CUD 2008.02.21 Connected and Sustainable Cities
February 23, 2008 by Chris | permalink
This was the session which I moderated. a challenge as the individuals presented a VERY wide variety of work and understanding of the theme.
Livia Tirone, Principal Architect, Tirone Nunes. Lisbon. talked about the framework of thinking about sustainability and buildings. she mentioned her work with the City of Lisbon to help them develop a better policy system for managing natural resources at a city level. [http://www.managenergy.net/actors/A7.htm]
Scott Moran, Manager, California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco. talked about the building which he is trying to get finished up. He was clearly very proud of this significant building. He noted that the systems which are part of its make-up depend heavily upon modeling, computation and connectivity. He also pointed out that they had to create a new department to bring the traditional building management team and the IT team together without disenfranchising either. [http://www.calacademy.org/index.php]
Kirsten Kurland, Professor, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh. Gave a great presentation about data visualization and health/well-being. [http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/kurland/]
Volker Hartkopf, Professor, Carnegie Mellon. [http://www.arc.cmu.edu/cbpd/people/hartkopf_v.html] spoke of the importance of energy policy to national security.
William Hutchison, Executive Director, Intelligent Communities, Waterfront Toronto. [http://www.cipa.com/about/hall_fame/hutchison.html] Bill gave one of the most insightful presentations of the two days. His work focuses on the enabling of real projects with deep connectivity embedded in the planning. He gave an all too brief overview of his very impressive Waterfront Toronto project. [http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/index.php?home=true]
i would summarize the session by saying that the importance of information access cannot be underestimated. all of the presenters had this as an underlying theme. If we have access then we can visualize and then we can assess and act. if not, we cannot make change. i found this to reinforce my own thinking about this.
