PLEA 2009 Award
PLEA 2009 Best Paper (Oral)
PLEA 2009 Best Poster Presentation
J Cook Travel Award

PLEA 2009 Award

Presentation discourse delivered at the Château Frontenac on June 23rd:

“Dear delegates,
It is now time for the 2009 PLEA Award:
He has been at the forefront of the North-American passive solar movement,
He has personally taught several of today’s green architecture champions,
He has been working incessantly, bit of a workaholic, some would say but what a great example of dedication.

Our first contact with this year’s recipient of the PLEA Award dates back to 1991. At that time, internet was not yet the standard and at the beginning of our MSc Research Program, we used to write long and polite letter to reknown researchers in the hope that they would answer with enthusiasm to our naïve questions and research ambitions… We would send dozens of those letters, put a nice stamp on the envelope and then wait.  The answers were few. Envelopes were small… and light… Most would recognise the value of our research interrogations and invite us to come and talk to them, something hardly feasible when a continent lies in between and you are at the beginning of your graduate studies… But one return envelope was large, US letter size, and very heavy! In fact, in addition to an engaging letter, this man, so you know now he’s a man, had taken the trouble to attach no less than 6 copies of his most recent research papers for our information. We didn’t really know at the time the value of the simple word ‘sharing’ or ‘generosity’ in research but we understood then that this is probably the most important quality for any researcher and teacher, so you know now that he also teaches… Oh, one more thing, he has this most amazing cartoon-like name!

G.Z. “Charlie” Brown is the founding director of the Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory at the University of Oregon and a nationally recognized educator, author, and researcher on daylighting and energy use in buildings. Brown has authored or coauthored books, software applications, and more than 100 papers and reports including “Sun, Wind & Light” which has been translated into Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese. We are still waiting for the French translation though… He has been a Fulbright scholar in Norway and in Nigeria. Brown received the Cascadia Fellows Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 and the U.S. Green Buildings Council 2005 Leadership Award in research for his work on sustainable building practices. He was elected into the College of Fellows of The American Institute of Architects in 2006, and selected as a Fellow by the American Solar Energy Society in 2005. Brown has been honored by the Architectural Research Center Consortium with the James Haecker Distinguished Leadership Award in Architectural Research (2000). GZ had a founding role in the organization Society of Building Science Educators, now with more than 250 members in countries around the world. The Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory has performed more than $16 million in externally funded research since 1977 when Brown joined the faculty. The lab has supported more than 200 graduate research assistants and provided design assistance in energy conscious design on over 17 million square feet in the U.S. and abroad.
For this remarkable achievement, we now invite G.Z. Charlie Brown to join us and receive the 2009 PLEA Award!

BEST PLEA 2009 PAPER (Oral Presentation)
The finalists for Best Oral Paper consisted of the six papers that had received two “excellent” assessments by assigned members of the International Technical Committee. « Blind » copies of those six papers were accessible by the voting team consisting of the International Technical Committee, on our web server.
The Best PLEA 2009 Paper is :

IHAB ELZEYADI Architectural Pride and Environmental Prejudice: The Effect of Personal Status, Historical Value, and Indoor Décor on Occupants Indoor Environmental Quality in Offices.

Left to right: M-C Dubois, I Elzeyadi, A Potvin, C MH Demers. M-P Paré working in the background … Photo: G Roger.

The finalists for best paper are:

BEST PLEA 2009 PAPER (Poster Presentation)
For the Poster category, none of the papers had received two “excellent” mentions from the International Committee. We had therefore gathered the seven papers that have received at least one “excellent” and one “very good” assessment by members of the International Technical Committee and proceeded to the vote.
The Best PLEA 2009 Poster Paper is :

FAISAL ALJAWABRA, MARIALENA NIKOLOPOULOU Outdoor Thermal Comfort in the Hot Arid Climate : The effect of socio-economic background and cultural différences

Left to right: M-C Dubois, Faisal Aljawabra, A Potvin, C MH Demers. M-P Paré, still working… Photo: G Roger.

The finalists for best poster paper are:

J Cook Travel Award

In honor of the late Jeffrey Cook, a 1,000$ USD travel scholarship has been awarded to support a student presenting a paper the PLEA 2009 conference in Québec City. This year’s recipient is a student enrolled in the PhD Research Degree Program at The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College, London UK :

More information on the Jeffrey Cook Student Travel Award is available on the web site of the Society for Building Science Educators (SBSE)