Here’s another chapter in our ongoing 5 questions series with the women of HOK. Meet Barb Ciesla, Sustainable Design Leader and Vice President in Toronto. Barb has been with HOK almost six years now and we are glad to have her. She is a Scorpio and true to her zodiacal sign, she is “one intense little creature.” Barb is as smart as they come and won’t back down, especially when it comes to sustainability. Read more and you’ll see why.
Q: Why is sustainable design so important to you? – I got to a point in my design career where, although I was loving what I was doing, I didn’t …
Like any cinematic production, our video experiment at Greenbuild ‘09 elicited a fair share of blooper moments. We’ve compiled a few outtakes and humorous quips below.
Check out a complete selection of Green Aha! moments on YouTube and Life at HOK.
Last week’s video expedition at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Phoenix netted dozens of Green Aha! recordings. Courageous individuals from Japan, Argentina, London, Saudi Arabia and all across North America disclosed their personal epiphanies, moments of truth and shocking recycling tales. Our booth crew (Julie, Chris and yours truly) was joined at the conference by HOKLife bloggers Nico, Niall, Colin and Anica (as well as a couple dozen other HOK co-workers).
Below is a short video compilation of what we gathered. Check out a complete selection of Green Aha! moments on YouTube and Life at HOK….
Our first crop of Green Aha! moments harvested at Greenbuild ‘09 range from:
the Simple…
to the Illuminating…
to the Downright Quirky…
Even our very own Barb got in on the action, accompanied by a special “prop.”
Keep checking out our Green Aha! feed from Phoenix on YouTube and Life at HOK.
HOK’s chairman and most vocal sustainable design advocate is blogging Greenbuild 2009 for Contract magazine.
In his first post for Contract, Bill reflects on his journey to Phoenix, writes about seeing the automated people mover designed by HOK being constructed at the Phoenix airport and describes taking the light rail train to his hotel.
In his next post, Bill gets excited about a new LED downlight from the expo and zeroes in on zero carbon and building retrofits as the big themes for Day 1…and much more.
Related: HOK is recording lots of green-ahas!
“Mary Ann and the Green Aha! Moments”
Armed with a low-carbon camcorder, two director’s chairs and a boatload of salsa mix, this quirky band of environmentalists is heading to the Great Southwest.
Our plans include rubbing elbows with Al Gore, Sheryl Crow, Anica Landreneau and dozens of other celebrity performers/speakers at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Phoenix. We’re also on a mission to gather Green Aha! moments on video (not since An Inconvenient Truth has there been such raw anticipation for an environmental production).
Here’s a short video preview of our approach:
If you’re planning to be …
HOK is turning the tables at Greenbuild ‘09. Instead of adorning our booth with OUR story, we’re creating a platform for telling YOURS. That’s right, it’s Open Mic Night at next week’s big conference and expo in Phoenix.
During the show, we will be inviting individuals to share their Green Aha!, the moment they first realized the importance of living and/or working “green.”
We will broadcast those inspiring tales at our booth, as well as uploading them to a YouTube Channel so others can share the experience. The most profound Aha! moments will win a free signed copy of The Green Workplace.
See you at Booth #3442. I’ll be the guy …
For my first post on our blog, I’ll start with a question of inspiration: Does it get better than GreenBuild?
When you are a sustainable design professional, in the realm of all the conferences you could attend throughout the year, probably not.
Each year we gather in a different great city (now tens of thousands strong). We go to meet, greet, say hello again, share our work and pontificate the potential of our impact on this industry (or should I say these industries – we touch hundreds both directly and indirectly). Two weeks ago I was packing my bags in preparation for
…
I know. I promised to try and frequently blog and post pictures from Greenbuild. I failed. Not for lack of effort. More like lack of time. Maybe next year.
As I look back on this trip, the most amazing thing about this event is the people – a people inspired by change. Everyone is cordial, welcoming and friendly. Everyone’s looking for answers to the growing questions surrounding sustainable design. Many answers are provided.
With my first trip to Greenbuild in the books, I’d like to walk you through it from my perspective as an exhibitor and not an attendee.
Monday, November 17, 2008
6:20 am – Flight leaves for Boston via DC. Much coffee needed.
11:15 am – Flight lands in Boston. Tim Gaidis and …
On the final day of Greenbuild in Boston, I took a tour of the Boston Freedom Trail, which retraces the important historic sites in Boston, most of which played a large part in the American Revolution. One of the Fathers of the Revolution, Samuel Adams, has a quote that strongly resonates today in the times of turmoil that our nation is currently facing.
“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds”
Our country is at war, our economy is failing and the threat posed by global warming is growing every day. Although we were 30,000 strong …
If you didn’t get a chance to go to Greenbuild in Boston this year, plan to go next year. It was an event full of energy and passion as well as brilliant people, all with a laser-like focus on saving the planet. Really, not a bad way to spend a few days.
I had the great pleasure of moderating a panel there called “Green Blogs and the Built Environment” with four green bloggers, all who spend their days writing about the latest trends in architecture, product design, technology, urban planning and all things green. The panelists, Preston Kroner from Jetson Green, Lloyd Alter from Treehugger, Stephen Del Percio from Green Buildings NYC and Willem Mass from Green Home Guide (recently purchased …
I just wrapped up a long week at GreenBuild, the penultimate green building conference in the U.S., possibly the world. Yes, I am exhausted, but also invigorated. Big props to the USGBC for a superb conference that was extremely well organized, even in the face of about 30,000 attendees. Also, for having the adorable, lovely and giant-hearted Archibishop Desmond Tutu speak at the opening plenary. Often at conferences we get the rockstars with the bigtime resumes and egos to match. Desmond Tutu was a breath of fresh air: he described the audience as ‘the cat’s whiskers’ and echoed the buoyant feeling of the crowd, optimistic about the future of green under a new U.S. Administration (shout out to Obama). …
Sitting in Boston for Greenbuild, I can’t help but think about all things sustainability-related.
This whole week, as I take in my first Greenbuild experience working the HOK booth, I’m going to try and blog, facebook, twitter, etc. from here. There’ll be pictures, videos, and my thoughts. Hopefully it will give you an inside look at Greenbuild.
This afternoon, more than 30 HOKers from numerous locations will meet to discuss sustainability issues on a firmwide basis and how to plan for the future at HOK Day. We’ll talk about sustainability in terms of design, people and our practices.
We will also be discussing the 2009 …
