Issue date: 11/2/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Patrique Ludan Texas A&M Architecture Professor Pliny Fisk is known for his endeavors in "green" architecture. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Patrique Ludan a "dog trot" area which cools the building, and is an example of historical Texas architecture. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Patrique Ludan [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Patrique Ludan a futuristic view of industrial planning for Corpus Christi [Click to enlarge]

With interns from all over the country working on various projects, the Center of Maximum Potential Building in Austin, Texas, provides a glimpse into the world of "green" architecture.

Pliny Fisk, a professor of architecture at Texas A&M University, is known for his work in the field of environmentally-friendly architecture.

Fisk uses building methods such as roofs that collect rainwater, walls made of straw and clay and rooms lit with natural lighting. One building on site uses various materials for the floor that eliminate the need for Portland cement, which accounts for about 6 percent of greenhouse gases.

"We are now the oldest non-profit doing sustainable architecture and building work in the country," Fisk said.

Fisk said using alternative materials to construct parts of buildings opens up a new market that will benefit businesses. By using "virgin" products, local businesses will be created to sell these materials.

"There are a lot of things in the building that can be re-configured and re-used for all kids of things," Fisk said. "A lot of sustainability has to do with the economy, as well as energy and water and waste and so on, and to dovetail those together is a very important thing that a group like ours is trying to push."

One of the agencies involved with Fisk is the Water Development Board of Texas. This building on the complex has a two-layer roof that harvests rainwater, and Fisk's method can collect enough rainwater for a typical family in Texas.

"We really believe in the lifecycle of things, where things source the whole process in between and where they end," Fisk said. "In the case of water, the quality should be the same or better than when it came in, so we have wetlands. Those wetlands actually treat wastewater after it's used in the building."

"Water is a very critical issue in Texas as we know with the droughts," Fisk said.

Students at A&M worked with Fisk in the Galapagos Island to study carbon sinks, which are natural reservoirs that contain carbon chemicals. The Marine Biology Department and Fisk are working on creating an institute on the island.

Students from about 46 universities have worked with Fisk at the center. Lauren Jones, a public policy graduate from Duke University, said the job has turned her career path in a new direction.

"I'm learning a lot of things that I have not had experience with before," Jones said. "I wanted to go study law initially and now I'm thinking about getting a masters in sustainable design."

Jesse Miller, an architecture graduate from Ball State University, said working with Fisk is a great time and a rewarding one.

"Working here is a lot of fun, it's difficult, but a lot of fun," Miller said. "I'm young, I'm out of school, I don't want to work in an office and this is great."

Youngja Chung, an architecture design graduate from the University of Virginia, does design work on various energy saving buildings. One of the projects Chung is working on includes creating a bat tower, which is a habitat designed to collect the high amounts of phosphorous in bat droppings.

"With ecosystems near us, that kind of ties into the bigger idea here, which is to have this network between different cycles," Chung said.

Fisk is known worldwide and was featured on CNN. Fisk has done architecture work in other countries, including designing a school in Ecuador. Awards he has won include an Earth Summit Award, a Presidential Award and a Sacred Tree Award for his work in sustainability and "green" architecture.

Christian Hughes contributed to this report.

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