The 2008 SyracuseCoE Symposium to welcome experts in sustainable communities and environments to Syracuse

Friday, September 19, 2008, By News Staff

The 2008 SyracuseCoE Symposium to welcome experts in sustainable communities and environments to SyracuseSeptember 19, 2008Martin Wallsmwalls@syracusecoe.org

The Syracuse Center of Excellence (SyracuseCoE) will introduce Central Upstate New York to the best “green and clean” practices of urban development, neighborhood revitalization, technological innovation, and environmental stewardship at its 8th Annual Syracuse Symposium on Environmental and Energy Systems at the Oncenter, Syracuse, Sept. 29 and 30, 2008.

This year’s Symposium theme is “Creating Resilience in Sustainable Communities.” The two-day event will survey the latest ideas and advancements in the fields of resilient human and natural environments (environments able to withstand both natural and human-made changes); sustainable design of homes, neighborhoods, and communities; and clean and green products and services that will benefit this generation and generations to come.

The keynote speaker is Majora Carter, one of the nation’s pioneers in successful green-collar job training and placement systems. Carter founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001 to achieve environmental justice through economically sustainable projects informed by community needs. She is a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, one of Essence Magazine’s “Most Influential African-Americans,” one of the New York Post’s “Most Influential NYC Women” for the past two years, a board member of the Wilderness Society, and she is recording a special National Public Radio series called “The Promised Land” for 2009 release. Learn more at majoracartergroup.com.

Other notable speakers include:

  • Marty Anderies of Arizona State University’s Global Institute for Sustainability, recognized as one the most comprehensive and integrated sustainability institutes in the nation;
  • Paul Beyer, New York State’s Director of Smart Growth, who is helping implement new groundbreaking policies at the state’s town, county, and regional levels;
  • Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials, who leads his company’s mission to reduce energy usage and CO2 generation of the world’s largest contributor: our buildings;
  • Keith Tidball, a recognized innovator at Cornell University’s Civic Ecology Initiative, who will speak about how civic participation plays a role in urban resilience;
  • David Doyle of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Kansas, who is helping tornado-stricken Greensburg, Kan. rebuild “green.”
  • Matt Raimi of Californian firm Raimi+Associates, who will address his work in the Syracuse’s Near West Side neighborhood and its status as one of just a few LEED-Neighborhood Development projects in the United States;
  • John Spengler of Harvard and Peter Nielsen of Aalborg University, Denmark, two of the world’s leading experts in indoor environmental quality research and technology development.

Spengler and Nielsen will be among the presenters for the Symposium’s Research and Technology forums, which will survey the latest innovations in SyracuseCoE’s focus areas: clean and renewable energy, indoor environmental quality, and water resources. Technology “roadmaps” developed by regional experts also will be introduced.

As with other SyracuseCoE symposiums, this year a research, demonstration and innovation poster viewing will be held after Majora Carter’s keynote address on Monday, Sept. 29. SyracuseCoE has been overwhelmed with the number of poster submissions this year, each addressing research and development in SyracuseCoE’s focus areas, as well as in green jobs growth and green building.

All poster titles and abstracts can be found at http://portfolio.syracusecoe.org/portfolio/listabstract.tpl. Poster topics include:

  • “Innovative Domestic Hot Water Generation” by Dimitar Todorov of RAM-TECH Engineers, Syracuse;
  • “Self-Starting Vertical Axis Wind Turbine for Home Heating Applications” by David Olson and Ken Visser of Clarkson University;
  • “A History of Syracuse Air Quality” by Shannon Buckley and Myron Mitchell of SUNY-ESF and colleagues at Clarkson and Cornell universities;
  • “Air Cleaning Technology for Indoor Air Quality: How To ‘Grow’ Fresh Air?” by Martin Mittlemark of PhytoFilter Technologies, Schuylerville, N.Y.;
  • “Using Continuous Real-Time Fluorescence to Monitor Cyanobacteria in the Lower Great Lakes” by Margaret M. Pavlac and Gregory L. Boyer of SUNY-ESF;
  • “Exploring Zebra Mussel Effects on Mercury Transformations and Fate in the Seneca River, N.Y.” by Charles Driscoll of Syracuse University and colleagues at Binghamton University and the Upstate Freshwater Institute.

For more information, visit http://syracusecoe.org/symposium/2008.

SyracuseCoE is an industry-university collaborative enterprise that creates environmental and energy innovations for a sustainable future. Our members address global challenges in three focus areas: clean and renewable energy, indoor environmental quality, and water resources. SyracuseCoE projects leverage an extensive community of experts and unique facilities available through more than 200 companies, organizations, and institutions. Our members conduct targeted research, demonstrate new technologies, commercialize innovations, educate the workforce, and engage the public. SyracuseCoE results revitalize New York’s Creative Core and will improve human health and ecosystem sustainability around the world for generations to come.