Keynote Schedule
Saturday 9:30-11:30am
Al Gore,
Vice President
Former Vice President Al Gore is co-winner, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for "informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change." Mr. Gore is the author of An Inconvenient Truth, a best-selling book on the threat of and solutions to global warming, and the subject of the movie of the same title, which was awarded a 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Gore also chairs the Alliance for Climate Protection, a non-profit organization designed to help solve the climate crisis.
He is cofounder and Chairman of Generation Investment Management, a firm that is focused on a new approach to Sustainable Investing. He is also a partner in the venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, heading that firm's climate change solutions group. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Computer, Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Google, Inc. Gore is also cofounder and Chairman of Current TV, an independently owned cable and satellite television network for young people based on viewer-created content and citizen journalism.
Gore has been the leading advocate for confronting the threat of global warming since his election to the U.S. Congress 30 years ago. His pioneering efforts were outlined in his best-selling book Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit (1992). He led the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to protect the environment in a way that also strengthens the economy.
Friday 9:30-11:30am
David Suzuki,
Author & TV Host, The Nature of Things
David Suzuki is an award-winning biologist and broadcaster who has has pioneered efforts in sustainable ecology. For his work Suzuki has received a UNESCO Prize for Science, as well as the United Nations Environmental Medal. His best-selling books include Good News For A Change: How Everyday People are Helping The Planet, Genethics: The Clash Between the New Genetics and Human Values, and The David Suzuki Reader. He is also host of the award-winning television show The Nature of Things. David Suzuki is a brilliant interpreter of science and nature for the non-specialist and engages audiences in an informative and profound discussion of our place in the natural world. He is currently Professor Emeritus in Zoology at The University of British Columbia.
Hunter Lovins,
Founder & President, Natural Capitalism Group
Hunter Lovins is an international consultant, professor, speaker and author on enhancing business value while practicing environmental sustainability. She presents regularly to audiences ranging from business, government, community groups and universities. For over 20 years, she has been widely published, quoted and referred to on how being environmentally friendly increases profits. Hunter is one of the founders of the new field of Sustainable Management, a co-developer of America’s first accredited MBA Sustainable Management program and a Professor of Business at Presidio School of Management. Hunter's best known book, Natural Capitalism- Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, is widely considered to be an inspiration and an essential reference book. President Clinton called it "A huge deal." The Economist stated, it will "...leave every reader with the hope that the old battle between business and the environment can reach a peaceful and constructive conclusion." She has authored hundreds of articles and books.
Thursday 9:30-11:30am
Chris Jordan,
Photographer & Designer
Chris Jordan is an internationally acclaimed photographic artist and activist whose work explores the detritus of American mass culture. His newest series, titled Running the Numbers, depicts the staggering statistics that define contemporary America, in huge intricately detailed panels as large as thirty feet wide. These huge works invite the viewer to walk up close and see every detail as a metaphor for the role of the individual in our hypermodern society. Chris's work is exhibited widely in the US and Europe, and has been featured in magazines, newspapers, weblogs, documentary films and television programs all over the globe. A sought-after speaker on the subject of mass culture.
John Knott,
Founder & CEO, Noisette Project
President and co-founder of the Noisette Company, LLC, John Knott leads the Noisette Project development team, which is collaborating in a public-private partnership with the City of North Charleston to restore 3,000 acres of the city's historic urban core. Mr. Knott has 38 years of experience in the urban redevelopment, historic preservation and community rehabilitation fields. He is an internationally recognized leader in the redevelopment of cities, and has served as an advisor to municipalities throughout the United States and Canada, in addition to cities in China and Russia.
As the Noisette Company's visionary, Mr. Knott guides the Company's master planning process with the local community in North Charleston, emphasizing the balance between business and residential uses with the restoration of the region's ecosystem. In 2001, Dewees Island, a 1,206-acre eco-friendly residential development managed by Mr. Knott, won the Urban Land Institute's prestigious Award for Excellence.
Mayor Chuck Reed,
Mayor, San Jose
As Mayor of San José, Chuck is committed to improving the quality of life in the city, boosting the public's trust in local government, and fixing the City's structural budget deficit.
Click here for the Mayor's Green Vision
The Mayor's Green Vision for San Jose is:
Within 15 years, the City of San José in tandem with its residents and businesses will:
- Create 25,000 Clean Tech jobs as the World Center of Clean Tech Innovation
- Reduce per capita energy use by 50 percent
- Receive 100 percent of our electrical power from clean renewable sources
- Build or retrofit 50 million square feet of green buildings
- Divert 100 percent of the waste from our landfill and convert waste to energy
- Recycle or beneficially reuse 100 percent of our wastewater (100 million gallons per day)
- Adopt a General Plan with measurable standards for sustainable development
- Ensure that 100 percent of public fleet vehicles run on alternative fuels
- Plant 100,000 new trees and replace 100 percent of our streetlights with smart, zero-emission lighting
- Create 100 miles of interconnected trails
Host: Sarah Susanka, FAIA,
Author, The Not So Big House
Bestselling author, architect and cultural visionary Sarah Susanka is leading a movement to redefine the American home and lifestyle. Her "build better, not bigger" approach to residential architecture has been embraced across the country and her "Not So Big" philosophy is evolving beyond our physical habitations and into how we inhabit our lives.
In May, Random House released Susanka's latest title, The Not So Big Life: Making Room for What Really Matters. In the book, she reveals that quality-over-quantity serves not only architectural aims, but life goals as well. She unveils a process for changing the way we live by fully inhabiting each moment of our lives and showing up completely in whatever it is we are doing. Through this process, readers will discover more meaningfulness, vitality and that sense of being "at home" in life that so many people are searching for today. Read more »
Thought Leader, Speaker and Expert Resource
Susanka has shared her insights with "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Charlie Rose" and HGTV. She is regularly profiled in leading shelter and lifestyle magazines and featured in newspapers including The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
Fast Company named her to their debut list of "Fast 50" innovators whose achievements have helped to change society—an honor preceded by her selection as a "top newsmaker" for 2000 by Newsweek magazine and an "innovator in American culture" in 1998 by U.S. News & World Report. Builder magazine consistently ranks her as one of the "50 most influential people in the building industry." Recently, Midwest Living magazine declared Susanka one of 20 style innovators. In May, Susanka received the Anne Morrow Lindbergh Award by the Lindbergh Foundation for outstanding individual achievement, demonstrating a spirit of initiative and exemplifying great dedication toward making positive contributions to our world.
As a leading advocate for the re-popularization of residential architecture, Susanka has improved the quality of home design while countering the elitist image of architects so commonly held by the public. She is regularly tapped for her dynamic presentations by Fortune 500 companies, homebuilders, nonprofits and trade organizations.
Acclaimed Author, Six Best-Selling Books In her groundbreaking book, The Not So Big House (Taunton, 1998), Susanka encourages homeowners, builders, remodelers and design professionals to focus on quality over quantity—on what makes us feel comfortable rather than what impresses the neighbors. Her second book, Creating the Not So Big House, released in 2000, features 25 examples of "Not So Big" homes and remodels. This was followed by Not So Big Solutions for Your Home in 2002, a small but densely packed volume that's full of fixes and ideas for common house problems. In 2004, Susanka launched Home By Design, a companion to her "Not So Big House" series, that describes many of the principles and concepts that allow one to build "Not So Big." One year later, Susanka partnered with Marc Vassallo to write Inside the Not So Big House, zooming in on the built-in details that bring character and personality to a home. In 2006, Susanka collaborated with acclaimed landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy, and released Outside the Not So Big House, weaving inside and outside together and showcasing 20 examples of gardens that surround "Not So Big" houses.
Susanka is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects and a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council. She was born in Kent, England, and lives in North Carolina.
Join her online community at www.NotSoBigHouse.com and www.NotSoBigLife.com.