On Saturday, June 5th, 19 RSA Fellows and guests gathered in a private room at Gigi’s Trattoria, a wonderful restaurant located in the charming village of Rhinebeck, New York. After interesting discussions and getting to know one another over a delicious luncheon, we proceeded to visit the Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL), located on 195 acres of lovely Hudson Valley countryside, about 15 minutes from Rhinebeck.
OCSL is a state of the art, self-sustaining building—years ahead of its time, heated and cooled by nature, supplying its own energy needs and carbon neutral. It combines fascinating architecture with the latest technologies to create inside space, a classroom, green house, its own water filtration system and constructed wetlands. The facility has won numerous awards, including most recently, the 2010 American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment (AIA/COTE) Top Ten Green Projects Award. Brett Cobb, Development Associate Director, was our host and we were given a fascinating and informative tour of the building by Skip Backus, the CEO.
Hudson Valley Fellows are encouraged to start an RSA satellite group to continue action and discussion on this very important topic of sustainability which affects the future of us all
Carole Franco, FRSA
RSA United States Trustee
