4.16.08 - DEAN CORREN, Verdant Power - 12-2
Categories: Design Heroix, Grand Rounds
(Part of the Grand Rounds Monthly Lecture Series, Design Heroix)
Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, NYC 10012
Dean Corren leads Verdant Power’s technology development efforts, having been the original designer of the Kinetic Hydropower System (KHPS) during his time as a Research Scientist at New York University. Before Verdant Power, he consulted on diverse energy and technology projects, as well as researching a wide range of energy technologies at NYU. He also chaired the Burlington Electric Commission, which governs Vermont’s largest public utility, and served four terms in the Vermont House of Representatives. He holds an MS in Energy Science from New York University and a BA, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Middlebury College.
Respondent: Tim White, Project Management, eDesign Dynamics
Mr. White has extensive experience in the building trades in project management, design and construction. His particular interest involves the application of Low Impact Development technologies in both new design and retrofits in the built environment. His consulting experience has ranged from cost benefit analysis in potential remediation strategies, to stormwater re-use scenarios in urban application. Mr. White holds a M.S. in Natural Resource Planning from the University of Vermont, with a focus on Ecological Design and phosphorus dynamics, where he studied under Dr. John Todd. He designed the on-line Stormwater Management Toolbox for the USEPA “Re-designing the American Neighborhood” grant at UVM.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
This presentation highlighted the role that NYU played in providing the initial resources for this technology. As an intellectual and critical institution, it is important that NYU is intellectually and critically engaged in where and how we get our power. How can NYU become involved in this kind of project again? What would it take to get NYU at least partially powered by this kind of energy?
May 13th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
What struck me most, as a designer who works with 3d modeling, prototyping, and fabrication, was the superior level on which all the work was operating, as well as the presentation style, in terms of communicating design ideas. As someone who is not well versed in the intricacies of kinetic hydropower, i was initially drawn to the design aspects, specifically the images of the engineering involved in designing, monitoring, analyzing and refining the entire system.
As an architect, it would be immensely valuable to have a kinetic hydro power engineer on board any building project to reduce the tremendous energy load that buildings consume, seeing as 76% of all electricity generated by US power plants supplies the building sector.
That being said, i don’t foresee that kind of collaboration being fostered in the US given the dominant model of developer-driven design, therefore i think it is the responsibility of institutions such as NYU, as a global research university to be at the forefront of the implementation of this technology.