MEDIA CONTACT: Lisa Freed

561-297-3022, lfreed@fau.edu

FAU's Broward Community Design Collaborative Presents "Going Solar"
Simple Sustainable and Practical Power Solutions

                FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (March 13, 2006) –Florida Atlantic University professor  and architect Anthony Abbate will moderate a panel presentation titled “Going Solar” on the rising importance and real-world feasibility of implementing solar power and other sustainable living solutions into the South Florida built environment.

            The symposium will take place on Wednesday, March 22 at 6 p.m. at the FAU-BCC Higher Education Complex, 111 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, and will provide an historical overview, current research and practical applications of solar power in Broward County. The presentation, sponsored by FAU’s Broward Community Design Collaborative, FAU’s School of Architecture and the American Institute of Architects - Fort Lauderdale chapter, will be directed toward designers, practitioners, planners, building official and individuals interested in learning about available options for solar power and solar water heating in South Florida.

Interest in alternative energy sources is increasing at an unprecedented pace, fueled in large part by local and national disasters that have left millions of grid-connected users without power for days, even weeks, as well as global warming concerns and the dramatic increase in fuel bills over the past two years. The alternative energy industry itself has experienced an explosive growth rate of almost 40 percent per year over the past five years, and the solar panel industry alone has ballooned to $15 billion globally, according to Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association.  Though similar excitement for solar energy has, in the past, evaporated as soon as oil prices leveled off or the White House changed hands, the industry is finally maturing and the concept is moving into the mainstream of building technologies.

“Going Solar” will feature presentations, discussion and debate by two experts in the field. FAU professor Dr. Roger Messenger, who co-authored the book “Photovoltaic Systems Engineering,” will offer the latest developments and solutions from a technical perspective. Professor Mate Thitisawat, assistant professor of architecture at FAU, will provide expertise from an architectural and design stand point, illuminating issues that will help integrate the new technologies into modern-day homes and businesses in an efficient, attractive and practical manner.

The Broward Design Collaborative is a nonprofit forum that brings together researchers, experts and the public at large in an ongoing effort to find design-oriented solutions for building healthy communities in Broward County that are walkable, livable, equitable and sustainable.

The symposium is open and free to the public. Reservations can be made by contacting Margaret Devine at 954-762-5654 or by emailing Anthony Abbate at aabbate@fau.edu
 

 -FAU-