Firm Leadership
Steven J. Strong - President
Steven J. Strong, President of Solar Design
Associates, Inc is regarded as the pre-eminent authority on integration
of renewable energy systems in buildings in North America. He
founded the firm in 1974, after serving as an energy-systems
engineering consultant on the Alaskan pipeline, convinced there
were easier, cheaper, and more environmentally desirable ways
to provide comfort and convenience to the consumer than "going
to the ends of the earth to extract the last drop of fossil fuel".
In 1979, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the US
DOE commissioned him to design the world's first private residence
powered by a utility-interactive solar electric system.
In 1982, he was invited to help organize the First European
Conference on Solar Architecture in Venice.
In 1983, Boston Edison commissioned him to design and construct
the PV-powered 'Impact 2000' house in Brookline, MA as a demonstration
of future trends and technology in residential design.
In 1984, working with New England Electric, he completed the
world's first PV-powered neighborhood in central Massachusetts.
In 1985 he provided New England Electric engineering and construction
management for the world's first PV-powered neighborhood in Gardner,
MA. Following this success, the Sacramento Municipal Utility
District retained his firm to provide support to their multi-year
renewables program.
In 1991, Steven was invited to participate in the International
Energy Agency's working group on Photovoltaics for Buildings,
an effort including PV specialists from some 15 countries; he
was subsequently appointed by the DOE as the US representative.
In 1996, he worked with Olympic Village architects in Atlanta
to power the Natatorium Complex at the 1996 Summer Games with
solar electricity using the world's largest rooftop PV power
system, 350kW on the new aquatic center at the Georgia Institute
of Technology,
He is the author of The
Solar Electric House and Solar
Electric Buildings, an Overview of Today's Applications and the editor
and contributing author of Photovoltaics
in the Built Environment, a Design Guide for Architects and Engineers as well as contributing
author to Photovoltaics in Buildings
and Building with Photovoltaics.
Articles about him and his work have appeared in over 100 publications
including TIME, Architecture, Business Week, Architectural Record,
Environmental Design and Construction, IEEE Spectrum, World Architecture,
Building Design and Construction, Popular Science, Wired, and
New Age and on television and in energy and environmental documentaries.
Mr. Strong was voted a Hero for the Planet by TIME Magazine
in 1999, and in the spring of 2001, the American Solar Energy
Society presented him with its Charles Greeley Abbot Award -
the Society's highest honor, for outstanding achievement in the
advancement of solar energy. Steven is also the US Representative
to the International Energy Agency's expert working group on
PV in Buildings.
His firm consults to architects in the integration of solar
electric power, and to industry leaders on product development
for building integration.
He graduated in engineering from Northeastern University and
studied architecture at the Boston Architectural Center, subsequently
joining the School of Architecture faculty to establish a curriculum
on sustainable design. He has taught graduate-level lecture and
studio courses in renewable energy systems engineering and sustainable
building design at Harvard, MIT, Arizona State University, University
of Oregon, Georgia Tech, University of Aachen (Germany) and the
Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.
He and his family live in Harvard, MA. Their home employs passive
and active solar systems for heating and domestic hot water as
well as photovoltaics.
