Sustainability Center

Independence Energy Homes Team

Energy Experts

Backgrounds(from left to right)
David Wax: B.S. in Business Administration, University of Vermont; Master of Business Administration, Cornell University; Financial Analyst, Clean Energy Group; Capital Analyst, Exelon; Senior Consultant, Deloitte Consulting; CEO, IEH
Jordan Goldman: B.S. and Master of Engineering, Cornell University; Project Engineer, Taitem Engineering; Project Engineer, IEH
Stephanie Horowitz: Bachelor of Architecture, Cornell University; Architectural Designer, NBBJ; Vice President Custom Designs, IEH
Timothy Fu: B.S. and Master of Engineering, Cornell University; HVAC Engineer, Jaros, Baum & Bolles; Chief Technology Officer, IEH.
Ben Uyeda: Bachelor and Master of Architecture, Cornell University; Assistant Professor of Architecture, Cornell University; Chief Architectural Officer, IEH
Emile Chin-Dickey: (not pictured) B.A. in Economics, Cornell University; Associate Consultant, Kaiser Associates; Marketing Analyst, IEH

Awards and Boards

Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, Second Place (Cornell University Team) (2005)

Recommended reading

  • "The Tragedy of the Commons" by Garrett Hardin, Science vol. 162, no. 3859, pp. 1243 - 1248 (1968);
  • Natural Capitalism, by Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins and Paul Hawken (2000);
  • Small Is Beautiful, by E. F. Schumacher (1989); Capitalism at a Crossroads:
  • The Unlimited Business Opportunities in Solving the World's Most Difficult Problems, by Stuart Hart (2005);
  • Massive Change, by Bruce Mau (2004); Renewable Energy, by Bent Sorensen (3rd ed. 2004).

Published in

Architectural Record, Feb. 2006, p. 44; Popular Mechanics, January 2006; Solar Today, January/February 2006.

Q&A

What started you on the path toward sustainability?

A concern for the current and future state of the world. As students at Cornell University, we each studied sustainability in our respective fields of architecture, engineering, and business. This enabled us to develop separate ideas and strategies on how to approach the issue. It was only after we worked and argued together on the Cornell Solar Decathlon team that we came to understand that sustainability is not an end or a single answer—it’s a concept we can work toward, but never actually achieve. This elusiveness is exciting and challenging in a way that environmental rhetoric isn’t, and the difficulty of questioning and responding to such a fundamental human challenge is as fulfilling as it is complex. That’s why IEH uses a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to work toward sustainability.

Who inspired you, or nurtured your talent?

Though we all have our personal inspirations, collectively we inspire and challenge each other through the lenses of our respective professions. Our company thrives on internal conflict. In search of the optimum solution to a given problem, we continually question each other, our own proposals, and things that we have been taught to be unarguably true. Our internal conflicts, fueled by our different educational and professional backgrounds, yield better solutions.

What gives you hope in your industry?

Increasing public awareness around the idea that people, buildings, and the environment are truly interrelated. Americans have begun to turn their attention toward environmental and social issues. People have a general desire to understand how these large and ominous problems affect their lives and how they can personally evoke change. As the trend continues, we hope to see Americans expect or even demand healthy, high-performance, and environmentally friendly buildings. These characteristics will eventually become commonplace, allowing the market to dictate the use of increasingly sustainable building technologies.

What worries you most in this area?

We are concerned that sustainability has become a political matter. The issue should not be relegated to a battle between “red” and “blue” states. Building performance and environmental and occupant health affect everyone. To be effective, sustainability must become ingrained in our culture.

What advice do you give to young people who want to make a difference in the world?

Find your renaissance team. Many problems are too complex to tackle with the skills and knowledge of one individual.

What is the role of technology in sustainable design?

Sustainability represents a cultural challenge, not a technological one. Like economics, technology is an important consideration in designing change, but only one of many entities that must be considered. Developing new technologies isn’t inherently progressive. Part of our environmental context has been shaped by technologies that were applied with good intentions but a limited understanding of their consequences.

It would be foolish to think that we could simply use new technologies to solve problems initiated by older ones. Renewable energy technologies such as photovoltaics aren’t answers, but an opportunity for designing change. Our mission is not simply to proclaim the benefits of renewables, but also to implement them in the context of values that shape our world.

Sustainable design is about broadening the way we approach problems and critique our solutions. This is why IEH includes financial analysts as well as architects and engineers in our design process.