April 2016
Ian Shapiro Named Green Building Advocate of the Year
Dedication to green building technologies honored
4/15/2016
Ian Shapiro was honored as Green Building Advocate of the Year during the 2016 New York State Green Building Conference held in Syracuse in April.
The award is presented to an individual actively involved in green building and its supporting disciplines, either in a professional or volunteer capacity, and prominent in promoting the need to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on humans and the natural environment.
“This is a way to honor an individual who inspires us to do more and do better,” said Dr. Ed Bogucz, executive director of the Syracuse Center for Excellence.
Shapiro founded Taitem Engineering in 1989. “The company has the best acronym,” said Bogucz, “Technology As If The Earth Mattered.” The company name is a play on the book that served as inspiration to Shapiro, “Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered” by E.F. Schumacher.
Shapiro has led several applied energy conservation research projects, and many design and energy projects, and has delivered workshops in the area of energy and ventilation.
He played a principle role in the development of several computer programs that are used in the HVAC, energy, and indoor air quality fields, including TREAT (Targeted Residential Energy Analysis Tools), which was awarded the 2005 national R&D100 Award. He developed an innovative desiccant cooling system, for which he holds a U.S. patent.
Prior to starting Taitem Engineering, he worked for seven years at Carrier Corporation in Syracuse, where he designed heat pumps and air conditioning equipment. He holds eight patents from this work.
He is the co-author of the book Green Building Illustrated. He holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University and an M.S. from Columbia University, both in mechanical engineering. Shapiro is a licensed engineer in the New York and Pennsylvania.