Ken Yeang, a pioneer in designing sustainable buildings and a professor of practice on the Texas A&M College of Architecture faculty, will visit the college April 25 for a series of closed meetings and one open session evaluating student work and discussing the future of green architecture.
At 3 p.m. Yeang will critique work by some of architecture professor Rodney Hill’s students. Hill is holder of the Harold Adams ’61 Interdisciplinary Professorship in Architecture and the Eppright University Professorship in Undergraduate Teaching Excellence.
“Anybody’s welcome to come,” said Hill of the critiquing session. “My students did barrier-free green-roofed houses, so I’m picking four or five of the best of those projects and work by officers in the Emerging Green Builders student organization, Yeang will go over the projects, and talk about ways they could be improved.”
Yeang is renowned worldwide for his groundbreaking work throughout South Asia, developing environmentally friendly design strategies for high-quality, ecologically sustainable, or ”green,” high-rise buildings. His seminal book, “Bioclimatic Skyscrapers,” the first of many he authored, was published in 1994. In 1999, he was awarded the prestigious Auguste Perret Prize by the International Union of Architects.
Yeang’s green approach is becoming more and more important as the price of energy to cool and heat buildings continues to rise.
Hill said participants at the World Economic Forum’s 2008 annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, predicted oil will cost $500 a barrel by 2020.
“Look at office buildings right now,” said Hill. “Since the 60s, most of them have been designed without regard to east-west exposure, so tons of air conditioning has to be used. I think in the future you’re going to see ghost towns of office buildings because no one will be able to afford to heat or cool them.”
And that’s why Yeang’s approach is so critical. He conducts cutting-edge research, design and development in the bioclimatic design of tall buildings and has several patents pending for ventilation engineering.
Some of his building’s elements include daring “vertical landscaping,” external louvers to reduce solar heat gain, extensive natural ventilation and lighting, and an “active intelligent building” system for automated energy savings.
To learn more about Yeang and his work, read the story promoting his November 2006 Frederick E. Giesecke Lecture at the College of Architecture.
