Solar Buildings Division Plans for SOLAR 2014

The ASES Solar Buildings Division has begun preparing for SOLAR 2014, ASES’ National Solar Conference. We’ve transitioned to an interim division chair, Pablo La Roche, and we are looking forward to increased involvement with our longtime colleagues at the Society of Building Science Educators (SBSE).

SOLAR 2014, Passive Solar Conference

For SOLAR 2014, ASES has teamed with Intersolar North America, to be held in San Francisco, July 6-10. This collaboration is an opportunity for ASES to hold its conference during the summer, allowing increased participation from the academic community and offering non-academics a great conference destination.

As part of SOLAR 2014, the Solar Buildings Division will host the 39th ASES National Passive Solar Conference, July 7-10. Attendees can participate in sessions of the Passive Conference, the broader ASES conference, the 2nd annual Young & Emerging Professionals in Renewable Energy conference, as well as sessions from the 7th annual Intersolar North America event. Attendees will also have access to the trade show.

Division Leadership and Annual Meeting

I’ve been elected chair of the ASES Board of Directors. The time commitment for that job means I’ve had to step down as Solar Buildings Division chair. Pablo La Roche, a professor in the department of architecture at Cal Poly Pomona University, has volunteered to serve as interim chair until elections can be held during the Solar Buildings Division annual meeting at SOLAR 2014, scheduled for July 7, 1:30-3:00 p.m.

During the meeting, the division will accept additional nominations and hold an election for all leadership positions. If you are interested in participating in the leadership of the division or would like to nominate someone for a position, please contact La Roche, at pmlaroche@csupomona.edu, or me, at david@panicharchitecture.com.

In the recent past, the annual division meetings have been held at breakfast or other less-than-convenient times. At SOLAR 2014, all division meetings will be held during normal conference hours and have been planned to avoid conflict with sessions of interest to division members. Please plan to attend the conference and the annual meeting.

Division and SBSE Collaboration

For many years SBSE has been a strong supporter of ASES’ Passive Conference. SBSE is comprised of “educators and practitioners in architecture and related disciplines who support excellence in the teaching of environmental science and building technologies.” The organization fits well with the mission of the Solar Buildings Division as it moves to engage young professionals and better engage the academic community.

This year, SBSE has volunteered to assist with the technical review process and one of its members, Alfredo Fernandez-Gonzalez, will serve as the Passive Conference chair. Fernandez-Gonzalez is an associate professor of architecture and director of the Natural Energies Advanced Technologies Laboratory at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

In recent years the Solar Buildings Division and the Passive Conference have evolved to include a wide range of building-related topics. In addition to traditional passive building designs, the division has expanded its interests to include high-performance buildings, zero-net energy, daylighting, building-integrated solar technologies, green/sustainable building standards, “Passive House,” design and modeling tools, performance monitoring, building science and other topics related to the design and construction of renewably powered, environmentally sound, energy-efficient buildings. SBSE’s participation in this year’s conference promises to make the Solar Buildings Division an even better source of technical information for members.

Get Involved

Membership in the Solar Buildings Division is focused on the needs of —

• Design professionals (architects, engineers and LEED aps),
• Building/construction professionals (builders, contractors, developers, building owners), and
• Educators and students (faculty, researchers, students in the above disciplines).

We look forward to seeing you at SOLAR 2014 and hope you will consider becoming more involved in both the Solar Buildings Division and ASES. If you are interested in volunteering or contributing, or if you have ideas on how to make the division more responsive to the needs of its members, we welcome your involvement.

David Panich (david@panicharchitecture.com) is an architect and owner of Panich Architecture in Framingham, Mass., chair of the ASES Board of Directors and immediate past chair of the ASES Solar Buildings Division.