Award-winning architect, author and environmental activist Ed Mazria will hold a free presentation on campus tomorrow night to discuss his blueprint for rebuilding the nation’s economy through energy efficiency.

At the event, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in Campbell Hall, Mazria will present his “2030 Challenge Stimulus Plan” – a formula to achieve energy independence, solve climate change and rejuvenate the U.S. economy through the building industry.

Mazria is the founder of Architecture 2030 – a nonprofit, non-partisan and independent organization designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by overhauling the U.S. building industry. He is also the author of the “premier solar design resource guide,” The Passive Solar Energy Book.

Mazria said he developed the 2030 Challenge in hopes of having its guidelines form a new set of national construction laws. Santa Barbara County, Mazria said, is leading the way in environmentally conscious building practices.

“Issued about two years ago, [the 2030 Challenge states that] all buildings are to meet an energy consumption performance of 50 percent less than the average building of that type in the area.” Mazria said. “Santa Barbara was the first city to put it into law for all buildings.”

According to architecture2030.org, President Obama has recently pledged to lead the nation in following the organization’s 2030 Challenge, and has promised a U.S. reduction in greenhouse gas emission of 80 percent by 2050.

Mazria’s stimulus plan also aims to boost the economy by creating millions of new green jobs. America, he said, is faced with economic recession, rising unemployment rates and threatening levels of greenhouse gas emission. In his lecture, Mazria said he will map out a solution to these national problems.

“There are three issues that are totally intertwined: the economy, energy, and climate change,” Mazria said. “They have to be addressed … we’re running out of time, and it needs to be addressed right away. In my talk I’ll address how this needs to be done and can be done. It’s a matter of both self-interest and planetary interest at this point. Animal systems and plant systems need to be looked at otherwise we are going to lose them.”

Mazria said environmental awareness will be a large focus of his talk since he believes it is crucial that students commit themselves to bettering their environment, both on-campus and globally.

“Its incumbent for students to be very active and make sure the planet doesn’t keep suffering under current conditions,” Mazria said. “You need to make sure the campus is moving toward significant energy reductions, and as citizens you need to lobby the federal government and stay on top of the state government.”

Mazria’s free on-campus talk is a collaborative effort presented by UCSB Arts and Lectures and the Institute for Energy Efficiency’s Global Warming, Food Security and Our Energy Future Event Series as part of the Energy Leadership Lecture Series.