From:
http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/tropicalgreen.php

Tropical Green
Thursday, February 9 & 10, 2006
Wolfson campus of Miami Dade College

Tropical Green is a two-day conference exploring ways to build sustainable
houses, structures, and communities in Miami, South Florida, and similar
climates.

With Miami's current building frenzy, the city needs to consider sustainable
design principles urgently, and not only for environmental reasons. Indeed:
such an earth-friendly approach is also a smart business investment,
offering long-term profits and, in many cases, higher selling prices.

The two-day Tropical Green conference will be an invaluable experience for
architects, interior designers, developers, city planners, politicians, and
voters in search of learning the ways of 21st century design that will both
help the environment and their wallets.

Contact:
Eve Dilworth
eve@ metropolismag
(800) 715-2443

Tropical Green Design
Metropolis Magazine
61 West 23rd Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10010

Register:
Early registration $295, until 1/15/06 Regular $395.
https://www.kable.com/pub/metr/tropicalgreen.asp

If green design and planning practices are not put into place quickly, Miami
and cities with similar climates stand to lose their quality of life.
Sustainable building is the next wave of innovation, investment opportunity,
and chance for creativity. How individuals and companies decide to ride this
wave will determine the area's future prosperity. Tropical Green will
explore how to design and build green--and profit doing it.

Who should attend?
Architects, interior designers, developers, city planners, educators, and
voters in search of learning the ways of 21st century design, urbanism, and
architecture.

Schedule

Seminars and case studies about all facets of sustainable design are on the
agenda for Tropical Green. See below for specific presenters and panels.

Thursday, February 9, 2006

7:30AM - Registration

9:00AM - Welcome by Metropolis

9:15AM - A Green Vision

Two former mayors discuss how quality of life is enhanced when responsible
planning and extraordinary vision come together.

Jaime Lerner, formerly mayor of Curitiba, Brazil, discusses how he used
unconventional ideas and undeniable commitment to help transform his city
into what its residents believe to be the greatest city in the world. A
trained architect, Mr. Lerner participated in a competition to develop a
master plan for the Curitiba that considered environmental and human needs.
After being appointed mayor, Mr. Lerner focused on parks, traffic, garbage
collection, and building requirements to increase the quality of life for
Curitiba's residents.
Jeremy Harris, formerly mayor of Honolulu, explains why many have claimed
that his achievements have "reinvigorated" the Hawaiian city. Several of Mr.
Harris's accomplishments during his 10 uears as mayor included creating
parks, improving streets and waste-water treatment facilities, transforming
transit, and developing renewable energy and recycling programs.

To Follow: Moderated discussion with Suzan S. Szenasy, Metropolis

11:00AM - Break

11:30AM - Policies for Sustainable Growth
Green technology is the next wave of innovation and the newest investment
opportunity. If and how Florida adopts this technology will determine the
region's prosperity. This workshop will focus on key areas of sustainable
economic development, including green building, clean energy, and green
manufacturing, and how local communities are implementing these tools and
attracting builders. Panelists will include Katy Sorenson, county
commissioner of Miami-Dade's District Eight; Kristin Jacobs, mayor of
Broward County, Florida; and Otto Boudet-Murias, chief of planning and
economic development for the City of Miami.

12:45PM - Lunch in the Atrium

2:00PM - Sustainable Placemaking: Real Tools for Creating Communities
What tools do leaders and builders have for implementing sustainable growth
policies? Bernard Zyscovich, who designed Miami's Downtown Master plan, will
moderate a panel on the subject featuring other urban planning experts
including Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, principal of smart-growth champions Duany
Plater-Zyberk and Company; and Sheila Rose, director of development services
for Coconut Creek, Florida.

3:30PM - Developing Green
Experienced LEED developers--including George Ledwith, VP of development at
Liberty Property Trust--will discuss the rewards and challenges of building
green and how these issues apply specifically to a tropical, cosmopolitan
city such as Miami. Metropolis's Susan S. Szenasy will lead a discussion
about building regulations, economics, and the ultimate responsibilities of
developers.

4:30PM - Break

5:00PM - Environmental Strategies for the Tropics
Florida has several organizations that have begun paving the way for future
sustainability. This panel will explore the natural resources that we have
at our disposal and the strides South Florida organizations and
municipalities have already made to use them. We will particularly focus on
successes as they relate to solar energy, water use, and water treatment.
The panel will be moderated by LEED-certified architect Germán Brun, from
Oppenheim Architectur + Design; speakers will be Subrato Chandra, program
director of the Buildings Research Division of the Florida Solar Energy
Center; Bruce Adams, the water conservation officer for the South Florida
Water Management District; and Ken Rearden, director of public utilities,
West Palm Beach, Florida.

6:00PM - Reception in the Atrium

7:00PM - Keynote: William McDonough, Rethinking the Way We Make Things
Today's design can reflect our growing knowledge of the living earth. Noting
the intelligence of natural systems and resources-such as nutrient cycling
and abundant sunshine-designers can create products, industrial systems,
buildings, and even regional plans that allow nature and commerce to
co-exist fruitfully. William McDonough and Michael Braungart's design
paradigm Cradle to Cradle offers practical steps on how to achieve these
innovations within today's economic environment. Part social history, part
green-business primer, and part design manual, the work makes plain that the
re-invention of human industry is within our grasp and is our best hope for
sustaining prosperity.

Friday, February 10, 2006

7:30AM - Breakfast on the Terrace with Rick Fedrizzi, CEO, USGBC
The founding chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as the
president of Green-Think, an environmentally focused marketing and
communications firm, Rick Fedrizzi knows the economic and environmental
benefits of building green. He helped to establish the Chinese Green
Building Council and formerly served as the president of the World Green
Building Council. He sits on the board of directors for numerous
organizations, including the National Association of Indoor Environmental
Professionals. He also writes a monthly column, Greener Facilities, for
Buildings Magazine.

9:30AM - Michael Singer, Urban Eco-Sustainable Networks
Environmental designer/architect Michael Singer and his team of engineers
will discuss the positive impact of urban infrastructure and facilities. By
working closely with public agencies, governments, and utility companies,
Mr. Singer has created works that transform the way a community perceives
large-scale service buildings. Mr. Singer will present examples of his
projects, including his waste-transfer facility in downtown Phoenix; he will
also provide inspiration for a Miami site in need of transformation.

10:30AM - Break

11:00AM - Healthy Interior Environments
Arranged by LEED-certified interior designer Bernadette Upton, this talk
will focus on sustainable products and techniques for interiors, including
daylighting, green materials, natural ventilation, and the LEED for
Interiors standard.

12:00PM - Florida International University's Solar Decathlon Team
Florida International University students and faculty present their design
submission to the Solar Decathlon, a global collegiate competition to design
and build houses that demonstrate how to live with abundance and comfort in
beautiful, completely solar-powered homes. In fall 2005, the teams
transported their competition solar houses to Washington, D.C., where they
constructed a "solar village" on the National Mall.

12:15PM - Lunch in the Atrium

1:30PM - Building Green in Hot and Humid Zones
Designers who have successfully created sustainable buildings in tropical
climates will discuss their strategies for siting, building forms, and using
smart technologies. These panelists will also address real challenges and
offer suggestions about building codes and local regulations.

Alisdair McGregor, principal of engineering firm Ove Arup & Associates, will
discuss his involvement in several innovative projects around the world. He
believes that energy-efficient buildings don't have to mean higher costs,
and will explain that by integrating all aspects of the design during the
planning stage, building occupiers and owner can realize better investments.
Gregory Kiss, cofounder and partner of Kiss + Cathcart Architects, pioneers
innovative uses of photovoltaic panels. As founder of Native American
Photovoltaics, he has helped to develop more efficient systems for
buildings. Kiss is an advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy (authoring
several technical manuals for the DOE) and lectures on advances in
environmental technologies.

To Follow: Moderated discussion with Brian Lomel, principal of TLC
Engineering for Architecture

3:00PM - Break

3:30PM - Ken Yeang, How to Build a Green Skyscraper in the Tropics
Principal of architecture firm Hamzah & Yeang, Ken Yeang follows an
ecological approach to designing large projects and buildings, taking into
consideration the structures' ecological impact and use of energy and
materials over their life-cycle. Much of the firm's early work--including
the biometric skyscraper--pioneers passive low-energy design.

4:30PM - Closing Remarks: Guy Battle
A founding partner of Battle McCarthy Consulting Engineers, Guy Battle is an
environmental and building engineer who specializes in designing low-energy,
sustainable structures. He has been involved in a number of milestone
projects with some of the world's leading architectural practices, including
Richard Rogers Partnership, Norman Foster and Partners, Alsop Architects,
Kohn Pedersen Fox, Perkins + Will, Gensler, and HOK.

5:30PM - Screening: The Beauty of Green

Speaker Bios:

Bruce Adams is the water conservation officer at the South Florida Water
Management District (SFWMD), an organization that manages and preserves the
state's water resources. He was instrumental in starting the Water
Conservation Division at the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the
Florida Water Wise Council. He has also served on the Water Conservation
Advisory Body to Florida's National Governors' Association.

Guy Battle is the founding partner of Battle McCarthy Consulting Engineers,
a firm specializing in designing environmentally responsive buildings.
Battle is the coauthor of Sustainable Ecosystems and the Built Environment.
He is a visiting professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology and is
involved in the Council of Educational Facility Planners International.

Dr. Subrato Chandra is program director of the Buildings Research Division
of the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), a research institute at the
University of Central Florida. Through FSEC he has worked with the Japan
Research Institute and is currently directing the Building America
Industrialized Housing Partnership sponsored by the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE). He is a member of the board of the American Lung Association
of Central Florida and serves as a joint faculty member of the UCF
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems.

Rick Fedrizzi is the founding chairman and president of the U.S. Green
Building Council (USGBC), as well as founder of Green-Think, an
environmentally focused marketing and communications firm. He helped
establish the Chinese Green Building Council and formerly served as the
president of the World Green Building Council. He serves on the board of
directors for numerous organizations, including the National Association of
Indoor Environmental Professionals. Fedrizzi also authors a monthly column,
Greener Facilities, for Buildings Magazine.

Jeremy Harris, former mayor of Honolulu (1994-2004), led the first
bureaucratic and infrastructure overhaul in Honolulu history and documented
his work in the book The Renaissance of Honolulu: the Sustainable Rebirth of
an American City. A specialist in urban ecosystems, he earned an MA in
population and environmental biology from University of California, Irvine.
He serves on the board of directors for the American Institute of Architects
and teaches at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Kristin Jacobs, who was elected mayor of Broward County (Florida) in 2004,
is known for her focus on conservation and improving the environment. Her
successes include the 180-mile Greenways and Trails System, as well as
NatureScape Broward, which helps people transition to lawns and landscaping
that need less irrigation. Jacobs is an advocate of light-rail development,
green building, and eco-tourism.

Gregory Kiss is cofounder and partner of Kiss + Cathcart Architects, a
Brooklyn-based firm specializing in sustainable architecture. Kiss's forte
is the use of photovoltaic panels and, as founder of Native American
Photovoltaics, he has helped to develop more efficient systems for
buildings. He is an advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy (authoring
several technical manuals) and lectures on advances in environmental
technologies.

Robert J. Kobet, AIA, is President of Sustainaissance International Inc., a
multidisciplinary architectural firm specializing in sustainable design,
development, and education. He has consulted nationally and internationally
on projects in eight countries and on five continents. He is the Chair of
the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Schools Initiative, co-author of
the LEED for Contractors and Construction Managers Workshop, and a USGBC
LEED faculty member. Kobet is an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at
Carnegie Mellon University.

Jaime Lerner is the former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil and former governor of
the city's surrounding region, Paraná. As mayor he initiated major
environmental reforms including building an integrated mass-transit system.
An advocate of social and ecological reform, Lerner was awarded UNICEF's
Child and Peace Prize in 1990 for the urban revitalization programs he
developed while in office. In 2002 he was elected president of the
International Union of Architects. He is a professor at the Federal
University in Parana and guest-teaches at U.C. Berkeley.

William McDonough is the founder and principal of that architecture firm
William McDonough + Partners. A three-time recipient of the U.S.
Presidential Award, McDonough coauthored the seminal environmental book
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. He is also the founder of
McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, a research firm specializing in
sustainable strategies, such as chemical benchmarking, supply-chain
integration, and energy and materials assessment.

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk is a founding principal of Duany Plater-Zyberk &
Company (DPZ). DPZ is a leader in the national movement for New Urbanism,
which seeks to end suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment. The firm's
methods are being applied to towns and cities in North America, Asia, and
Europe on sites ranging from 10-10,000 acres. Plater-Zyberk is dean of the
University of Miami School of Architecture and co-author of both Suburban
Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream and The New
Civic Art.

Sheila Rose is the director of development services for the city of Coconut
Creek. She has been in planning and land development for over 23 years and
currently directs the Coconut Creek Main Street Project, which aims to
establish a sustainable downtown area. She is a member of the American
Institute of Certified Planners and the American Planning Association. She
is also the founding president of SOS Children's Village, an international
child welfare organization.

Kim Shinn is a LEED-certified mechanical engineer who is a principal of TLC
Engineers in Nashville. He is the director of TLC's Sustainable Design
Consultancy and chairman of the Middle Tennessee chapter of the USGBC. He
has been involved in the design or commission of over two dozen
LEED-registered and LEED-certified projects and helped create the Green
Guide for Health Care. Shinn is also on the LEED committees to draft
application guides for laboratories, healthcare, and HVAC systems.

Michael Singer has opened new possibilities for public art through
developing site-specific sculptures, with his pieces becoming models for
successful urban and ecological renewal. Locally, his work with PhD students
at Florida Atlantic University has led to a new policy for the school's
retention pond and the development of an innovative visitor center for the
South Florida Water Management District.

Katy Sorenson has been county commissioner of Miami-Dade's District Eight
since 1994. She champions sustainable urban development and is an advocate
for new urbanism. Sorenson's efforts include developing market incentives
for energy-efficient homes and workplaces, establishing green building
standards for government projects, and attracting solar-energy manufacturers
to the county.

Bernadette V. Upton is a LEED-certified interior designer, lecturer, and
consultant who has specialized in environmental interior design since 1982.
She has served as president of the American Society of Interior Designers'
(ASID's) Florida South Chapter and is a founding member of the national ASID
Sustainable Design Council. She is also a member of the Florida Green
Building Coalition (FGBC) and the National Environmental Health Association.

Ken Yeang is a principal at Hamzah & Yeang, an international architecture
and planning firm with offices in the U.K., China, and Malaysia. Yeang
specializes in designing ecologically integrated buildings and has pioneered
a new building type called bioclimatic skyscrapers. He teaches at numerous
colleges, including the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur and the
University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He is an honorary fellow
of the AIA and serves on the Council of the Royal Institute of British
Architects (RIBA).

Susan S. Szenasy, editor in chief, Metropolis

Brian Lomel, principal, TLC Engineering For Architecture

Germán Brun, AIA LEED AP, Oppenheim Architectur+Design

Bernard Zyscovich, principal, Zyscovich, Inc.