Texas A&M students and faculty members from architecture, landscape architecture, visualization, and public health are developing a multimedia educational tool to assist with the design of outdoor space for the elderly. Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the project recently received $747,000 from the National Institute on Aging (a division of NIH), through a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant (#R44 AG024786), in collaboration with Arkitex Studio, Inc., a local design firm.

The interactive presentation, on a set of three compact discs, will translate research-based guidelines into a user-friendly format with drawings, photos, models, case studies, research links, video clips and interactive exercises. The shows how facilities can be designed to encourage elderly residents to go outdoors, for improved health and quality of life. The educational series will be disseminated all over the United States, to design practitioners, care providers, policy planners, educators and consumer advocates. It is the first program of its type linking environmental design with health outcomes and behavior in older adults.

Dr. Mardelle Shepley, director of the Center for Health Systems & Design, holder of the William M. Peña Endowed Professorship in Information Management, and a member of the Texas A&M University faculty since 1993, was on a partial development leave during the 2006-07 academic year. Though absent from the day-to-day activities of the center, Shepley continued reviewing student work

A publication of the Center for Health Systems & Design at Texas A&M University

Fall 2007

and worked as a design research consul-tant for six firms including Anshen + Allen, Goody Clancy, Steffian Bradley, Shepley

The inaugural Center for Health Systems & Design “First Look” Research Colloquium will be held Nov. 2-6 at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Dallas, in conjunction with the AIA/AHA Healthcare Design.07 conference.

Bulfinch Richardson & Abott, Cannon Design, and Perkins+Will. Her role involved lecturing, writing papers, reviewing projects in schematic design, and conducting post-occu-pancy evaluations. She also produced papers on envi-

ronmental psychology, professional practice and healthcare design. She has since resumed her role as CHSD director.

insight

COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURET E X A S A & M U N I V E R S I T Y

Tool aids design of assisted living facilities

Susan Rodiek interviews a resident in an assisted living facility in Chicago that features a five-story tropical rain forest.

Interdisciplinary initiative promotes healthy design, easy access to nature

Dr. Shepley returns to CHSD helm

Mardelle Shepley

Dr. Susan Rodiek is principal investigator on the project, and is co-directing the work with Dr. Elton Abbott, co-investigator, and Dr. Vinod Srinivasan, principal investigator of the Texas A&M University Research Foundation portion of the project. The 25-person project team includes well-known experts in aging such as Dr. Marcia Ory and Dr. Catherine Hawes of the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health. In addition, other nationally-known researchers assisting with the project include Victor Regnier of the University of Southern California, Clare Cooper Marcus of University

of California, Berkeley, and John Zeisel of Hearthstone Alzheimer’s Care.

In the research phase of the project, carried out summer 2007, two four-person teams conducted surveys and environmental assessments at 68 healthcare facilities in three cities — Houston, Chicago and Seattle — and obtained about 10,000 photographs and 20 hours of video interviews.

“By making it easier and faster to obtain evidence-based information,’ Rodiek said, “this educational tool will facilitate applying research to actual design situations.”

Issue 7: Fall 2007

Newsletter for the Center for Health Systems & DesignCollege of Architecture • Texas A&M UniversityHealTH IndusTry advIsory CounCIl

ProfessIonal MeMbersEarl Swensson & Associates

Ellerbe Becket, Inc.FKP Architects, Inc.

HDR Architects, Inc. HKS, Inc.

Haynes Whaley Associates Inc.HOK

The INNOVA Group NTD STICHLER Architecture

PageSoutherlandPagePerkins + Will

RTKL Associates, Inc. Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott

SLAM CollaborativeSKANSKA USA Building, Inc.

BSA LifestructuresWHR Architects, Inc.

Wingler & Sharp Architects Wilmot/Sanz, Inc

Karlsberger Companies Zimmer Gunsel Frasca Partnership

CorPoraTe ParTnersHerman Miller for Healthcare

Nurture by SteelcaseSTERIS Corporation

CHsd faCulTy fellows

Mardelle Shepley Susan Rodiek Elton AbbottSherry Bame

Leonard Berry John Bryant

Michael Duffy Pliny Fisk

Jeff Haberl Kirk Hamilton

Chang-Shan Huang Sarel Lavy

Chanam Lee

George J. Mann Joseph McGraw

Marlynn MayJody Naderi

Marcia Ory Andrew Seidel

Joe Sharkey Don Sweeney

Louis Tassinary Roger Ulrich James Varni Ward Wells

Charles Culp

Professor George J. Mann, AIA, holder of the Skaggs–Sprague Endowed Chair of Health Facilities Design and president of Global University Programs in Healthcare Architec-ture (GUPHA), was recently appointed as the Academy of Architecture for Health’s liaison to the International Union of Architects/Public Health Group (UIA/PHG). Mann has been an active member of this group, which is made up of representatives from all over the world involved in Architecture for Health.

“Since 1974, when I first joined the UIA/PHG in Nairobi, Kenya,” Mann said, “the con-tact with other architects, who are designing health and hospital facilities all over the world has been a tremendous learning experience

for me. These architects have to do a lot more with a lot less.”

The organization meets annually in differ-ent countries. Last July, at the meeting held in Beijing, China, Mann gave a presentation titled “The Unique Architecture-for-Health Program at Texas A&M: A Case Study Ap-proach to Learning.”

This year Mann has been invited to speak at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, to the World Congress of the International Hospital Federation in Seoul, Korea, and to the 5th GUPHA Forum in Tokyo, He will also deliver a keynot address to the Hospital Engineering Association of Japan and lecture at Kogaquin University.

On Aug. 30, 2007, Joohyun Lee presented her healthcare project at the final round of the “First Student Health Design” competi-tion organized by Architects for Health (AFH) - Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), in London. Lee presented her spring 2007 studio project, the Critical Care Tower for Charles E. Schmidt Medical Center in Boca Raton, Fla.

“It was a wonderful opportunity and good learning experience.” she said. “I greatly appreciate the help and support given to me by professors Kirk Hamilton, Mardelle Shepley, George Mann, Susan Rodiek and others from the Center for Health Systems & Design. Above all, I would like to thank Craig Beale of HKS, Inc. and members of Ryder HKS for supporting me and sponsoring my visit to London.”

Lee was one of 13 finalists in the AFH competition, which included entries from all over the world. She is in her second year of the Master of Architecture program at Texas A&M University. Her competition project was part of her Healthcare Design Studio with Kirk Hamilton, FAIA, FACHA, principal emeritus of WHR Architects and a specialist in evidence-based design. Her project focused on creat-ing a healing environment based on careful analysis of evidence-based design literature and thorough understanding of patient/fam-ily-centered environments.

AFH is an independent group formed by architects to bring together individuals and organizations who share an interest in

Above: Joohyun Lee, third from left, with fellow finalists of “First Student Health Design” competition organized by

the Architects for Health-Royal Institute of British Archi-tects. At right: Lee speaks about her competition project,

“Critical Care Tower for Charles E. Schmidt Medical Center, Boca Raton, Fla,” at the international competition held at

RIBA headquarters in London.

healthcare facility design. It is linked to RIBA, a UK organization that works with govern-ment to improve the design quality of public buildings, new homes and new communities and to set standards for the education of architects, both in the UK and overseas.

Two CHSD faculty fellows are drafting a proposal for a unique Executive Master of Architecture program at the Texas A&M Col-lege of Architecture. The program is being designed to respond to architecture firms’ demands for a master’s program that allows students to remain in practice, according to the program’s advocates Kirk Hamilton, FAIA, FACHA, associate director of CHSD and founding principal emeritus of WHR Archi-tects, and Dr. Roger Ulrich, faculty fellow of CHSD and holder of the Julie and Craig Beale ’71 Endowed Professorship in Health Facilities Design.

“The concept,” said Hamilton,“ is to serve a group of potential students who are in the middle of their careers, but lack an accredited degree to become licensed and for various reasons are unable to pursue a full time M. Arch. program.”

The proposal is modeled on examples from various universities, including Boston Architectural College’s Distant Master of Architecture Program and various executive MBA programs. It will be a two-calendar-year degree program based on intensive sessions of eight to 10 actual class days, which Hamil-ton said amounts to the equivalent face hours with faculty a student receives in resident M.

Arch. programs.The executive program

will allow students to remain in practice while acquiring skills and knowl-edge critically important to their professional develop-ment. Students will form learning groups and have

the benefits of professional advisors from their respective firms.

The program offers an integrated model which includes the study of building technolo-gies, design and the development of profes-sional practice skills.

The design studio, which forms the founda-tion of an M. Arch. degree will consist of four design charrettes spread over the United States and abroad, apart from a final study project.

Plans tentatively call for starting the pro-gram in fall 2008. The pilot project will begin with a specialization in healthcare design, which in the future may be incorporated in the broader M.Arch. curriculum.

“We have something special to offer being known internationally as the most influen-tial and dominant healthcare program,” said Ulrich. “This program will address the concerns

sHea eyes 3rd yearStudent group expanding healthcare architecture focus

Aggie one of 13 finalists at UK healthcare architecture competition

College of Architecture • Texas A&M University • Health Science Center College of Medicine — CHSD Insight Newsletter: Fall 2007 3

College eyes executive M. arch. program

2 CHSD Insight Newsletter: Fall 2007

aggie spirit award honors student’s perseverance

In its third year, the Student Health Envi-ronments Association (SHEA) is expanding its focus on healthcare architecture.

“The agenda for SHEA this year is to inform its members that healthcare design is not just about functionality and planning, but also a strong expression of architectural design,” said Adam Panter, SHEA president. To this end, the group is holding graphic design ses-sions for its members.

Among other activities, SHEA is co-spon-soring an Architecture-for-Health lecture series with Professor George J. Mann. Also, following last year’s success, SHEA is arrang-ing another Portfolio Review Session and a dialogue session with architects during the Nov. 1-3 Health Industry Advisory Council meeting.

On Oct. 25, the group sponsored a special guest lecture featuring Alex Ling, an architect

from HKS Inc. It also arranges facility tours, such as an upcoming trip to Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin that will focus on the healthcare design process and issues of sustainablity.

On Sept. 10, Bradley Bertrand, a fourth year architecture student received the Aggie Spirit Award, one of two such awards presented this year by the Texas A&M Faculty Senate. The award recognizes outstanding courage and determi-nation in the face of adversity .

“Brad came into my design studio last Spring, a few weeks after having major surgery for brain cancer,” said Dr. Susan Rodiek. ”Although he was recovering, he showed up for every studio session, was very hardworking and produced an outstanding healthcare design project.” Brad was working on the Charles E Schmidt Medical Center at Boca Raton, Fla.

Kirk Hamilton

Bradley Bertrand

SHEA members touring the College Station Medical Center.

Mann tapped as international liaisonAt the UIA/PHG meeting in Beijing, China hosted by Dr.Huang Xi Qiu of IPPR - Institute of Project Planning and Research.

HIaC Member firms urged to share news with CHsdThe Center for Health Systems & design would like to welcome any HIAC member firm representative to contribute news to the Insight newsletter. To participate in the next HIAC Member Firm Update or for additional information, contact Judy Pruitt at jpruitt@tamu.edu.

STERISTravelIng fellowsHIPs

wHr architects, Inc. www.whrarchitects.com

HKs, Inc. www.hksinc.com

WHR Architects Inc. has been honored again with the 2007 International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Pinnacle Award for The Large Firm of the Year. The Pinnacle, the highest honor IIDA can bestow upon a design firm, is granted only to firms that have consistently contributed to the highest aspiration of the profession, community and the IIDA while remaining commited to enhancing the quality of life through excellence in interior design. They also received the Design Excellence Award in recognition for WHR’s design of the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System’s Community Hospitals in Katy and Sugar Land, Texas.

A group of 21 designers from WHR traveled to Japan this year to share knowledge on the unique challenges of health-care planning in Japan as well as the design opportunities on the other side of the globe.

Perkins+Will was recently named one of 2007’s “Best AEC Firms to Work For” by Building Design+Construction maga-zine. This award program recognizes firms in the worldwide AEC industry that excel in practices including professional development, social responsibility, workplace environment, compensation/benefits, innovative recruitment and retention policies, and business practices.

Gunther 5, a 16-person New York City-based firm, nation-ally known as the leader for sustainable design in healthcare, has merged with Perkins+Will. This merger, they say, will transform their healthcare practice into the greenest in the world.

Perkins+Will intends to establish “RING” research practice as a fundamental part of its design process. The firm has always supported the practice of beginning a new design initiative with a “research” search. The “RING,” a term coined by Dr. Mardelle Shepley and stands for Research INnovation Guidelines. It was first tried this summer, setting the stage for the upcoming design of a new inpatient behavioral hospital in Minneapolis.

Perkins + will www.perkinswil.com

Herman Miller for Healthcare www.hermanmiller.com

Ronald Skaggs, FAIA, FACHA, chairman of HKS, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Texas Society of Architects (TSA) at the annual convention held Oct. 18-20 in Austin, Texas. He began the HKS healthcare group in the 70s with the goal to establish a leading healthcare practice. Over his 40-year career span, he has been a part of most of the firm’s 650 healthcare projects, promoting the firm to provide in-novative health facility design services. Many of these projects

A limited-edition pink Leaf personal light will be the focus of the company’s first-ever product campaign to raise awareness about breast cancer. Orders for the pink edition of Leaf will be accepted through Herman Miller dealerships and retail partners in October, which also is Breast Cancer Aware-ness Month. Herman Miller will donate a percentage of the proceeds to breast cancer awareness, research and treatment.

Introduced in 2006, Leaf is an energy-efficient, LED (light emitting diode) table-top light — a result of collaborative engineering and design development between Herman Miller and Yves Behar’s San Francisco-based studio, fuseproject. According to Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, an estimated 178,480 new cases of breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States during 2007; 2030 men also will be diagnosed.

Herman Miller has garnered its fourth consecutive placement on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), an international stock portfolio that evaluates the annual performance of the world’s largest 2500 companies using economic, environmental, and social criteria, known as the “triple bottom line” of sustainability.

s/l/a/M Collaborative www.slamcoll.com

Work is ahead of schedule on the $33 million, 49,000 sq. ft. Ambulatory Care Pavilion and Community Care Center at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., which is scheduled to be com-pleted in fall 2008. S/L/A/M Collaborative is the architect for the new facility. It is the 100-year-old community hospital’s most ambitious expansion and renovation project in over a decade. When open, under one roof it will house state-of-the-art radiation therapy and chemotherapy services, as well as the offices of physicians who provide the diagnostic and clini-cal services to cancer patients. The project will also enable the hospital to expand outpatient services to its community by relocating a number of ambulatory services that are currently in the main hospital facility.

Griffin Hospital is committed to integrating the Planetree (www.planetree.org) model of patient-centered care into all aspects of its services. It was one of the first institutions in the country to adopt this model, receiving national recognition for the transformation of its main hospital building in 1994 to accommodate the new approach to healthcare delivery. The main hospital, also designed by S/L/A/M, was honored by Modern Healthcare magazine and the American Institute of Architects in 1996, and has become a prototype of the Planetree philosophy, as the largest fully Planetree facility in the country.

Zimmer gunsul frasca www.zgf.com

Zimmer Gunsul Frasca recently celebrated the opening of The Children’s Hospital in Aurora, Colo. The new 1.44 million sq. ft. hospital houses 270 patient beds, outpatient clinics, a pavilion for specialized services, offices, research and educa-tion space, and parking for 2,144 vehicles. Evidence-based design and family centered care informed much of the design process, from the use of color, to consideration of scale, to an extensive art program and measures to reduce infections and medical errors. The building also provides functional amenities such as an ice cream and coffee bar, movie theater, hotel-like sleeping rooms, resource library and a variety of outdoor spaces.

nurture by steelcaseDissertation Grants

— which host healing environments and/or peer-reviewed, evidence-based designs — have received design accolades and publicity. Skaggs is also committed to providing strong professional support for the healthcare students at Texas A&M. He was named the “Distinguished Alumnus of University” as well as “Outstanding Alumnus of the College of Architecture.”

Mayuri JoshiMasters - 2nd Year

Mayuri Joshi, from Mumbai, India, is interested in using architecture to create non-stereotypical hospital

space that provides a staff and patient-centered environment. She is also interested in telemedicine technology and methods for making healthcare more accessible and efficient. In her final study project, Mayuri is employing telemedicine technology and evidence-based design to create a multi-specialty healthcare facility.

Arijit DuttaMasters - 3rd Year

Arijit Dutta, from Nagpur, India, is interested in evidence-based design. He has six years of practice

experience and is a partner of Crafted Space, a firm in India. He has worked on adaptive re-use, commercial and residential projects. Arijit plans to use his Graduate Certificate in Health Systems & Design to expand his architectural typology experience.

Ke TangMasters - 2nd Year

Ke Tang, from Shanghai, China, is interested in complex healthcare facilities, such as cancer hospitals

and medical centers. He is intrigued by the dilemma between design and function in healthcare architecture. He feels future hospitals should be more personal and technology-oriented, but all good healthcare design should be evidence-based. His final study project will focus on finding better solutions in this area.

Ashley DiasMasters - 2nd Year

Ashley Dias, from Dallas, Texas, is interested in cardiovascular care design. Her final study is a mixed-use

heart hospital campus that promotes healthy lifestyles. She plans to design the campus according to evidence-based design research in lifestyle intervention and behavioral change.

CHsd awards scholarships, fellowships , grants to health design students

The Center for Health Systems & Design awarded 16 scholarships, fellowships and grants on January 25th. The awards were made possible by the generous donations of Herman Miller for Healthcare, STERIS, Nuture by Steelcase and David Watkins of WHR Architects.

Below are the profiles of the Under-graduates, Masters and Ph.D. students who recieved awards.

CHsd announces 2007 awardsAt its second awards ceremony on Nov 2, 2007, during the 6th Annual HIAC meeting, the Center for Health Systems & Design will award 11 scholarships, fellowships and grants made possible by the generous donations of Herman Miller for Healthcare, STERIS, Nurture by Steelcase, Susan Rodiek, and David Watkins of WHR Architects.

Below are the profiles of some of the students receiving awards at the event.

Alejandro IriarteMasters - 2nd Year

Alejandro Iriarte is orignially from Guatemala, but has made Houston, Texas his home away from home. He is

interested in the planning and development of evidence-based sustainable healthcare facilities.

Health Industry advisory Council members lead the way with innovations in practice and research

With 21 professional members and three corporate members, the Health Industry Advisory Council (HIAC) keeps growing as new firms join annually. The latest members are Karlsberger Companies and BSA Lifestructures.

HIAC was founded in 2002 to support the activities of the Center for Health Systems & Design and students in the College of Architecture with an interest in health design and research. HIAC firms are cutting-edge companies in the design, construction and manufacturing fields.

Below are HIAC member firm updates featuring current research, latest practice innovations, new employee and intern programs, as well as young architects’ involvement in their firms.

To become a HIAC member firm please contact Mardelle Shepley, director of the Center for Health Systems & Design at Texas A&M University via e-mail at mardelle@archone.tamu.edu or call 979-845-7009.

Amanda ScottMasters - 2nd Year

Amanda Scott, from Conroe, Texas, is interested in investigating the ability of a space to assist, rather than

hinder, the processes which take place within itself. Having spent several years with family in hospitals, she wants to invest her time to research and analyze a variety of healthcare facilities to design spaces which invite and heal rather, than annoy and harm; to influence patients, families, and staff in a positive way.

Daniel BergerMasters - 2nd Year

Danny Berger, from Alexandria, Indiana, is interested in healthcare architecture because “it

is complex and challenging, but the real excitement comes from the knowledge that our designs can positively impact the health outcomes of those within the healthcare facility. We have an opportunity to change lives for the better.”

SCHolarSHipS, fellowSHipS & DiSSertation grantS • Recipient Profiles

Dissertation grants were awarded to doc-toral students Zhe Wang and Woo-Hwa Shin for the 2007-08 academic year. These funds were made available through a commitment from Nurture by Steelcase to students study-ing architecture for health.

Zhe Wang is researching ways to iden-tify the physical features of residential sites, neighborhoods associated with older adults’ yard activities, neighborhood walking, and the sequential environmental impact on inde-pendent living in the community. She hopes to develop evidence-based design guidelines and policy recommendations promoting environmental support for older adults.

Woo-Hwa’s research focuses on identify-ing trends in physical activity among older African American women residing in Bryan, Texas and examining how their surrounding environments affect their physical activity.

Member Firm Update • HealtH inDUStrY aDViSorY CoUnCil

A team of Texas A&M architecture students was the only American winner in the 2007 Global Student Competition for Design of Architecture for Health, sponsored by the Global University Programs in Healthcare Architecture (GUPHA).

The award-winning project, “Texas A&M University Systems Health Science Center,” was designed by Brian Briscoe, Tina Pruitt and Robert Gardner, se-niors in Department of Architecture’s Bachelor of Environmental Design program.

Briscoe, the team leader, will attend the award ceremony in Tokyo, held in conjunction with the 5th GUPHA Forum on Nov. 11-13.

“We are pleased to receive this award,” said Briscoe. “It shows the push toward healthcare architecture becoming very international. The award, 250,000 yen, or a little over $2,000, will enable me to participate in the forum. I am all the more excited,” he continued, “as Joe Sprague from HKS, Inc and Professor George Mann will be keynote speakers.”

Aggie team sole U.S. winner of international design competition

Brian Briscoe

4 CHSD Insight Newsletter: Fall 2007 College of Architecture • Texas A&M University • Health Science Center College of Medicine — CHSD Insight Newsletter: Fall 2007 5

The Architecture-for-Health Lecture Series, organized by George J. Mann, the Skaggs-Sprague Endowed Chair of Health Facilities Design, has become a staple at the Texas A&M College of Architecture. These lectures bring professional exper-tise and a real-world perspective to the academic environment.

The fall series, co-sponsored by the Student Health Environments Association (SHEA), include a range of lecturers from healthcare providers and academicians to professionals.

“Because of our established long stand-ing reputation in architecture for health, we are able to attract excellent nationally and internationally known speakers on a broad variety of topics,” said Mann.

The fall 2007 lecturers are:Roger B. Call, director of Herman Miller

for Healthcare; Dr. Mardelle Shepley, direc-tor of CHSD; James Lussier, president of TLC- the Lussier Center; Professor George Mann; Dr. Joseph McGraw, CHSD faculty fellow; Morris A Stein FAIA, FACHA of HKS Inc; Dr. Paul K. Carlton, director, Texas A&M

Integrated Center for Homeland Security; David Hitchcock, AIA of Aspen Street Architects. Inc.; Scot Latimer, vice presi-dent and national practice director of Kurt Salmon Associates Inc; Michelle Fortune, CEO of The Physicians Center, Bryan, Texas; Marc Davidson, AIA and Kay Senos, interior lead of HGA; Dennis Kaiser, principal of Perkins + Will; John Castorina, AIA of RTKL; Bill Worn of the University of Illinois and president of Wom Jerabek Architects; Angela Watson, principal of SBRA; Kurt Rochstroh, president & CEO of Steffian Bradley Architects; Joan L Saba, partner of NBBJ; Ron Smith, AIA of HOK; and Gina Kish, principal of Cannon Design.

“The Center for Health Systems & Design would like to thank all speakers for sharing their valuable knowledge with the students and making this program suc-cessful,” said Mann, a CHSD faculty fellow.

Individuals interested in participating in the next lecture series, are urged to contact George Mann at gmann@archone.tamu.edu.

Dr. Jeff S Haberl, CHSD faculty fellow and associate director of the Texas Engineering Ex-periment Station’s Energy Systems Laboratory was elected fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

Haberl has distinguished himself as an expert on building energy consumption. He has developed numerous methods for determining energy usage and applied these in the Texas LoanSTAR program, which gives low-cost loans to municipal and state facilities to install energy conservation measures.

Haberl used his research to become a founding contributor to the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken an interest in his current work, which is to create emissions calculation methods to generate energy efficiency and renewable energy savings.

Texas A&M architecture professors and CHSD faculty fellows Charles Culp and Jeff Haberl were among university faculty honored for their work on one of 15 patents recently awarded to Texas A&M faculty. The inventors were feted at the Feb. 23 Patent and Innovation 2007 Awards luncheon sponsored by the Texas A&M University System Office of Technology Commercialization.

The invention earning Culp and Haberl this distinguished honor — United States Patent Number 6,996,508 — is a system and method for remote retrofit identification of energy consumption systems and components.

Culp currently serves as associate director of the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES). He earned a doctorate in solid state physics from Iowa State University with a minor in electrical engineering. A licensed engineer and holder of 11 U.S. patents, Culp has over

25 years of academic and professional experi-ence in engineering, research, teaching and management.

Jeff Haberl also serves ELS as ssociate director. He earned a Ph.D. from the Univer-sity of Colorado at Boulder in 1986 and has been conducting research for almost 30 years in areas related to energy system efficiency, renewable energy and intelligent measure-ment system.

Zhipeng Lu, a doctoral student in Architec-ture at Texas A&M University, recently received a $25,000 dissertation grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active Living Research. This makes Lu the fourth Ph.D. stu-dent in a row from the Texas A&M College of Architecture to receive the prestigious grant.

Previous recipients were Xuemei Zhu, Praveen Maghelal and Meghan Wieters. Professor Chanam Lee, now a faculty-fellow of CHSD, was among earlier grant recipients.

Zhipeng’s dissertation proposal, “Design for the Frail Old: Environmental and Percep-tual Influences on Corridor Walking Behaviors of Assisted Living Residents,” examines the potential of corridors to promote walking among the frail, older residents who spend most of their time indoors. The study explores the relationship between physical features of corridors in assisted living facilities and residents’ walking behaviors, as well as the mediating effect of perceived walkability on this relationship.

Lu has visited 34 facilities in Houston and 16 in other parts of Texas to carry out his re-search. Currently, Zhipeng is working on focus groups, surveys and photographic experi-ments, to gather data.

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and The American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment selected the Texas A&M University Solar Decathlon team as the first place winner of its inaugural Student Choice Award. The international Solar Decathlon

competition, held Oct. 12-19, 2007 on the National Mall in Washington, DC, is organized by the U.S. Department of Energy. The event included 20 teams of college and university students who competed to design, build, and operate the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient home ran exclusively by the sun.

The A&M team utilized the “groHome” concept invented by team leader Dr. Pliny Fisk, a CHSD faculty fellow. The entry was a modularized, dimensionally coordinated, open source kit of parts attuned to green building principles to achieve high levels of carbon balancing.

Earlier this year, the Texas A&M team’s groHome design won the student category of the EPA Lifecycle Building Challenge.

CHSD faculty fellow accomplishments recognized

6 CHSD Insight Newsletter: Fall 2007 College of Architecture • Texas A&M University • Health Science Center College of Medicine — CHSD Insight Newsletter: Fall 2007 7

James Lussier, president of TLC- the Lussier Center talks about “How a Hospital Administrator Looks at Architects” as part of the CHSD Architecture-for-Health Lecture Series.

CHsd architecture-for-Health lecture seriesfeatures diverse array of healthcare experts

Texas a&M students, HKs collaborate on 1.7 million sq. ft. medical center campus

Award honors architecture professors’ inventiveness

aggie solar decathletes win aIas student Choice award

4th time in a row!Aggie lands Robert Wood Johnson research grant

Texas A&M architecture students and faculty collaborated with HKS Inc., an inter-national architecture and construction firm, to develop design concepts for a 1.7 million sq. ft. medical center in Boca Raton, Fla. The 43 participating students formally unveiled more than 60 large format display boards and seven design models for the proposed Charles E. Schmidt Medical Center on April 27 at the HKS office at McKinney Ave. in Dallas.

“It was a great experience to be able to work on a third-year design project with a firm like HKS,” said Jenny Holzer. “The Boca Raton project proved to be challenging and exciting. We really enjoyed being able to pres-ent our final work where employees of HKS were able to offer some incredible feedback for our designs.”

Three studios collaborated on this project. Leading the undergraduate studios, which

focused on campus and medical planning, were George J. Mann, Joseph McGraw, Susan Rodiek and Roger Ulrich. Graduate students in Kirk Hamilton’s design studio concentrated on the facility’s critical care tower.

“The students were asked to utilize the latest evidence-based design principles in developing a vision for a new, sustainable healthcare environment with the utmost emphasis on patient safety,” noted Mann.

Charles CulpJeff Haberl

Solar Village visitors appreciate the high-tech Aggie groHome.

Dr. Haberl working his way up!

Haberl electedASHRAE fellow

‘07 HIAC meeting expanded The 6th Annual Health Industry Ad-

visory Council (HIAC) expanded its 2007 annual meeting. Beginning Nov. 1, 2007, members meet at Traditions Golf Course for what will be the first Annual HIAC Golf Tournament. Later that evening, mem-bers meet at The Plaza Hotel for a kick-off Welcome Dinner.

The annual meeting will be held Friday, Nov. 2. Saturday’s events will begin with a portfolio review, sponsored by SHEA, the healthcare architecture student organiza-tion, which will be followed by a review of projects in George Mann’s studio.

The keynote speakers at the HIAC meeting are Dr. Leonald L. Berry, a dis-tinguished professor of marketing, who also holds the M.B. Zale Chair in Retailing and Marketing Leadership in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, and Dr. Clifford Dacso, also a distinguished researcher professor, and director of the Abramson Center for the Future of Health.

HIAC: Anthony Haas of WHR Architects speaks to students as SHEA President Adam Panter listens intently during the SHEA-HIAC portfolio review session last year.

CeNteR FoR HealtH SySteMS & DeSIgN • http://archone.tamu.edu/chsd

The Center for Health systems & designCollege of ArchitectureTexas A&M University3137 TAMUCollege Station, TX 77843-3137

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TEXAS 77843PERMIT NO. 215

Third-year Texas A&M architecture students presented final designs for a new sustainable cardiovascular diagnostic center in West Monroe, Louisiana Oct. 1, 2007. The architecture-for-health studio headed by professor George J. Mann, AIA, and professor Joseph J. McGraw, Ph.D., collaborated with Dr. Virginia Y. Gonzalez, an interventional cardi-ologist, and Mr. Kevin Marcantel, administra-tor of the center.

The project featured open and friendly office space for patient care. The project program included designing an office build-ing that would provide adequate patient-care space, ample work stations for the staff, and an area that conducive to private time for the

physician. The students had an opportunity to tour the project site as well as an existing cardiovascular diagnostic center hospital in Louisiana. They learned about different procedures including catheterizations and the nature of unique spaces such as echocar-diogram rooms, cardiovascular intensive care units, and stress laboratories.

“The knowledge gained helped the 16 students make informed decisions and create sustainable designs,” said Mann. “The clients were very accommodating and the architects they do hire will have quite a challenge, because these students have given them so many questions to ask and so many ideas to integrate into their plans.”

3rd-year architecture students explore designs for a cardiovascular care center

What’s inside

Front page Page 3 Page 7Interdisciplinary team develops a multimedia educational program

aggie grad, Joohyun presents healthcare project at rIba, london

Texas a&M students work with HKs Inc., for the boca raton Medical Center

Student renderings for the Cardiovascular Care Center: (from left) Stacey Rossmeisl, Angela Mellow and Amy Kircher