When Solar Energy Met Composites

Bob Noble doesn’t hesitate when asked to project the future of environmentally conscious manufacturing. The CEO of Envision Solar, San Diego, Calif., has been following green trends for 30 years. “All of us who have been around for decades are surprised by how fast things are changing now,” he says. “There’s no reason to be focused on anything else, frankly. The comparative advantage that companies when they’re green or are moving in that direction are extraordinary.”

During an educational session at COMPOSITES+POLYCON 2009, Noble will talk about the role that composites can play in sustainable manufacturing. “This is a talk about the convergence of the inevitable future of clean technology growth in the United States and worldwide and the potential for composites,” he says. “Composites manufacturers—as soon as they have products that are green—they will be point to that project every time they present their work. I’ve seen architects who didn’t have any green products and then a client forced them to a very green project, and out of the hundreds of buildings they’ve done, that one project is what gets them new projects.”

Envision Solar integrates solar energy into buildings, and Noble has discovered that composites play a key role in the evolution of these buildings. “We’ve been in the process of developing designs with our consultant and contractor partners for composite structures, columns, trusses and others that have been made out of steel,” he says. “It appears that with composites, which are a quarter of the weight, it may be considerably less expensive to build these solar integrated buildings”

This session takes place Thursday, Jan. 15 from 4 p.m to 4:50 p.m. For more information, click here.