Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope, Columbia University to Present "The Future of Energy"

Words: Dan KamysOldcastle BuildingEnvelope, Columbia University to Present "The Future of Energy"

Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope has partnered with Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planningand Preservation (GSAPP) on "The Future of Energy," assembling experts to exchange ideas on how best to address energy production and consumption issues for the future. This full-day conference is open to the public and will be held on Oct. 2, 2013, at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"The Future of Energy" is an interdisciplinary research program devoted to exploring key questions facing designers, developers and other professionals who are concerned with energy, efficiency and sustainability in the building industry. This collaborative effort between Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope and GSAPP resists focusing on specific technologies or prospective energy sources. 

Instead, it examines energy, both discursively and thematically, addressing such issues as how problems of the future of energy are framed and how these problems are conceived and discussed.

Along with a panel of leaders in the fields of architecture, engineering and construction, keynote speakers include two of the preeminent minds in energy today. Matthias Schuler is an engineer, an adjunct professor of Environmental Technology at Harvard GSD and the founder of Stuttgart, Germany-based Transsolar. Schuler works with architects to develop sustainable design strategies for buildings.  

Economist Jeffrey Sachs is the director of The Earth Institute, a professor at Columbia University, special advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and author of several books, including "The Price of Civilization."

To learn more about "The Future of Energy," go to http://events.gsapp.org/event/auditor-the-future-of-energy. For more information about GSAPP, contact Gavin Browning, 212-854-9248 or Gdb2106@columbia.edu.

Luis Sontay
September 2026

For this month, the MCAA got to sit down with aspiring mason Luis Sontay. From taking an interest in masonry as a kid to placing 1st in a postsecondary competition, Luis’ dedication and passion for the trade is clear. Luis describes his early passion fo

Mentmore Towers, Fort Point, and More
September 2026

The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, UK, stands as a sweeping estate that represents the absolute peak of English masonry. Conceived with breathtaking scale and precision, the monumental complex is defined by

The Alhambra
September 2026

High above Granada, Spain, the Alhambra offers masonry professionals something more than an architectural landmark. It is a working lesson in how relatively simple building materials, placed by skilled craftsmen and maintained over generations, can create

The Wall
September 2026

There is a story around Huntley Brothers that some of our guys simply call “The Wall.” I’ve told it enough times over the years that when I start telling it to one of our younger guys, I can see a few of the older ones rolling their eyes. They’ve heard i