Ask an expert!

Online Q&A Forums

The National Building Museum brings leading experts in design and policy from all over the world to Washington, D.C. In the past, only people who attended programs in person were able to ask questions of the speakers. Now, the Museum offers Q&A forums after many lectures and roundtables, offering online visitors the chance to learn more from our distinguished guests. Watch a video of a recent program and submit a question in one of the current Q&A Forums, or read answers from past forums.

Past Q&A Forums

	Vertical Farming, For the Greener Good lecture series On April 29, 2009, the National Building Museum hosted a discussion titled "Vertical Farming."  Panelists Robin Osler of Elmslie Osler Architects, Dickson Despommier, professor of Public Health at Columbia University, and Carolyn Steel, author of Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives, talked about a challenge our world will face in the not-too-distant future: how will we produce enough food to feed a rapidly-growing population as the effects of global warming make the way we currently farm impossible to maintain? Watch the video of the program, or read the answers to the questions submitted in the online Q&A Forum.
	Creating Healthy Communities, Sustainable Communities lecture series On April 2, 2009, Dr. Howard Frumkin, director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, spoke about how the built environment affects health in positive and negative ways. He also challenged architects, builders, and developers to work more closely with the medical and public health fields to increase our understanding of the relationship between health and the built environment. Watch the video of his presentation. Answers to the questions submitted in the online Q&A Forum will be available soon.
	Healthy Hospitals, For The Greener Good lecture series On March 23, 2009, Bob Eisenman, executive director of the Global Health and Safety Initiative; Robin Guenther, architect and co-author of Sustainable Healthcare Architecture; Roger S. Ulrich, Ph.D., director of the Center for Health Systems and Design at Texas A&M University; and moderator Joanne Silberner, health policy correspondent for NPR discussed public health and hospital design and why hospitals are uniquely positioned to influence greener and healthier living in the community. Watch the video of the program, or read the answers to questions submitted after the lecture.
	A Green World is a Safer One, For the Greener Good lecture series On February 18, 2009, architect Ed Mazria and Obama-Biden Transition Project co-chair John Podesta spoke at the National Building Museum—Mazria about his ambitious 2030 Challenge, which promises to reduce building carbon emissions by 50% in 2010, and Podesta about the impact of sustainability on the world political climate. Watch the video of their recent presentation, or read the answers to questions submitted after the lecture.
	Sustainability Roundtable, For the Greener Good lecture series On January 27, 2009, journalists Robert Ivy, editor in chief of Architectural Record and Dennis Dimick, executive editor of National Geographic Magazine discussed how climate change is affecting the built environment, the natural world, and politics. Watch the video of the presentation, or read the answers to questions submitted after the lecture.
	Jonathan F.P. Rose: "Green and Affordable Neighborhoods," Sustainable Communities lecture series On January 6, 2009, developer Jonathan F.P. Rose talked about how urban affordable housing can also be environmentally-friendly, and about how federal and local governments can encourage this kind of development. Watch the video of his presentation, or read the answers to questions submitted after the lecture.

This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.