Page 134 - ISES SWC50

David Oppenheim (Deceased)
Country: Australia
Year joined industry: 1974
Company first worked for: Yunken Freeman Architects
Technology area: Solar Architecture/Buildings
Still active in the industry: No

David studied architecture at the University of Melbourne, when architectural sciences were strong, and students
and practitioners thought that positive contributions to human well-being could be made through architecture. After
graduation David worked at Yunken Freeman Architects and then Whitford and Peck Architects. However, David
had a vision of the sort of work that he wanted to do – solar architecture. True to that vision, he made his way to
the leading international solar practice, Solar Energy Developments, in the UK, from 1977 to 1979. He wrote Small
Solar Buildings in Cool Northern Climates, published by Architectural Press in 1981. David is best known as the
director of two architectural practices, (1980 – 2007), firstly Taylor Oppenheim Architects and then Sustainable Built
Environments (SBE). David maintained continuous active involvement in many professional societies that sought to
advance built environment sustainability. He was a member of many professional organisations and committees,
including the RAIA, ANZSES, the IEA and the Olympic Co-ordination Authority Expert Advisory Panel. He was an
inaugural member of the RAIA’s National Environment Committee and the Environment Design Guide Planning
and Development Committee, and lectured at many universities, especially Deakin University – where, for more
than ten years, he coordinated and taught design and building science units. David was a distinguished Australian
architect who was respected and awarded, nationally and internationally, and a sustainability pioneer with strong
roots in architectural science and quantitative assessment. He was also deeply spiritual and reflective, in his work
as a designer and in his relations to family and friends. With this spirituality came a deep sense of ethics that was
evident in his personal and professional life. The RAIA established an annual sustainable architecture competition
and award in his memory.

Rick Reed
Country: United States
Year joined industry: 1979
Company first worked for: The Solaray Corporation, Honolulu, HI.
Technology area: Policy
Still active in the industry: Yes

Rick Reed began his career in 1970-80 with the Department of Energy’s Western Solar Utilization Network as a
Hawaii-based site officer. His private sector career began in 1982 with The Solaray Corporation (dba Inter-Island
Solar Supply and SunEarth Inc.) He served Solaray and it’s operating companies as the GM, President, CEO, Chief
Strategy Officer and Director during my career. He is currently a Solaray director.

Rck Reed has been an elected director of Hawaii Solar Energy Association, the California Solar and Storage Assn.
(CALSSA, formerly CALSEIA), SEIA and the SRCC. He is a multi-term past president of the HSEA and CALSSA. He
is a founding member of the Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance (HREA) and the Univeristy of Hawaii Energy Policy
Forum. He is one of the four founding members of EchoFirst, a hybrid PV thermal product manufacturer. that was
acquired by SunEdison in 2014.

116 | ISES SWC50 - The Century of Solar-Stories and Visions