Syracuse Center of Excellence Research and Technology Forum on May 10 focuses on building green homes

Syracuse Center of Excellence Research and Technology Forum on May 10 focuses on building green homesMay 07, 2007Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Kevin Stack, president of Northeast Natural Homes, will speak on “Seven Generations Sustainability: Building in Nature’s Image” as part of the next Research and Technology Forum sponsored by the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems’ Office for Industry Collaboration (OIC).

The forum will be held on Thursday, May 10, from 3-5 p.m. at the Genesee Grande Hotel in Syracuse and is open to the public. Continuing education credits are available; for more information contact Ana Fernandez at 443-9747 or afernandez@syracusecoe.org.

Stack will discuss how to design, build and maintain sustainable homes and buildings by adopting principles to build in nature’s image. He will talk about different aspects of sustainability in our built environment, including the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes pilot program and how to identify and implement ecological performance standards to quantify and optimize human and ecological health and performance.

Stack says that ecological and Seventh Generation principles translate into a cost-effective, practical and whole-systems approach to co-adapt the built environment to its surrounding natural world. Ecological performance standards to be discussed emphasize technologies, design and construction strategies that purify air, earth and water; close resource loops; and restore human and ecological health and rebuild biodiversity. Performance data from the first certified LEED for Homes pilot project in New York State, which received a “gold” rating from the USGBC, will be presented.

The Syracuse CoE is a federation of more than 140 firms and institutions that collaborate to create innovations to improve built and urban environments. Partners in the Syracuse CoE collaborate in research, development and education projects relating to clean and renewable energy, indoor environmental quality and water resources.

The Syracuse CoE OIC leads the initiative to promote economic development in the cluster of energy and environmental systems firms located in the 12-county region at the center of upstate New York. The OIC is an independent, nonprofit corporation chartered by New York State in 2000.