The Jerusalem Seminar in Architecture

Green Design // from Theory to Practice

25-27.01.2009

Speakers

Steven J. Strong

Steven Strong is President of Solar Design Associates, Inc., (founded 1974) a group of Architects and Engineers dedicated to the design of environmentally responsive buildings, and the engineering and integration of renewable energy systems which incorporate the latest in innovative technology.

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 dozens of homes and buildings powered by solar electricity. In 1984, working with New England Electric, he completed the world’s first Photovoltaic-powered neighborhood in central Massachusetts. He has recently completed the design and oversaw the installation of a new ‘solar skin’ for the US Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and is currently working on powering the US Embassy in Athens with solar electricity and upgrading the UN Headquarters in New York City with building-integrated PV.

Mr. Strong has received numerous awards for his pioneering work and represented the US on the International Energy Agency’s expert working group on Solar Electricity in the Built Environment for 8 years. 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.

Mr. Strong invests a good deal of effort to bring the message of renewable energy and sustainable design to the rising generation. He has lectured and taught at numerous prestigious colleges and universities.

The last two decades have brought significant changes to the design profession. In the wake of traumatic escalations in energy prices, shortages, black-outs, embargoes and war, along with heightened concerns over pollution, resource depletion, environmental degradation and climate change, awareness of the environmental impact of our work as building design professionals has dramatical¬ly increased. In the process, the shortcomings of yesterday's buildings have also become increasingly clear. Architects with vision have come to understand that it is no longer the goal of good design to simply create a building that is aesthetically pleasing; buildings of the future must be environmentally responsive as well. These architects have re¬sponded by specifying increased levels of thermal insulation, healthier inte¬riors, higher-efficiency lighting, better glazings and HVAC equipment, air-to-air heat exchangers, and heat-recovery ventilation systems. Significant ad¬vances have been made, and this progress is a very important first step in the right direction. However, it is not enough. For the developed countries to continue to enjoy the comforts of the twenty-first century, and for the developing world to ever hope to attain them, sustainability must become the cornerstone of our design philosophy. Rather than merely using less of the non-renewable fuels and creating less pollution, we must come to design truly sustainable buildings that rely on renewable resources to produce some and, eventually, all of their own energy and create no pollution. It may still come as a surprise to many architects and their clients, but every building they are currently designing to rely on fossil fuel will become obsolete within its lifetime as the world’s remaining reserves are drawn down and prices rise to the point that simply burning these resources for their thermal content can no longer be justified. One of the most promising renewable energy technologies is photovoltaics. Photovoltaics (PV) is a truly elegant means of producing electricity on site, directly from the sun, without concern for energy supply or environmental harm. These solid-state devices simply make electricity out of sunlight, silently, with no pollution and no depletion of materials and virtually no maintenance. Photovoltaics are also exceedingly versatile—the same technology that can pump water, grind grain and provide communications and village electrification in the developing world can produce electricity for the buildings and distribution grids of the industrialized countries. There is a growing consensus that distributed PV systems that provide electricity at the point of use will be the first to reach widespread commercialization. Chief among these distributed applications are PV power systems for individual buildings. The building integration of photovoltaics, where the PV modules actually become an integral part of the building, often serving as the exterior weathering skin, is growing world-wide.

With reduced installation costs, improved aesthetics and all the benefits of distributed generation, building-integrated PV systems are a prime candidate for widespread adoption. Innovative architects the world over are now integrating PV into their designs, and PV manufacturers are responding with components developed specifically for BIPV applications, including integral roof modules, roofing tiles and shingles, modules for vertical curtain wall facades, sloped glazing systems, and skylights. A whole new vernacular of Solar Electric Architecture is beginning to emerge.

A high-integrity thermal envelope with monolithic air and moisture barriers and superior, high-R-value glazing is desired. Further, passive solar strategies which reduce heating and cooling requirements should be employed along with daylighting and energy-efficient equipment, systems and end-use loads. Advanced mechanical systems such as heat-recovery ventilation and geothermal heat pumps should also be employed. And, solar thermal systems should be considered for space and water heating. Only within the context of a comprehensive energy-conscious ‘whole building’ design strategy can BIPV achieve its full potential.

Over the past two decades, PV has moved from the research laboratory to commercial applications and is now ready for widespread commercialization. As architects and building engineers become more involved, PV is taking a progressively more sophisticated, elegant, and appropriate role in building design, putting energy-producing buildings within our reach. As building-integrated PV becomes an integral part of the form and aesthetic of the built environment, these systems will contribute greatly to a more sustainable future for their owners, their communities and society at large.

Download Presentation – PDF Format

Steven J. Strong

New ‘solar skin’ for the US Mission to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland

Atlanta Olympics building, roof-top PV power system