BioInspired! So What? Now What!

In this 90 minute presentation we will discuss biomimicry as a foundation for sustainability and the Living Building and Living Product Challenges as opportunities for widespread and principled application of a nature-centered way of thinking and doing. We will discuss some of the important and ongoing relationships between them as well as some of the ways they are evolving and influencing progress toward a more sustainable world.

The field of green design is not sitting still, but can be seen to be in a moment of significant growing pains. Biomimicry as an emerging discipline has much to contribute to the development and maturation of not just a design practice but also the larger culture of sustainability. The Living Building Challenge was conceived more than ten years ago by Jason McLennan, drawing heavily from the work of author Janine Benyus and others. Since then, networks of biomimicry early adopters have been developing nationally and internationally. Deeply intertwined, these movements are both growing and co-evolving.

Presenters:

Randall Anway, AIA is a Registered Architect in New York and Connecticut. He specializes in design research inspired by natural systems, processes, and forms. Currently active with the Connecticut AIA Committee on the Environment and International Council on Systems Engineering Natural Systems Working Group, he helps develop educational programming for practitioners. His over 20 years of experience includes residential, institutional, and corporate design and system implementation. He holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Connecticut. A Certified Biomimicry Specialist since 2011, he offers design consulting, research and education through his Connecticut firm, New Tapestry, LLC.

Michael Dupee is an entrepreneur, educator, and consultant specializing at the intersection of sustainability, innovation, and branding. He is Principal at AWEN Ventures and a Teaching Fellow at the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship. From 2004 to 2012, he was Vice-President of Sustainable Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility at Keurig Green Mountain, where he lead efforts to design and implement sustainable design initiatives and was responsible for over $49MM in strategic corporate philanthropy. Prior to that, he was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York, NY, specializing in making and managing principal investments in portfolios of distressed financial assets. Michael holds a BA in History from Boston College, an MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center, and an MS in Biomimicry from Arizona State University. He is an Aspen Institute First Movers Fellow and a Donella Meadows Sustainability Leadership Fellow.

WHEN

• Monday, September 26, 2016 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM (EDT) - Add to Calendar

WHERE

• Kroon Hall - 195 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, United States - View Map