Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
Brian Malarkey '91, a former environmental design student at Texas A&M, has received the Young Architects Award from the American Institute of Architects for his leadership in sustainable initiatives in the Houston area.
Malarkey, an executive vice president at Houston-based Kirksey, an architecture, interior design, master planning, sustainable design and consulting firm, earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design degree in 1991.
A jury, consisting of members of the AIA's College of Fellows, gives the award to architects licensed to practice fewer than 10 years by the submission deadline that have made significant contributions to the profession.
“He is a pioneer for green building efforts, pursuing the transformation of Houston’s built environment and is steadily becoming more and more influential on a national level,” wrote the jury that honored Malarkey and eight other architects.
In 2003 Malarkey, chairman of the AIA Houston Committee on the Environment, launched Gulf Coast Green, an annual symposium and expo praised by the national AIA and the U.S. Green Building Council as a model for regional green building conferences.
"Brian's pioneering efforts on behalf of green building have had a national and regional impact," said Gail Vittori, a USGBC board member.
As president of the Houston AIA chapter in 2008, Malarkey's focus on sustainability cemented Houston as a credible source for green building information and knowledge. He initiated five major programs—the Green Building Resource Center for the City of Houston, Houston Disaster Action following Hurricane Ike, which helped 567 areahomeowners, the Greenworks Houston exhibition and publication, which continues as Greenworks Houston 2, the Green E-Toolbox monthly newsletter to AIA Houston members and a project to place solar panels on the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Those initiatives were in addition to a myriad of other responsibilities and new ideas Malarkey continues to generate as the chapter’s past-president. He has also testified before the Texas legislature about proposed laws related to sustainable design. Such activities have brought credence and admiration from state and local officials for the AIA.
In practice, Malarkey has achieved many "green" building firsts for Houston and the state, including Kirksey's offices, the first U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Enivronmental Design certification for existing buildings in Texas.
He has won four individual awards and 23 design awards for buildings on which he served a leadership role, and his projects have been featured in national and regional publications.
- Posted: March 02, 2010 -
