Christopher Hyde Belknap – Architect
Principal – Design Earth Synergy – Sustainable Design & Development
Chairman – Director of Design & Planning – GrowGreen Power Inc.
Christopher Belknap’s architectural design & consulting practice – Design Earth Synergy is committed to collaborative innovations in Sustainable Design and Development. His architectural design career spans 30 years, initially based in Colorado 1977-80, then in Hawaii 1980-96, and currently in Southern California from 1996 to the present. Mr. Belknap has had a wide range of design experience, primarily as a Design Consultant working in collaboration with leading globally based Architecture and Master Planning design firms.
Assignments have usually been in a Lead Design, or Senior Design position, on a wide range of projects including numerous Internationally recognized Destination Resort & Hotels / Commercial, Retail, Office & Residential – Mixed Use Developments / High-rise Office & Condominiums, as well as Custom Residential Projects. Many of these projects, in particular Resort Hotels such as The Venetian Resort – Las Vegas, NV completed in 1999 (Lead Design – consultant to WATG Architects), required extensive attention to historic and cultural details from around the World.
Contact: cell 949-632-8787 email: cbelknap@DesignEARTHsynergy.com
In addition to the architectural work mentioned, Mr. Belknap has been committed to forwarding a series of visionary Initiatives to advance the cause of Sustainable Community Living for the 21st Century. This work began in Hawaii in 1986 with a visionary plan he authored called Hawaii Aloha 2000 that envisioned the Hawaiian Islands as a model of sustainable community development. This thesis, with illustrations and recommendations for achieving an aligned vision from the community, was eventually presented to Governor John Waihee in July 1987 and it led to a major State sponsored collaborative visioning event and redevelopment initiative for Downtown Honolulu’s Harbor and Waterfront.
In the following 10 years, Mr. Belknap coordinated a series of events in Honolulu, with other community leaders and activists interested in advancing the practice of Community Based Vision Planning to achieve alignment towards sustainable design goals. These events included two Hawaii Soviet International Youth Conferences 1989 & 1991 held at the Hawaii State Capital Building that modeled a Global Vision Planning Center, and demonstrated the central themes and functions of an Earth Situation Room and Community Vision Forums. This event, and the subsequent series of events, built upon the visionary inspiration and leadership of R. Buckminster Fuller – “World Game” / Barbara Marx Hubbard – “The Peace Room & Community Vision Centers” and Tom Van Sant – “Earth Situation Room”. The Hawaii / Soviet Heart to Heart Exchange and International Youth Congress, 1989 & 1991- envisioning “ A World that Works for Everyone” was attend by 11 Youth Ambassadors from the Soviet Union and approximately 300 Youth Ambassadors from the United States.
In 1992, during the Rio Earth Summit, Mr. Belknap again led a team that created a local version of The Earth Summit in Honolulu on June 7th-1992 that was attended by approximately 10,000 people. Earth Summit Hawaii modeled the functions of an Earth Situation Room, as well as Community Vision Forums, and demonstrated that communities from around the World could collaboratively envision and develop action plans for a sustainable community working at their own local level, while at the same time being connected globally through the emerging World Wide Web (The Internet). This event was followed by a greatly expanded demonstration of the Earth Situation Room and Community Vision Forums during the 1995 30th Year Anniversary of Earth Day event in Honolulu. Earth Day Hawaii drew 20,000 participants, during the course of the day, along with numerous government officials. One of the government officials was Mayor Jeremy Harris who viewed the full presentation and who, in subsequent years, established a Community Vision Center Network on Oahu that replicated the community vision center network structure presented. In 2003, the U.S. Conference of Mayors recognized Mayor Harris and the City of Honolulu with an Outstanding Achievement Award in the 2003 City Livability Awards Program for his leadership and the Community Vision Program his team established.
In 1994, during this same period of time in Hawaii, Mr. Belknap was part of vision team that came together to consider the complexities of a 21st Century Sustainable City Prototype called Pacific Polis. As a member of the team, Mr. Belknap developed a Master Plan to illustrate the central themes of Pacific Polis. In this same time period Mr. Belknap, along with sustainable engineer – Reinhold Ziegler, also developed a concept for building Self-sustaining Eco-Villages that incorporated, sustainable agriculture throughout the development, including Solar / Wind – Hydroponic Greenhouses and a Community Vision Center that would address the sustainable living needs of small communities in Hawaii and many regions of the Developing World.
In 1998, Mr. Belknap had the opportunity to apply principles and design themes developed in Pacific Polis, through his consulting design services with WATG Architects, to a series of the largest Urban Master Planning efforts in the Middle East; in The United Arab Emirates – Dubai / Dubai Marina, and in Saudi Arabia / King Abdullah Economic City. The Collaborative Design and Development Teams, that today resolve the complexities of such endeavors, are taking the initial steps in the design of Sustainable Cities and Communities for the 21st Century.
The combined design consulting experience (1984-2010), and the experience gained from the initiatives and coordinated events demonstrated during the time period in Hawaii (1986-1996), have provided the background to support Mr. Belknap’s current thesis, the proposition of The National & Global Community Vision Center Initiative – a creative / communications / consensus building structure to address – The Five Critical Challenges of the 21st Century. This document describes a Community Vision / Planning & Network Structure – for achieving the necessary broad vision and consensus built alignment in communities around the World, that will address the complexity of Critical Challenges we face at this present time in history. The resulting alignment of vision and collaborative efforts will lead to multiple solutions on a Global scale for a Sustainable Way of Living by the Year 2050.
GrowGreen Power Inc. In August 2008 Christopher Belknap and his partners Gary Bailey A.I.A. and Bradley Nixon, initially launched a new development company GrowGreen Power Inc. The original partners and current team advancing GrowGreen Power bring a unique set of professional skills, experience and commitment to the enterprise of sustainable development.
GrowGreen Power Inc.
GrowGreen Power, Inc. (GGP) is an Independent Power Producer (IPP) that specializes in the clean-tech sector of renewable energy production and sustainable agricultural development on a global basis. GGP is a developer of commercial scale hydroponic greenhouses integrated with a diversified set of proven renewable energy technologies that incorporate a variety of energy platforms such as biomass, geothermal and/or concentrated solar power (CSP) collectors in a combined heating and power (CHP) configuration. The innovative inter-connection and integration of these technologies with the hydroponic greenhouse creates a unique and abundant source of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables, and it produces a highly reliable and efficient source of renewable electric energy in a sustainable platform that we call a GrowGreen Power Center (GGP-Center).
Click on illustrations to expand view:
GrowGreen Power represents a paradigm shifting concept that combines large commercial scale / hydropoinic / climate controlled growing environments with renewable energy power production. One GrowGreen Power Center with a 50MW Biomass Plant will deliver approximately 45 MW of renewable energy to the Regional Grid- 24 hours a day, and combined with a 100 Acre Hydroponic Greenhouse will deliver a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to the local communities it serves. A GrowGreen Power hydroponic greenhouse typically will achieve 30x-times greater yield over traditional farming (a land equivalent to 3,000 acres), while using 85% less water, in a fully protected, clean (pesticide free) and climate controlled facility, that can be located close to the largest cities and midsize communities. GGP Centers can be located in the hottest most arid regions as well as hot and humid / temperate / cold freezing climate zones on Earth. GrowGreen Power is a significant paradigm shifting enterprise, within a new generation of business, that are emerging that are rising to meet the immense development challenges that we face today for our Nation and World Community – particularly with regards to secure, reliable, local, Fresh Vegetables & Fruit production and renewable energy production.