Bios and Abstracts
Janet Anderson, PhD
Lisa Anneberg, PE, PhD
Constance Bodurow, Assoc. AIA, AICP
Bob Bransky
Donald Carpenter, PhD, PE, LEED AP
Scott Carter
Charles Cross, ASLA
Lillian F. Dean, Certified ISA Arborist
Daniel L. Faoro, AIA, M. Arch/UD
Jeff Gaines, AIA, AICP, LEED AP BD+C
Matthew Grocoff, Esq., LEED GA
Joel R. Howrani Heeres, LEED AP
Kun Hua, PhD
Darin J. McLeskey, EIT
Mike D. Paciero
Kami Pothukuchi, PhD
Kristen M. Schweitzer
Scott G. Shall, AIA
Gary Wozniak
Keynote speaker bios are located on the Keynote Speakers page.
Janet Anderson, PhD
Policy Analyst, City of Detroit
jan@detroitmi.gov
BIO: Janet Anderson is a lifelong and third generation Detroit resident. A PhD in urban policy analysis from the University of Maryland, she has worked for the city of Detroit for 20 years and as an Adjunct Professor at Wayne State University for more than a decade, and is published as a policy analyst as well as creative writer. Recent professional works have appeared in publications ranging from State and Local Government Review (2010) to the Michigan Citizen (April-May 2009) to the Government Finance Officers Association "Government Finance Review." Her city of Detroit career has included the Budget Department, General Services Department Administration, and various official city restructuring efforts. Janet’s life's work reconciles the declining sense of place and community in metro Detroit. She volunteers for numerous causes and is a frequent lecturer and commentator on local matters.
SESSION: 4A TOPIC AREA: Sustainable Infrastructure (water, sewer, electrical grid, mass transit)
The Challenge to Sustainable Service Delivery in the City of Detroit
The City of Detroit delivers 100 services to its neighborhoods through a complex web of programs. These services fall in the categories of public safety response, physical infrastructure, regulatory enforcement, amenities, and management information and outreach. Widespread depopulation has undermined service delivery by depleting the city's resources and by introducing a footprint not well served by traditional methods of service delivery. Considering economy, equity and environmentalism, current service delivery in Detroit is so unsustainable that dramatic restructuring of both the city and the public sector is in order. The General Services Department has begun to pilot novel efforts to address specific conditions, but a larger scale response is not yet underway. There are opportunities at every level for engagement in the process of reinventing a new more vital and sustainable city.
Lisa Anneberg, PE, PhD
Associate Professor, Lawrence Technological University
lanneberg@ltu.edu
BIO: Dr. Anneberg received the BS in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, the MS in Computer Engineering from Wayne State University, and the PhD in Computer Engineering from Wayne State University. She has previous industrial experience at General Motors, Daimler Chrysler, and US Army TACOM. She is a SME-certified Enterprise Integrator, a licensed professional engineer in Michigan, and a Certified Quality Technician. Dr. Anneberg presently chairs the Engineering Faculty Senate and serves on the University-wide Faculty Senate. She is active in the Society for Women Engineers, Michigan Society for Professional Engineers, and the American Society for Engineering Education. She is also a senior member of the IEEE and a section chair of the Trident Section of the IEEE-Southeast Michigan. She is presently working on funded educational projects at Lawrence Tech through the National Science Foundation for S-STEM [scholarships for STEM, 'Become a Nuclear Engineering Expert]'
SESSION: 4C TOPIC AREA: Net Zero Energy
Image Detection, Recognition and 3-D reconstruction for Net-Zero Energy
Co-presented with Kun Hua
There is 40% of the total fossil fuel energy in U.S. consumed by traditional buildings. Among them, more than 60% existing buildings were built more than 30 years ago, which are significant contributors of greenhouse gases. The net zero energy technique has been taken as an efficient method to reduce carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. To develop of such zero-energy buildings, it will be key important to collect precise energy performance data and efficiently predict performance parameters for advanced computer models. While a bottleneck is that those houses older than 30 years were mostly before the mainstreaming of CAD, and simply have no built-in electronic data. The goal of our work is to apply and evaluate computer vision methods for facilitating the development of an integrated 3-D information model for traditional buildings in a fast, accurate and low-cost manner. The objective of this project is to use object detection, recognition and 3-D reconstruction to capture 3-D geometry of building envelopes through inexpensive digital natural images. A large variety of comprehensive object detection and recognition algorithms for windows, roofs and walls has been developed and the testing code has been prototyped. The simulation results show our proposed scheme detect and recognize roofs with about 85% success rate and windows with 84% success rate, under different weather and lighting conditions.
Constance C. Bodurow, Assoc. AIA, AICP
Assistant Professor, Studio[Ci] Director,
Lawrence Technological University
cbodurow@ltu.edu
BIO: Constance Bodurow, Assoc. AIA, AICP is an Assistant Professor of Architecture, Coordinator of the Master of Urban Design Program in Sustainable Urbanism, and Director of studio[Ci] @ Lawrence Technological University (www.studio-ci.net). Ms. Bodurow has over twenty years of practice and teaching experience and holds two Masters Degrees in Architecture and City Planning from the MIT School of Architecture + Planning.Ms. Bodurow’s funded urban design research is transdisciplinary, collaborative and integrative, with a focus on the role of density (social, cultural, infrastructural) in sustainable urbanism. Recently, she has expanded her research agenda to address design opportunities related to net zero energy, generative uses for vacancy, and blue, green, gray + white infrastructure.Her research has been funded by the AIA, LISC, MSHDA and the Ford Motor Company Fund. She has been published by Wiley-Blackwell, and been accepted for peer reviewed dissemination through AIA, APA, ACSA, ACSP, ARCC, EAAE, UAA, EUAA, ICONUS, et al.Ms. Bodurow was recently named a Coleman Fellow for 2012-2013.Ms. Bodurow is a resident of Lafayette Park in Detroit, Michigan.
SESSION: 1B TOPIC AREA: Sustainable Infrastructure (water, sewer, electrical grid, mass transit)
The Next Sustainable Infrastructure: Vacancy
The session will provide an overview of the approach, methodologies, and design applications developed by studio[Ci] at Lawrence Tech University for a new research direction on generative infrastructure. As a result of studio[Ci]’s recent Ford C3 project, a relationship between infrastructure and vacancy in the city emerged, and prompted recommendations for generative uses for vacant land, focusing on hybrid renewable energy, target mixed use density, water cycle management and reforestation, in support of sustainable community and economic growth. We define infrastructure networks as the systemic and complex overlay required to support a city and its associated urbanized region. Connections occur largely through blue|green|gray+white infrastructure networks that span geographic, ecological and political boundaries. Vacancy emerges as the ubiquitous infrastructure in each of these typologies.
SESSION: 2C TOPIC AREA: Net Zero Energy
Urban Evolution: Creating a Net Zero Energy Community in Detroit
The session will provide an overview of the approach, methodologies, and design applications developed by studio[Ci] at Lawrence Tech University for their recently completed Ford C3 project. We will describe how we combine urbanism, architecture, and engineering in a value/resource-based, community driven process to create sustainable community. Further, we will describe the use of our digital interface for mapping, analysis and architectural and urban design in order to envision Detroit’s first Net Zero Energy Community in Southwest Detroit. We will present specific design interventions for sustainable urban form and the systemic incorporation of the five elements of sustainable communities (hybrid alternative energy, urban mobility, density, public realm and green economy) into new “Energy/Density Hubs”. We will present jointly with our funder, the Ford Motor Company Fund, in order to describe the Ford C3 grant program and discuss next steps in implementation.
Bob Bransky,
Master Gardener, Master Gardener Association of Western Wayne County
furniturebybob@yahoo.com
BIO: Mr. Bransky is a lifelong gardener, and has Master Gardener Certification. He has a BS in Education from Eastern Illinois University.
SESSION: 7B TOPIC AREA: Regional Food Systems/Urban Farming
Urban Gardening/Farming: Being Sustainable Before It Was Cool
This presentation will highlight backyard and community gardens in Southeast Michigan and show their unique contributions to the sustainability effort in our neighborhoods and the region. It will demonstrate how growing vegetables, fruit and berry crops in local, small and medium plots can directly benefit the individual and the community in the following ways: (1) promote and maintain healthier living by making fresh produce readily available, (2) provide education in gardening skills that will last a lifetime, (3) make productive use of waste land in urban areas and (4) be a catalyst in reviving existing and deteriorating neighborhoods.
Donald Carpenter, PhD, PE, LEED AP
Associate Professor, Lawrence Technological University
carpenter@ltu.edu
BIO: Donald Carpenter, Ph.D., P.E., LEED AP is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Great Lakes Stormwater Management Institute at Lawrence Technological University. In this capacity, he teaches numerous water resources courses covering topics such as hydraulics and hydrology, design of stormwater treatment facilities, stormwater modeling, and performance monitoring of stormwater facilities. In addition, he directs research on innovative stormwater best management practices (BMPs) and green industry practices with projects including bioretention soil performance, rain garden design, green roof performance, and low impact development (LID) implementation. Finally, Dr. Carpenter is an active leader for the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCE and a regular lecturer on sustainable site design, and green infrastructure.
SESSION: 5A TOPIC AREA: Sustainable Education/Outreach
Low Impact Development Stormwater Management Design Techniques
A key feature of sustainable site design, also known as low impact development, is to mimic the natural hydrologic cycle to minimize stormwater run-off from the site. This presentation will focus on selecting and designing structural best management practices (BMPs) that minimize site run-off. Structural BMPs that will be covered include vegetated roofs, rain gardens, cisterns, porous pavement, wetlands, and vegetated swales. The presentation will also describe how these practices can be integrated into a sustainable site design.
Scott Carter,
Chief Life Sciences Officer, Detroit Zoological Society
scarter@detroitzoo.org
BIO: Scott Carter is Chief Life Sciences Officer for the Detroit Zoological Society, part of 5-member executive team responsible for leadership, strategy and implementation of the Zoological Society’s mission. A graduate of Southwestern College in Winfield, KS and Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, he has spent 30 years working in zoos caring for animals, developing programs to advance animal welfare and conservation and helping to develop and implement environmental programs. He recently completed a Noyce Leadership Fellowship, a focused leadership development program conducted by the Noyce Foundation, in collaboration with the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). As part of the Fellowship, he is leading a community-wide effort to assess and advance green literacy in southeast Michigan.
SESSION: 6a TOPIC AREA: Sustainable Education/Outreach
Advancing Green Literacy in Southeast Michigan
The Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) is creating a healthier environment for our animals, our visitors and the planet. We are continuing a journey to environmental sustainability, which began with critical species conservation work, by reducing our environmental impact and advancing regenerative solutions. These practices – combined with the DZS’s commitment to progressive resource management and environmental leadership – are called out in the Greenprint, our unique, green strategic plan. The Detroit Zoological Society is committed to being a green leader, an active educational resource and a showcase in the community for the best environmental policy and action by integrating literacy, awareness and responsibility in operations and facilities.Assessing our community’s knowledge of its impacts on the environment requires partnership with the many organizations, agencies and individuals working on green initiatives in southeast Michigan. We have longstanding relationships with many of the environmental organizations working in our community, and we are bringing them together to help us build an effective coalition. Together we will develop a comprehensive picture of green literacy in Detroit and southeast Michigan. The dialogue and work we convene will help facilitate development and coordination of green efforts and advance progress in improving the environmental impact of our community.
Charles Cross, ASLA
Senior Researh and Design Fellow, Detroit Collaborative Design Center
crossca@udmercy.edu
BIO: Charles Cross, ASLA is the Senior Research and Design Fellow in Landscape Architecture and Adjunct Professor at the Detroit Collaborative Design Center at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture. He holds a BS in Agriculture from Western Michigan University, a BS in Urban Landscape Architecture and Masters of Urban Design from The City College of New York. He maintains a firm belief that under-served communities deserve good design, and therefore should be the patrons of the process not just the consumers of the end product. Mr. Cross was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the ASLA New York City Chapter in 2002. He has been an invited guest critic at Columbia University, The City College of New York, Syracuse University, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, and University of Detroit Mercy. He has given the following lectures/presentations: Re-Imagining Detroit: The Detroit Works Project Long Term Planning-2012 Society of Architectural Historians Conference, Detroit; Urban Agriculture in Detroit-2012 Greater & Greener: Re-Imagining Parks for 21st Century Cities, New York University; Local Food System Development in Detroit-2012 Urban Agriculture Summit, Ryerson University, Toronto; The Productive Landscape: Urban Agriculture in Detroit, 2011 ASLA Annual Meeting.
SESSION: 2A TOPIC AREA: Regional Food Systems/Urban Farming
RecoveryPark: Detroit's Productive Landscape
Co-presented with Gary Wozniak
RecoveryPark: Detroit’s Productive Landscape The City of Detroit has always been about making things. As a global leader of industrial development, Detroit has produced everything from stoves, cars and jeeps to tanks, airplanes and music. This project is exploring the regenerative opportunities of the productive landscape within the urban context. It is a broad collaborative effort, formed to develop solutions to the many challenges that face our shrinking metropolis. RecoveryPark is a multi-year, 200 million dollar community redevelopment project spanning 2,400 acres on the east side of Detroit. The key component of this project is the development of a twenty-first century, sustainable, locally driven food system. The goal is to create 6,000 permanent jobs in the areas of urban agriculture, building deconstruction and adaptive reuse, stormwater management, site preparation, food processing, production and distribution, hydroponic greenhouses, aquaculture, an equestrian facility, and energy-efficient technology. This mufti-faceted project is a collaborative effort between 75 non-profit and community based organizations, 11 universities, 5 for-profit businesses, multiple state and local governmental agencies and the local school district.
Lillian F. Dean, Certified ISA Arborist
Coordinator, Healthy Lawns & Gardens, Southeastern Oakland Co. Water Authority
LFDean@aol.com
BIO: Lillian F. Dean has worked in Michigan as an environmental planning and education consultant for over 20 years. Currently, she works part-time with the Southeastern Oakland County Water Authority, coordinating public education activities related to home composting, sustainable landscapes, rain gardens, native plants and environmental lawn care.
Lillian carries out her work in cooperation with citizen volunteers, municipalities in Southeast Oakland County, and the Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Program. Recent awards include: Green Leader honorable mention (Detroit Free Press, 3023); Blue Heron Award (N. Oakland Land Conservancy, 2009); Spirit of Arboriculture Award (Arboriculture Society of Amichigan, 2009); and the President's Award Michigan Green Industry Association (2009).
Lillian has a B.A. degree from Carleton College (Northfield, Minnesota) and an M.S. degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Wisconsin/Madison.
SESSION: 5B TOPIC AREA: Regional Food Systems/Urban Farming
Earth-Friendly Composting…the Easy Way
(Making and Using Compost ...for Earth's Sake)
Compost is "gardener's gold"...supporting healthy plant growth...and clean water.
This presentation will review composting basics, including how to make compost "the easy way" how to use compost for a sustainable landscape, the "why" of decomposition, and trouble-shooting tips. Uses of compost in the home landscape will be highlighted. Applications include: trees and shrubs; perennial flowers; vegetable gardens; rain gardens for stormwater retention, and more. Sample compost materials...made at home and from municipal yard waste...will be available for viewing.
Daniel L. Faoro, AIA, M.Arch/UD
Associate Professor, Lawrence Technological University
dfaoro@ltu.edu
BIO: Education: Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Masters of Architecture in Urban Design, MAUD) 1981-1983. University of Illinois at Chicago, Bachelors in Architecture, (B.Arch) with distinction in design,1976-1981.Academic Positions:Lawrence Technological University., Interim Department Chair 2008-to 2012 hired in 2000 as an Associate Professor, Tenured, 2006. North Dakota State Univ. Dept. of Architecture and Landscape Architecture 1992-2000, Assistant Professor 1992-1998, Tenured-1998, Associate Professor 1998-2000. Assistant Professor University of Detroit, Kansas State and Visiting Assistant Professor Clemson University.Principle Research publications : Sustainable Architecture and building systems, use of computers in education, and professional ethics.Service: Board of Directors for Homeless shelters and humanitatrian faith-based work for the poor, historic preservation.
SESSION: 3B TOPIC AREA: Embodied Energy/Adaptive Reuse
Energy efficient and Sustainability for Building Additions and Adaptive reuse
This work documents methods and means of developing sustainable design solutions for renovation /adaptive reuse and additions to existing architecture through two recent projects developed for international competitions. This work examines the aspects of resource conservation in the design, construction and utilization of built works in the environment. The approach stems from the following perspectives; prioritizing resource conservation based on climatic responsive design, building loads based on building use and type, mech/ elec. structural and lighting systems interface and integration, use of std. metrics (LEED), Building simulation modeling using BIM models, material selection and embodied energy, constructability and fabrication methods/processes, and the climatic and thermal impacts in system selection. The basic principles of the environmental movement are emphasized as viable measures, i.e., reduce, reuse, recycle and renewable resource utilization.
Jeff Gaines, AIA, AICP, LEED AP BD+C
Manager of Programming and Planning, Albert Kahn Associates, Inc.
jeffrey.gaines@akahn.com
BIO: Jeff Gaines is a Senior Associate at Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. where he serves as Manager of Programming and Planning. He has 25 years of experience in the fields of architecture and urban design. While he covers the full range of architectural and planning services, his interests rest primarily in the early phases of project visualization, programming, planning, and concept development. He has served on numerous projects covering a broad range of facility types and locations. His experience encompasses master planning, facility planning and design, urban design studies and analysis, and architectural design. He has led the design effort on numerous LEED certified projects. Mr. Gaines was the founding member and chair of Kahn’s Sustainable Design Committee. He was the company’s first LEED Accredited Professional and is the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the Detroit Regional Chapter of the U. S. Green Building Council. He is a registered architect in the State of Michigan, and a Certified Planner. He has also taught Architectural Design and Urban Planning courses at Lawrence Technological University, University of Detroit Mercy, and the University of Michigan.
SESSION: 4B TOPIC AREA: Embodied Energy/Adaptive Reuse
Designing Places of Choice - A Sustainable Approach
We understand the need for sustainable development based on the physical need to protect and preserve the planet, which requires us to exercise intelligent planning and design practices to manage finite resources within a rapidly growing global population expected to reach 9 billion within 30 years. It is not enough to design and construct buildings that are energy efficient, avoid excess waste, and preserve various components of our environment. These things should be done, but should be accomplished within the context of the human spirit. How we utilize the environment and its many resources is directly related to our health, safety and welfare. We spend upwards of 90% of our time in buildings, of which can directly influence our health, safety and sense of well-being. This program will explore design and construction techniques that result in built environments that positively affect their occupants – spaces that make us feel good physically and mentally. Recent benchmarking revealed that seven key factors were found to influence the development of those successful environments that offers insight into what makes such spaces desirable – and why they are more likely to endure without the need for wasteful augmentation or replacement.
Matthew Grocoff, Esq., LEED GA
Consultant, Speaker, Writer, Producer, Thrive Net Zero Consulting / GreenovationTV
mgrocoff@gmail.com
BIO: Matt was awarded the 2012 Michigan Green Leader by the Detroit Free Press and has been called one of "Greater Detroit's most progressive personalities". He is a net-zero energy and building performance consultant, co-founder of Mission Zero Fest and a nationally renowned advocate and authority on net zero energy building design and retrofits. Matt is host of Greenovation.TV, a contributor to the Environment Report on public radio, contributor to FOX2 Morning Show’s Energy Team, and the green renovation expert for Old House Web. Matt has a Mission Zero goal to eliminate the negative environmental impact of every building in America.He is a sought-after lecturer and a frequent source for journalists on the topic of net zero energy, green-building, historic preservation and energy performance.His home was selected as one of USA Today's "Best Green Homes of 2010" and The Atlantic called it "sustainable perfection." It is America's oldest and Michigan's first net-zero energy home, meaning it annually produces more energy than his family consumes.He has been featured in the pages and on the airwaves of nearly one-hundred media outlets including. He now drives a Chevy Volt . . . powered by the sun.
SESSION: 3C TOPIC AREA: Net Zero Energy
Mission Zero: Case study lesson for retrofitting the existing housing stock
To see what comes next in green building we need to look at what already exists. The 1901 Gauss House / Grocoff Residence is a 110 year old Folk-Victorian in Ann Arbor, Michgan's Old West Side Historic DIstrict and is believed to be the oldest home in North America to document net-zero energy. USA Today named it as one of the Top Green Houses of 2010 and it is receiving national attention in dozens of major magazines and radio and TV news shows. Net zero energy (NZE) is a worthy and necessary goal for green builders. But, how much would we reduce our carbon emission if every NEW building from now was constructed to be NZE? The answer is zero. Finding affordable solutions to reducing emissions from existing homes is the next major challenge and the next major growth area for green remodelers. With 5 years of energy consumption data and two years of production data the Grocoff home has documented what's possible . . . now. (Note: As of this proposal, the Grocoff's have purchased a Chevy Volt and are now on the road to net zero energy transportation).
Joel R. Howrani Heeres, LEED AP
Sustainable Communities coordinator, WARM Training Center
joel@warmtraining.org
BIO: Joel is an advocate for sustainability as a force through which cities can revitalize, thrive, and innovate. A graduate of UM SNRE and Urban Planning, his wide ranging skills include policy and program development, data analysis and systems, and the design and facilitation of public processes.Joel has been at WARM Training Center and the Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office since March 2010, serving as the Sustainable Communities Coordinator, a technical advisor to governments around energy, climate, and sustainability issues. He was the main staff providing technical assistance to 41 local government recipients of federal energy efficiency grants. In addition, Joel has helped design and conduct climate and sustainability planning efforts in 11 communities throughout Southeast Michigan. Over the last 18 months, Joel has spearheaded WARM's work with Oakland County on a Tri-City Sustainability Plan. This planning process is now in its second phase, working with five additional communities. In addition, he is the project manager for the GHG Assessment portion of three Climate Action Planning grants acquired through the SEMREO. Furthermore, Joel is involved with the City of Detroit's Green Task Force, helping the City develop green building policies and other policies to move the city towards greater sustainability.
SESSION: 3A TOPIC AREA: Sustainable Infrastructure (water, sewer, electrical grid, mass transit)
Multi-Community Sustainability Planning: Lessons Learned
Co-presented with Nina Misuraca Ignaczak
(Bio and photo not available)
Through this session, we will explain the major lessons learned through our involvement in two separate multi-community sustainability planning processes, encompassing a total of 8 distinct small cities. We also plan to share the tools that we have developed through these processes to help other cities engage in their own multi-community sustainability planning. Through our involvement with these two separate processes, we were able to develop and apply a number of practices within the second set of communities. The need to complete these processes within a fairly short time frame (3 years) compressing and accelerated the process of developing lessons learned. By necessity, we had to convert our overall lessons learned to a variety of tools to make the process go smoother. We will showcase the components of the Sustainability Planning Toolkit that we are developing for other communities within the county, region, and state.
Kun Hua, PhD
Assistant Professor, Lawrence Technological University
khua@ltu.edu
BIO: Kun Hua is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI, USA since 2010. He received the B.Sc. (with First Class Honors) and M.Sc. degrees from Electrical and Computer Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, in 1999 and 2004 respectively. He earned his PhD degree in computer and electronic engineering from the University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska, USA in 2008. He continued his research in the University of Nebraska Lincoln as a Post-doctorial researcher in 2009. His current research interests are in the areas of wireless communication and multimedia signal processing. Prof. Hua is a senior member of IEEE. He served as an Associate Editor of Wiley Security and Communication Networks Journal.
SESSION: 4C TOPIC AREA: Net Zero Energy
Image Detection, Recognition and 3-D reconstruction for Net-Zero Energy
Co-presented with Lisa Anneberg
BIO: Darin is a Sequential Graduate/Undergraduate Student obtaining his Masters in the Civil/Environmental Engineering department at the University of Michigan. He was born in Johnson City, New York, but spent most of his childhood in the suburbs of southeast Michigan and graduated from Pinckney High School. He has a deep passion for environmental issues, particularly centered around Detroit. As a co-founder of the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative, his team is in the process of setting up a demonstration urban farm in the city’s North End neighborhood. He’s been strategically purchasing land in the city for community gardening and future development purposes. He has worked for Soil and Materials Engineers, Inc. for the past three years, taking two semesters off of school to gain invaluable industry experience. His career goals are specific to encouraging mixed-use brownfield redevelopments, repurposing and reusing vacant land, and increasing human-sized connectivity in our sprawling urban region. He is an active member of the ULI, Transportation Riders United, the USGBC, the Greening of Detroit, and re:Detroit. On a more personal note, Darin recently purchased a home on 1.7 acres near Eastern Market and plans to begin an urban homestead upon graduation.
SESSION: 6B TOPIC AREA: Regional Food Systems/Urban Farming
From Motown to Growtown: the Restarting of Stalled Neighborhoods and Idling Land
Co-prented with Tyson Gersh
Mike D. Paciero,
Student, Students Constructing a Sustainable Tomorrow
mpaciero@ltu.edu
BIO: Representing the student group, Students Constructing a Sustainable Tomorrow, SCST, Mike Paciero is a 4th year student in the Architectural Engineering program. Helping to lead the program through its first 4 years of its existence, Mike has involved himself with the Architectural Engineering Institute on campus as well as helped to provide the spark for LTU to once again compete in the Solar Decathlon competition. He has a passion for sustainable building design and alternative energy and is looking forward to a great career putting those passions to work.
SESSION: 1C TOPIC AREA: Net Zero Energy
Solar Decathlon, A Net Zero Opportunity
Co-presented with LTU Student colleagues Shane Hanser, Rachel Lacasse, Meaghen Markiewicz
(Bios and photos not available)
Since its last entry 5 years ago, Lawrence Technological University's involvement with the Solar Decathlon competition is rarely mentioned. Now, a group of LTU students wish to engage in a project that will provide a need and service to the University and surrounding community. The students of "Students Constructing a Sustainable Tomorrow" (SCST) have diligently worked for the past year to devise a plan to once again give the University the opportunity to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon competition and they need your help and support! The group is committed to designing and implementing student initiated projects, through which they strive to increase ecological mindfulness as well as induce positive, lasting change in the surrounding communities. These surrounding communities include the many urban areas located near LTU, as they are a potential theme for a 2015 Solar Decathlon entry. SCST intends to present on the history of their existence, their experience with and how the Solar Decathlon can happen again at LTU, as well as the other sustainable projects they are committed to on campus.
Kami Pothukuchi, PhD
Associate Professor, Wayne State University
k.pothukuchi@wayne.edu
BIO: Kami Pothukuchi, Ph.D., is associate professor of urban planning at Wayne State University. She is founding director of SEED Wayne, a campus-community collaborative dedicated to building sustainable food systems at WSU and in Detroit neighborhoods. Her research examines the links between community food systems and public health, economic development, social justice, and ecological sustainability.
Dr. Pothukuchi has published on a variety of related topics including retail grocery in underserved areas, urban agriculture, and community and regional food planning. The “Community and Regional Food Planning Policy Guide,” co-authored by her, was formally adopted by the American Planning Association in 2007. She is a co-convenor of the Food Planning Interest Group of the American Planning Association.
Dr. Pothukuchi participates in several local and national groups organized around food and agricultural policy. She is a founding member of the Detroit Food Policy Council and serves on the urban agriculture work group convened by the Detroit City Planning Commission. She has also served two terms on the governing board of the Community Food Security Coalition.SESSION: 1A TOPIC AREA: Regional Food Systems/Urban Farming
University Leadership in Sustainable Food Systems: Lessons from SEED Wayne
Institutions of higher education have important roles to play in imagining and creating more sustainable and just communities and community systems. This presentation will discuss possible leadership roles that universities can play with respect to food systems. Through the experiences of SEED Wayne, a campus-community collaborative at Wayne State University, the strengths and limitations of university roles in sustainable food system are highlighted.
Kristen M. Schweitzer,
Team Green Leader, Team Detroit, Inc.
kristen.schweitzer@teamdetroit.com
BIO: Started in 2008 as a grassroots employee initiative, Team Detroit's Team Green aims to aggressively take action to support our parent company's (WPP) corporate responsibility goal of reducing organizational carbon footprint 63% by 2020. The team consists entirely of volunteers dedicating time and effort above their "day jobs" to further the cause of sustainability in the workplace. I am the Director of Product Information for Ford advertising, and my co-leader is the Associate Design Director for Ford. We have no building nor property management background, yet we've still been able to move mountains with our efforts.Our hope is that we inspire sister WPP agencies with our action and become the pinnacle of sustainability for office buildings worldwide.
SESSION: 7A TOPIC AREA: Sustainable Education/Outreach
The Greening of Team Detroit
Co-presented with Christine Jones (Bio and photo not available)
Started in 2008 as a grassroots employee initiative, Team Detroit's Team Green aims to aggressively take action to support our parent company's (WPP) corporate responsibility goal of reducing organizational carbon footprint 63% by 2020. The team consists entirely of volunteers dedicating time and effort above their "day jobs" to further the cause of sustainability in the workplace. I am the Director of Product Information for Ford advertising, and my co-leader is the Associate Design Director for Ford. We have no building nor property management background, yet we've still been able to move mountains with our efforts.Our hope is that we inspire sister WPP agencies with our action and become the pinnacle of sustainability for office buildings worldwide.
Scott G. Shall, AIA
Department Chair and Associate Professor, Lawrence Technological University
sshall@ltu.edu
BIO: Scott Gerald Shall is Associate Professor and Chair in the Architecture Department at Lawrence Technological University and the founding director of the International Design Clinic (IDC, www.internationaldesignclinic.org), a registered non-profit that realizes much-needed creative work with communities in need around the world. Since founding the IDC in 2006, Shall has worked through this organization to complete over a dozen projects on four continents, including an urban tent for the homeless made of reclaimed water bottles, a vision for education based upon borrowed resources for the migrant communities of India, a school system based upon the vending architectures of Bolivia that is tailored to the lives of kids working the streets of La Paz. Shall’s research and creative work in this arena has been disseminated widely, including presentations at Third International Symposium On Service Learning In Higher Education and the 2008 International Conference on Informal Settlements And Low Income Housing as well as publications by the AIA Press (2010) and the University of Indianapolis Press (2010). Shall has exhibited his creative work in venues around the world, including a spot at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale.
SESSION: 2B TOPIC AREA: Sustainable Infrastructure (water, sewer, electrical grid, mass transit)
Regenerative Architectures and Sustainable Methodologies
Regenerative acts of architecture, constructed with locally-harvested materials, realized through accessible technologies, situated upon wide-ranging conditions and propagated through open source paradigms, have a key role to play in the creation of sustainable urban environments. To illustrate this, the presentation will examine chainlinkGREEN - a system of construction designed to realize urban gardens, shade canopies, parks, benches and other urban, social condensers using only materials common to an abandoned lot. Through this examination, two points key to the production of sustainable, regenerative work will become clear. First, chainlinkGREEN will offer insight into the value of bricolleur-inspired design methodologies: haptically-based creative processes designed to capitalize upon assets such as locally harvested scrap and allow waste to become a driver of the design process. Secondly, chainlinkGREEN’s lightweight, easily constructed structure, realized through a simple distortion of the common fence typology, will demonstrate the potential and limits of tectonic, formal and programmatic elasticity within this process. For it is through such measures that the successes offered by the first chainlinkGREEN installation will lead to new versions in sites of similar condition around the country.
Gary Wozniak,
President and CEO, RecoveryPark
gwozniak@recoverypark.org
BIO: Gary Wozniak has spent his entire adult career in the financial arena. With close to 30 years of hands on consulting, training and leadership experience he has helped hundreds of companies achieve economic success. In addition, Gary has owned several business ventures from restaurants to the health care arena. He has a unique ability to analyze a client’s financial condition and make recommendations regarding strengths/weaknesses, stability and the potential for capacity building. As the lead author of the RecoveryPark project in Detroit, Gary has brought together a coalition of 100+ government, education, non-profit and for-profit entities to vision a 2,400 acre community development and large-scale metropolitan agriculture project. Over 4 years in the making, RecoveryPark is poised to define what “triple bottom line” urban projects will model themselves after in the coming years. This project offers insight into financially self-sustainable models offering lifestyle options that end population losses in core city neighborhoods while attracting employment opportunities that will eventually fuel further development ideas.
SESSION: 2A TOPIC AREA: Regional Food Systems/Urban Farming
RecoveryPark - Detroit's Productive Landscape
Co-presented with Charles Cross
The City of Detroit has always been about making things. As a global leader of industrial development, Detroit has produced everything from stoves, cars and jeeps to tanks, airplanes and music. This project is exploring the regenerative opportunities of the productive landscape within the urban context. It is a broad collaborative effort, formed to develop solutions to the many challenges that face our shrinking metropolis. RecoveryPark is a multi-year, 200 million dollar community redevelopment project spanning 2,400 acres on the east side of Detroit. The key component of this project is the development of a twenty-first century, sustainable, locally driven food system. The goal is to create 6,000 permanent jobs in the areas of urban agriculture, building deconstruction and adaptive reuse, storm water management, site preparation, food processing, production and distribution, hydroponic greenhouses, aquaculture, an equestrian facility, and energy-efficient technology. This multi-faceted project is a collaborative effort between 110+ non-profit and community based organizations, 11 universities, 5 for-profit businesses, multiple state and local governmental agencies and the local school district.