World Famous Architect Comes to CalCars - GreenHybrid

sdctcher · #1 (**permalink**) 09-23-2005, 06:08 PM

I am just passing on the following news release that is also viewable at:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/...ws/message/148

I think it is an exciting development for a possible plug-in Ford Escape Hybrid in the near future. I hope this means Ford will get to hear more about the benefits of plug-in hybrids.

Mike
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Quote:

CalCars Will Engage with Designer/Architect William McDonough

Palo Alto, September 22, 2005 The California Cars Initiative
(CalCars.org)
has announced that it will be working with William McDonough to
integrate
Cradle to Cradle approaches in its future technology development work.
William McDonough is a world-renowned architect and designer and winner
of
three U.S. presidential awards: the Presidential Award for Sustainable
Development (1996), the National Design Award (2004); and the
Presidential
Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2003). Time magazine recognized him as
a
"Hero for the Planet" in 1999.

Mr. McDonough has been a leader in the sustainable development movement
since its inception. His widely acclaimed Cradle to Cradle strategy,
developed with German chemist Michael Braungart, now being applied in
locations that range from the Ford River Rouge Plant to seven new
cities in
China, first came to broad public attention in their acclaimed book,
"Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things."

This announcement means that CalCars' efforts to motivate auto makers
to
build plug-in hybrid vehicles that substitute cleaner, cheaper,
domestic
electricity for local travel -- then evolve further to use fuel
alternatives to gasoline for extended trips -- will expand to
incorporate a
broader Cradle to Cradle approach where, as McDonough puts
it,"materials
are designed for continuous re-use as biological and/or technical
nutrients."

CalCars.org founder Felix Kramer said, "Bill McDonough is our leading
visionary designer in many fields. He was involved in the development
of
the 2003 Ford Model U concept car
<http://media.ford.com/article_displa...ticle_id=14047>, bringing
the
Cradle to Cradle vision to automobile design and manufacturing. CalCars
is
happy to be part of the next evolution."

William McDonough said, "Plug-in hybrid vehicles are important as a
path to
a renewably powered future. I welcome CalCars' work on the technical
and
the advocacy sides in bringing these vehicles to market."

Felix Kramer made the announcement September 22 at the Palo Alto
Research
Center, at his talk entitled " How Plug-In Hybrids Tackle National
Security, Jobs and Global Warming"
<http://www.parc.com/cms/get_article.php?id=483>. He noted that Dr.
Braungart had spoken to a Silicon Valley audience at the
long-established
PARC forums about Cradle to Cradle strategies earlier this year: <
http://www.parc.com/cms/get_article.php?id=411>

The California Cars Initiative <http://www.calcars.org> is a Palo
Alto-based nonprofit startup. It's a group of entrepreneurs, engineers
and
other citizens promoting high-efficiency, low-emission cars and
harnessing
buyer demand to help commercialize advanced technologies. Somewhat
uniquely, CalCars.org focuses both on public policy and technology
development. Formed in 2002, CalCars.org's efforts for "100+MPG
hybrids"
began to be noticed in early 2005 with coverage in The New York Times,
Business Week, TIME, Newsweek National Public Radio and other venues.
(See
<http://www.calcars.org/kudos.html> for print, audio and video clips.)
Since then, support for PHEVs has grown among many constituencies.
CalCars
is investigating strategies, including sponsoring a for-profit company
to
partner with one or more auto makers to meet the fleet demand for
PHEVs.

Mr McDonough <http://www.mcdonough.com> is founder and principal of two
design firms. William McDonough + Partners, Architecture and Community
Design, has created numerous landmarks of the sustainability movement
since
1981, designing homes, offices, corporate campuses, academic buildings,
communities, and cities. McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC)
employs a comprehensive Cradle to Cradle design protocol to chemical
benchmarking, supply-chain integration, energy and materials
assessment,
clean-production qualification, and sustainability issue management and
optimization. Mr. McDonough and his firms have received numerous
national
and international architectural, environmental, industrial and design
awards for their work.

Mr. McDonough is Consulting Professor of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at Stanford University, U.S. Chair of the Board of
Councilors
of the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development, and Chair of the
Board of Overseers for the Center for Eco-Intelligent Management at the
Instituto de Empresa in Madrid. He is a venture partner with
VantagePoint
Venture Partners, a $3.5 billion global technology venture capital firm
with a dedicated CleanTech practice group. He lives in Charlottesville,
Virginia.