sustainability

Six former students from Texas A&M’s College of Architecture who have risen to the top of their professional field while making significant public service contributions will be honored this fall as outstanding alumni.

The difference in energy consumption between two homes in Qatar — one built to a strict energy efficiency standard and the other using conventional construction — is being evaluated in a Texas A&M College of Architecture study.

Emergency management planners could reduce losses and strengthen community resilience by mapping socially vulnerable areas and focusing hazard mitigation efforts where they are most needed, said Shannon Van Zandt, a Texas A&M urban planning professor.

Texans enjoyed lower home electric bills and cleaner air after state legislators in 2001 adopted new energy and construction codes for single-family residences, according to a report from scientists from the Texas A&M Energy Systems Laboratory.

A building energy use "tune-up" procedure developed by researchers at the Texas A&M Energy Systems Lab has so far yielded more than $100 million in energy savings from little more than 300 client buildings, said Charles Culp, professor of architecture and ESL associate director.

Six design proposals for a 153,000 square-foot children’s outpatient health center in historic downtown Richmond, Va., will be unveiled by Texas A&M senior environmental design students at a 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 24.

Significant energy savings could be realized in small homes in hot climates with an air conditioning system being researched by Simge Andolsun, a Ph.D. architecture student at Texas A&M, that cools rooms based on where people are at different times during the day.

Plans to develop or rehabilitate sites in the Brazos Valley and upgrade facilities at Veterans Affairs healthcare centers netted awards for landscape architecture students.

An emphasis on interdisciplinary education has netted José Fernández-Solís, Texas A&M associate professor of construction science, the 2012 J. Thomas Regan Interdisciplinary Faculty Prize.

Innovative ideas from four Texas A&M student teams that could revolutionize conditions in the Third World and expand educational opportunities for nontraditional students have reached the semifinal round in a national innovation contest.

Sustainable landscape design, “green” roof construction, and using research to inform design are just some of the areas Bruce Dvorak, assistant professor of landscape architecture, covers in studios; his efforts will be recognized with an award from a national education organization.

Steve McDowell, director of design and principal at BNIM, a design and planning firm recognized by the American Institute of Architects as its 2011 firm of the year, spoke at Texas A&M’s Rowlett Lecture Series April 19 at Rudder Theatre on the Texas A&M campus.

With guidance from award-winning architect Miguel Roldán, graduate architecture students are developing plans and high-density building solutions for the future growth of Texas A&M's College Station campus.

Disparities between the potential and actual energy use of four buildings in Qatar will be investigated by a research team led by John Bryant, an associate professor of construction science who also serves on the engineering faculty at Texas A&M University at Qatar.

Adrian Smith, designer of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and a champion of sustainable design, will receive an honorary doctor of letters degree from Texas A&M at spring commencement.