John R. Dale, FAIA, LEED AP
Principal, Harley Ellis Devereaux, Los Angeles
John has been involved in the master planning, programming and design of public and private projects for more than 20 years. In 2007, he was honored with an AIA fellowship for his work in school design. He has created high-performance preschool through secondary school environments. By defining small learning communities that boost student achievement, promote sustainability and galvanize community involvement, he has established widely recognized models of regional and national significance.
He also has been a leader in promoting green schools. Building on evidence-based research, he has put in practice the theory that students are healthier and learn more effectively in well-ventilated, acoustically balanced, naturally lighted spaces with strong connections to the outdoors—all features of energy-conserving, sustainable design. He received a bachelor of architecture from the University of Toronto, and a master’s of architecture from MIT.
Paul C. Hutton, AIA, LEED AP
Principal, Hutton Architecture Studio, Denver
Paul is the founder of Hutton Architecture Studio and has dedicated his 32-year career to integrating education facility design and sustainable building practices. He has been designing school projects since 1979 and has been daylighting them since 1982.
Paul directs the firm’s educational projects, and has been researching, publishing and speaking on school design trends for nearly 30 years. He is a long-time faculty member at the University of Colorado College of Architecture. After two years as co-chair of the AIA’s Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) K-12 Subcommittee, he has moved onto the CAE board and will chair it in 2015. He attended Princeton University, and has graduate degrees in both Architecture and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia. He lives on a near-zero-energy, sustainable ranch south of Denver with his wife and two Labrador retrievers.
Christopher O’Brien
Director of Sustainability, Office of Sustainability, American University, Washington, D.C.
In 2009, Chris became American University’s first director of sustainability. Previously, he directed the Responsible Purchasing Network at the Center for a New American Dream, and earlier served as managing director of the Green Business Network and the Fair Trade Federation. He is treasurer of the Fair Trade Resource Network, and co-owns the Seven Bridges Organic Brewing Supply Cooperative. He serves on the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Advisory Board, the Green Advantage Board, and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s STARS Steering Committee.
He received a bachelor’s in liberal studies from Penn State and a master’s in science and technology studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
