewable resources to produce some and, eventually, all of their own energy to become carbon-neutral. Steven J. Strong is the Founder and President of Solar Design Associates, Inc., a group of Engineers and Architects dedicated to the design of environmentally responsive buildings, and the engineering and integration of renewable energy systems which incorporate the latest in innovative technology. Strong founded the firm in 1974 after serving as an energy-systems engineering consultant on the Alaskan pipeline where he became convinced there were easier, less-costly, more environmentally desirable ways to provide comfort and convenience to the consumer than "going to the ends of the earth to extract the last drop of fossil fuel.” Drawing on his background in architecture and engineering, he has earned the firm an international reputation for the pioneering integration of renewable energy systems - especially solar electricity - with environmentally responsive building design. Over the last 25 years, he has designed numerous homes and buildings powered by solar electricity. In 1984, working with New England Electric, he completed the world’s first Photovotaic (PV) -powered neighborhood in central Massachusetts. In 1996, he worked with Olympic Village architects to power the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta with solar electricity using the world’s largest roof-top PV power system. He also designed and oversaw the installation of three solar energy systems at the White House in Washington, DC, completed a new ‘solar skin’ for the US Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and powered both the San Francisco Giants’ AT+T Park and the new PBS studio complex in Boston with solar electricity. He has represented the US on the International Energy Agency’s expert working group on Solar Electricity in the Built Environment for the past 8 years and has served as an advisor on energy and environmental issues to 4 Governors, 4 US Congressman, 8 US Senators and 4 presidential candidates as well as a number of electric utilities. He is the author of The Solar Electric House and Solar Electric Buildings, an Overview of Today’s Applications and the 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. Strong is the recipient of many honors and awards since he received the first ‘Inherit the Earth Award’ from Connecticut College in 1993 for his ‘pioneering work in furthering sustainable energy’ including being named by TIME magazine as both an ‘Environmental Hero of the Planet’ and an ‘Innovator building a greener world.’ The American Solar Energy Society honored him with its Charles Greeley Abbot award – the Society’s highest honor - for lifetime achievement in advancing solar energy in 2001 and the Audubon Society named him its ‘Environmental Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2003. Mr. Strong’s lectures and symposia have been pre-approved by the American Institute of Architects for AIA professional continuing education credits in the Health, Safety and Welfare area. The AIA helped to co-sponsor his development of renewable-energy-based curriculum for design students in schools of architecture as well as for AIA members and other practicing professionals. Lectures are free and open to the public. No reservations are required. They are located in the Gin D. Wong, FAIA Conference Center, Harris Hall, on the University Park campus. Parking is available on campus at Gate 1 off Exposition Blvd. arch.usc.edu