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Experts to discuss green interior design April 14

The Cleveland Institute of Art will host four local experts on environmentally sustainableinterior design on Monday morning, April 14, from 9:30-12:00. "Green Design 101" will be held in Aitken Auditorium in the Gund Building, 11141 East Boulevard, and is free and open to the public. Speakers will be Rick Parker, principal of architecture, and Savannah Farris, interior designer, at Schmidt Copeland Parker Stevens; Dan Binford, founder of Binford and Associates; and Jennifer Connolly of the Cleveland Green Building Coalition.

All four speakers have earned accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professionals, meaning they have successfully completed an accreditation exam and "demonstrated a thorough understanding of green building practices and principles and the LEED Rating System" for building projects.

Parker, an American Institute of Architects (AIA) licensed architect, will talk about his firm's focus on sustainable architectural and landscape design. The company specializes in camps, conference centers, parks, environmental education facilities, open space systems and neighborhood development. After the public presentation, the Institute's Interior Design majors will visit two local facilities that Schmidt Copeland Parker Stevens re-designed: the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes in Shaker Heights and Ruffing Montessori School in Cleveland Heights.

Farris, a 2006 graduate of the Institute's Interior Design program, joined Schmidt Copeland Parker Stevens in 2005 as a student intern and is now a staff member responsible for architectural schematic design, developmental design and construction documents, including graphic presentations, renderings, and material selections. She will talk about the LEED accreditation process and her experiences in pursuing environmentally sustainable interior design as a niche in her field.

Binford, whose company supplies "green" furnishings, fabrics and wall-coverings to corporate, healthcare and educational institutions, will give an overview of green products now available. Binford has worked on 14 successful LEED projects that have been certified.

Connolly, who is program and resource coordinator for the Cleveland Green Building Coalition, will speak about sustainable designs for commercial buildings, what qualifies products and furnishings as "green," and the LEED certification process. Cleveland Green Building Coalition, the local affiliate of the U.S. Green Building Coalition, is the supplier of LEED workshops in the area.

"We're trying to elevate the awareness of sustainable design because this is a growing field and it's good for our students to be exposed to it," said Michael Gollini, chair of the Institute's Interior Design department. "The goal here is that the students will take this to the next step, do their own research and find their own niche in sustainable interior design."