What makes a resilient community? This mini-conference will explore how energy efficiency, the built environment, effective town planning, and affordable workforce housing are key elements that can make New Hampshire's cities and towns vibrant for years to come.
This FREE mini-conference is the second of two events designed to present the content of our 14th Annual Statewide Housing Conference, which was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy.
The program will be from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., with an awards reception to follow from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m..
Registration is first-come, first-served until December 4. Space is limited, so reserve your spot today!
Click here for directions and parking information.
Program 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Compact Living - Small, liveable and energy efficient dwellings - how practical are they and how do they fit into our communities?
Speaker: Bob White is a landscape architect and co-founder of ORW Landscape Architects and Planners, LLC. For nearly 20 years, he has been a leader in landscape architecture in Vermont and New Hampshire, developing a broad range of work, including park design, trail and greenway planning and design, campus planning, village planning and transportation facility design. Through his work, he frequently is involved in solving design challenges that are often closely interrelated with larger community planning issues. White graduated from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design with a Master of Landscape Architecture degree.
Sustainable Housing Development - How we build homes and where we build them affect people’s lives. Homes that are more energy efficient can make people more comfortable and can reduce their overall housing costs. Homes that are situated to be closely connected to a larger community can improve people’s quality of life and reduce their transportation costs. Craftsman and builder Michael Bruss will discuss a series of examples of how homes that are energy- and location-efficient can build stronger, more resilient communities.
Speaker: Michael Bruss (LEED AP), President, Integrated Building Energy Associates, LLC, has over 30 years in the construction business and is also the President and founder of Bruss Construction. He has extensive experience in historical renovations and commercial construction projects ranging from $10,000 to $6,000,000. He is the current board chair of the NH Preservation Alliance, a member of the Northeast Regional Committee of the USGBC, and a member of the NH Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Board. He has a Graduate of Professional Certificate at Northeastern University and is a graduate of the Building/Design Program in Construction Management at the University of Wisconsin.
Why New Hampshire Town Centers Matter - This short film featuring downtown Exeter underscores the importance that commercial centers with mixed uses have for the overall health of our communities. The film is part of the Vibrant Villages NH website developed by Plan NH to educate citizens about the benefits of compact development design. Join with Roger Hawk and Ben Frost as they discuss how Exeter’s center embodies development principles that can be useful to many of New Hampshire’s municipalities.
Speakers: Ben Frost is the Director of Public Affairs at New Hampshire Housing, where he coordinates legislative activities at the state and federal levels and provides direct technical assistance to municipalities that want to develop regulations to promote affordable housing. Previously, he was a senior planner with the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning, the executive director of the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission, and a planner and administrator in local and regional government in New Hampshire and elsewhere.
Frost is an attorney and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. He serves on the executive committees of the New Hampshire Planners Association and the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association, and is a member of the legislative committees of the American Planning Association and the New Hampshire Bar Association. He holds a bachelor of arts degree and master of arts degree in geography and Russian studies from Colgate University and Syracuse University, respectively, and a law degree from Cornell Law School.
Roger C. Hawk has extensive planning and community development experience, having worked as city planner or community development director for Portsmouth, Nashua, Manchester and Concord, N.H., and Peabody, Mass. In 2006, he established his own consulting firm, Hawk Planning Resources LLC, based in Concord, N.H. His expertise encompasses the full range of municipal activities including innovative zoning and development regulation, master planning, growth management, transportation planning, and community consensus building.
Hawk is actively engaged with sustainability efforts through several statewide organizations and is the committee chair of the Plan NH Sustainability Initiative. His professional and civic efforts include having served on one of the committees of the Governor’s Climate Change Task Force, Main Street Concord’s Economic Development Committee and the City of Concord’s Climate Action Committee. He is a past president of NHPA, was instrumental in the founding of the Northern New England Chapter of APA, and is immediate past president of the nonprofit sustainability group Plan NH. He holds a master’s degree in urban affairs from Boston University.
Mystery Housing Theater - A multi-media role-play demonstrating workforce and other housing's symbiotic relationship with other facets of our communities.
Narrator: Ben Frost, Director, Public Affairs, New Hampshire Housing
Players: Mary Anzmann, Program Manager, HOME, New Hampshire Housing; Sam Carbaugh, Graphic Artist; Amanda Flitter, Communications Administrator, Web Content Manager, New Hampshire Housing; Mike McCrory, Senior Planner, Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission; George Reagan, Program Administrator, Housing Awareness Program, New Hampshire Housing
Vibrant Villages NH's Visualizing Density Awards Presentation
Networking reception 3:00-3:30 p.m.