Conference at a Glance

Conference Evaluation

Featured Speakers

Participating Organizations

Planning Committee

Sessions and Speakers

Sponsors

Trade Show

Travel and Accommodations

Workshops

Featured Speakers

Welcome
Thursday, September 30
Lance R. Miller has held leadership positions for state, federal and interstate governmental organizations for nearly three decades. He was appointed Chief of Staff at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) in February 2002 where he assisted in the establishment of the Office of Clean Energy and Clean Energy Program.  Prior to joining the BPU, Miller led the Delaware River Basin Commission‚s (DRBC) Planning and Implementation Branch and served as Director of Watershed Management for the Department of Environmental Protection.  From 1994 through 1997, he served as Executive Director of the United States Environmental Protection Agency‚s Permits Improvement Team, charged with improving the environmental permitting system.  Miller began his career at the Department of Environmental Protection in 1976 as Assistant Commissioner for the Site Remediation Program, and was responsible for organizing and managing a coordinated approach to the state‚s clean up efforts of all sites contaminated with hazardous waste.

Opening Plenary
Thursday, September 30
Steven J. Strong is President of Solar Design Associates, Inc., 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. In 1996, Mr. Strong worked with Olympic Village architects to power the natatorium complex at the 1996 Summer Games with solar electricity using the world‚s largest rooftop PV power system. He has served as an advisor on energy and environmental issues to numerous governors, senators, and presidential candidates, as well as a number of electric utilities. 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 numerous other publications. Articles about him and his work have appeared in over 100 publications, including TIME and Business Week, and on television and in energy and environmental documentaries. In the spring of 1999, TIME magazine named Mr. Strong an environmental "Hero of the Planet".

Lunchtime Plenary
Thursday, September 30
Michael H. Nicklas is an owner/officer, president, and co-founder of Innovative Design, Inc., founded in 1977. Since its beginning, the firm has completed over 700 projects˜ all of them incorporating renewable energy technologies as significant aspects of their design. Innovative Design‚s eleven new day-lit schools and thirty-eight renovated schools are saving in excess of $2.8 million annually in energy bills. The firm‚s active research program has pioneered design features such as the integration of photovoltaics into building skin design and development of high-temperature, thermal solar systems for roof-integrated industrial and commercial roof assemblies. Innovative Design is a national leader in providing natural daylighting design solutions for a wide range of applications. Highlights of Mr. Nicklas' career include the development of several energy guidelines for state and federal agencies, energy consulting for school districts, and leadership positions in numerous advocacy groups such as the American Solar Energy Association (including Chair 2002-2003) and the North Carolina Governor‚s Energy Council.

Closing Plenary
Friday, October 1
L. Hunter Lovins is the president of Natural Capitalism, Inc., founded in 2003 as a way to implement the ideas of sustainable development on a global scale.  A renowned author and champion of of sustainable development for over 30 years, Ms. Lovins believes that citizens, communities, and companies working together within a market context are the most dynamic problem-solving force on the planet.  She helped establish, and was for six years assistant director, of the California Conservation Project (Tree People), an innovative urban forestry and environmental education group.  In 1982, she founded the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a 50-person research center with a $7 million annual budget, half of it earned through programmatic enterprise.  Named Henry R. Luce visiting professor at Dartmouth College, she also helped found, and is now a professor of business, at Presidio World College, the first school to offer an accredited MBA in sustainable management.  Ms. Lovins is a commisioner in the State of the World Forum's Commission on Globalization, co-chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev, Jane Goodall, George Soros, and others.