Broadcast Date: Thursday, December 9th, 2010
Time: 9:00 AM PT / 11:00 AM CT / 12:00 PM ET
Duration: 50-55 Minutes

Speaker:
Kevin Foster O’Donnell, Founder and Fundamentalist

Complete the form below to register for this online event. You will receive information about how to attend by email after registering.

Learning Objectives:

   * Identify cutting edge environmentally friendly materials that are not yet mainstream green.
   * Review research strategies for finding the companies researching and developing these materials.
   * Explore tips for working with small, progressive, environmentally responsible product manufacturers
     to create innovative materials.

The green product race is on. Every day, new products hit the market claiming to be green. Exhibit floors across the country are being invaded by companies showcasing their latest green innovation. Unfortunately, many of those products are, relatively speaking, old news. Many of the biggest sustainable design conferences and expositions in 2009, and so far in 2010, have lacked anything truly new and astounding. Where, then, are the products just barely rolling off the production line? Those just waiting to be launched? Those still in research and development?

The most effective way to be in the know is to build a green network. This is also the most important part of building a green library. When you have access to artists, manufacturers, researchers, and information providers who have within their reach the latest material intelligence, specifiers themselves can become part of the creation process and be in a position to design new and proprietary products. This session will showcase some of the newest green materials released, suggest strategies for ferreting the most innovative R&D and finding leading-edge sustainable material manufacturers, and provide tips for how to work with these companies to develop materials as of yet unimagined.

About the Presenter:

Kevin Foster O’Donnell,
Founder and Fundamentalist

Kevin has worked in the retail industry for more than twenty years, championing cutting edge design, carefully integrated architecture and store décor, creative brand development, insightful business strategy, inventive conceptual approaches and innovative use of materials and production methods via key projects for Tesco’s Fresh & Easy, Whole Foods Market, Kroger Co., and Wegmans.

Kevin founded the L.A. design and consulting studio thread collaborative. His team researches, develops, designs, and writes about innovative strategies to achieve sustainable building development.

He educates and lectures from local, regional, and national platforms, including UCLA Extension, SCI-Arc, The Bartlett, and FMI, AIA, ASID, IRDC, and Neo-Con events. He developed The Climate Project’s Built Environment Module, a slideshow of current technologies and strategies for better buildings. Kevin is a member of VMSD magazine’s editorial advisory board. His architectural models and drawings are in the permanent collection of Architecture and Design at SF MOMA.