JOSEPH MICHAEL KELLY

BET, PD, MSc, RA, CEng, NCARB, MCIBSE

A R C H I T E C T a n d E N G I N E E R

Telephone: 864-242-1056

Email: jmkelly@hotmail.com

Web site: http://www.jmkelly.net

Mailing address: PO Box 1356, Greenville, SC 29602, USA

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June 1, 2006 – Vacation Houses

The Stone Residence at the Seven Acre Point in Seneca, South Carolina has been selected by Images Publishing Group of Australia as one of the world’s best holiday houses and is featured in a new book entitled "50+ Vacation Homes". The book celebrates the holiday home, traditionally a place of rest, relaxation, and escape from the pressures of the ‘real’ world.

May 1, 2006 – Landscape Design for Energy Efficiency

The publisher has announced that the second printing of "Landscape Design for Energy Efficiency" is now complete. Several JMK South Carolina architectural projects were featured including Windermere by the Sea for the cover page as well as the Caryle and StillWater in the text. The book was originally intended to minimizing the negative effects on the environment and help ensure that energy needs will be met. Due to its environmentally responsible energy future message it is now used as a text in university architecture and landscape architecture sustainable design courses. The book can be purchased through the South Carolina Energy Office, AIA Bookstore in Philadelphia, Clemson University Extension, Temple University Ambler Bookstore, etc.

May 1, 2006 – Temple University

JMK will teach Energy and Building Design, and Sustainable Community Design this fall online to Temple University students in architecture, engineering technology, community planning and landscape architecture. Perspective students may sign up online at Temple University’s website: http://www.temple.edu/

Background

"If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem." - anon. Over half the energy used in the developed world is consumed by buildings. As global concern increases about the impact of energy use, so does the importance of energy-efficient building. We spend the vast majority of our lives within buildings and the built environment has a significant impact on the quality of human life and the healthy and sustainable development of society. With increasing energy crises caused by the extremely dense urban situation, people in the United States are becoming more and more concerned about the present and future living conditions. Today's buildings and urban spaces in developing countries are often designed with the "international style" as a model, and without taking the climate into consideration. Factors such as street widths, orientation and architectural design of the buildings, choice of building materials, etc. are not given enough importance. Consequently a great part of the built environment has a poor indoor as well as outdoor climate. As living standards increase people tend to install or extend heating and/or cooling equipment in order to overcome the problem with poor thermal comfort. For buildings not adapted to the climate, the energy consumption, and consequently the costs, will be excessively high and the impact on the environment will be negative - both globally and locally.

One reason why buildings and urban spaces are poorly adapted to the climate is that architects, planners and engineers lack knowledge and adequate design tools. Furthermore, experience from traditional architecture, which was fairly well adapted to the climate, is often lost or difficult to adapt to modern techniques and society. Norms and regulations within the field are generally lacking. Building conservation and sustainable design are closely related. Carl Elefante writes: "The synergies between historic preservation and sustainable design start with a very strong philosophical bond at the core of both endeavors-appreciation for and stewardship of resources are equally essential and irreplaceable. The intersection between sustainable design and historic preservation is defined in three levels: (1) Appreciating what is inherently green about our heritage, (2) adapting green practices to historic structures and settings, and (3) retooling preservation practices to be sustainable."

An Inconvenient Truth: http://www.climatecrisis.net/

Stop Global Warming: http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/default.asp