Our spring conference was held in Pittsburgh PA June 2-4 and we had a great turnout. Held in conjunction with School Building Expo, we had over 500 people come to attend learning sessions, tours, keynote speeches and a product showcase over the three days. Held at the Pittsburgh Convention Center, the Expo provided lots of opportunities to network, learn about advances in educational facility design, see new and innovative products and be challenged to create more sustainable solutions for the learning institutions we serve. If you were able to attend, we thank you for choosing to spend your continuing education dollars at a CAE sponsored event. If you were unable to attend, you missed a great event.
The conference started with tours of new and innovative learning environments in the Pittsburgh area including Carnegie Mellon University and the Winston Thurston Upper School. More than 70 people attended the two tours and saw some inspiring examples of how architects shape learning, and working, environments.
Our opening keynote was Vivian Loftness, an internationally renowned researcher, author and educator with over thirty years of focus on environmental design and sustainability, advanced building systems and systems integration, climate and regionalism in architecture, as well as design for performance in the workplace of the future. Through her research and practical application of sustainable integrated building systems, she has helped define how simple technologies can create comfortable, functional, safe and pleasant places to learn and work while minimizing their carbon impact.
Day two of the conference was filled with interesting presentations and lots of activity in the product showcase. Our keynote for the day began with a presentation of the CAE award winners and their projects. We acknowledged 13 projects around the US and Canada in this year’s awards program with 3 projects receiving the highest award, Excellence. To view the presentation of the award winning projects, go to the CAE Web site. Our keynote for the day was given by Gregory Kats, a leader in sustainable design, construction and financing. Greg challenged all of us to “go beyond green” to create buildings that become net energy producers. Greg shared some really powerful insight into how the economics of sustainable design support the extra initial investment.
Day three of the conference brought more learning opportunities for attendees and closed with an inspiring presentation by Gabriel Bol Deng. Gabriel came to the United States in 2001 as a refugee from war torn Sudan. Orphaned at age 10 and left for dead on the road to his village, Gabriel walked across Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya to escape the violence, taught himself to read and write, all before emigrating to the US as a political refugee. He attended college in upstate New York and received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and philosophy in 2007. He has now embarked on a venture to bring quality education back to his village and to help the people of northern Sudan escape poverty through education. His program HOPE (Helping Offer Primary Education) for the people of Sudan is focused on building schools to help the Sudanese children learn. After the closing keynote, another set of optional tours took people back to Carnegie Mellon and to the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School (CAPA).
If you would like to see or download any of the presentations from the conference, they can be accessed online. Use your email address as your login and the password “pr3$o$”.
Overall, each attendee had the opportunity to earn more than 15 CEU’s at the conference, including HSW and Sustainable Design credits. Over 200 attendees earned CEU’s while there. These conferences are a great opportunity to connect and build our understanding of how what we do impacts learning at all levels. Put May 11 & 12, 2010 on your calendars for the next School Building Expo to be held at Navy Pier in Chicago.