June forum: Bright Lights Big City

Anyone who resides in New York City knows how unusual it is to see stars, let alone a whole constellation in the night sky. Join us for our June Forum: Darkening the Skyline, where we will examine light pollution in its various types, ways to reduce it, how it impacts energy use and what it does to New Yorkers.

• Wednesday, June 16, 2010. 6 pm – 8:00 pm
• Join us at 6pm for light refreshments courtesy of GE Monogram Design Center, talk beings at 6:30pm
• GE Monogram Design Center, Architects and Designers Building, 150 E. 58th Street, 10th Fl. New York, NY 10155
• Please RSVP below
• Interested in AIA credit? Sign up here

New York may not be the brightest city in the world but it is definitely a contender. We are constantly barraged by tall buildings whose lights are purposely left on, whether it be for a status symbol or simply aesthetics. The June forum will look at the big picture of light pollution and discuss how the green building community can work with policy makers to enforce stricter building codes. Our speakers include: Ian Cheney, director of The City Dark. Ian Cheney grew up in New England and received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Yale University. He co-created and starred in the feature documentary KING CORN, and directed the feature documentary THE GREENING OF SOUTHIE. Ian is currently directing and producing a feature documentary about light pollution entitled THE CITY DARK, and a short film on urban agriculture entitled TRUCK FARM. With longtime collaborator Curt Ellis, Ian runs Wicked Delicate, a documentary and advocacy project in Brooklyn, NY. Wicked Delicate maintains a 1/1000th acre farm in the back of a 1986 Dodge pickup truck, and is part of a planning process to develop FoodCorps, a national school garden and Farm to School program. Susan Harder is a 10 year Dark Sky advocate with www.darkskysociety.org. She works full-time on the issue of light pollution in NY State as the International Dark Sky Association NY State Section Leader. She gives educational power point presentations (credited for IES and AIA members) to numerous organizations, including local municipal elected officials and planning boards to help them enact outdoor lighting regulations. She has also assisted, among others, these local municipalities to enact “dark sky” outdoor lighting regulations: Brookhaven Town, East Hampton Town and Village, Riverhead Town, Tuxedo Park, Lloyd Harbor, Patchogue, Southampton, with pending legislation in the NY City Council and NY State legislature.