Houston Architect Designs Healthy Green Homes
Donna Mosher

From Sthapatya Veda to the traditional Texas vernacular, Houston architect LaVerne A. Williams, AIA Environment Associates , is fluent in most any home design interpretation. He articulates each project into a declaration of energy efficiency and environmental integrity. Bringing a wholistic approach to residential architecture – from the microclimate of the property to the mechanical systems used in construction – his home designs make a statement of health, comfort, durability, and maintainability, all wrapped in a highly aesthetic appeal.

For three decades, Williams has been pioneering “green” architecture in Texas. Motivated in the mid-70s by a deep concern for how commercial architecture seemed to value profit and appearance over quality-of-life construction, he questioned whether he wanted to stay in the field. His love of the outdoors inspired him to consider ways to build in harmony with nature. At the time, few commercial clients were interested in architecture intended to save energy and resources. So Williams shifted to residential architecture. Now he is considered one of the leading experts in green residential architecture, i.e. earth-friendly, healthy, high-performance homes. Acknowledged as one of the grandfathers of today’s green-building movement, his credits include projects throughout Texas, other Gulf Coast states, Colorado, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia, Tennessee, and in Mexico.

A Hill Country home illustrates Williams’ innovative design. This 2,800 square foot home demonstrates Sthapatya Veda architecture, an ancient architectural system that takes into account every aspect of building design, and comes from 5,000-year-old Hindu texts that pre-date the Chinese feng shui. While the homeowners looked to Vedic professionals for specific design principles, it was Williams who translated them into the contemporary architectural design the family now enjoys. Williams also incorporated his climate-based healthy home design commitments: insulating mass exterior walls, non-vented attic, insulated roof, interior and exterior walls of termite-, mold-, and fire-resistant insulating cementatious blocks, solar water heating and rainwater harvesting systems, and more. The result? In two of the hottest summer months ever recorded for Austin, the air-conditioned home’s entire energy bill was under $80 for each month. The house earned the Austin Green Building Program’s highest rating. And the Discovery Health Channel featured the home for the significant health aspects of the design and construction.

Now he wants to expand his portfolio to emphasize modern residential architecture. Perhaps one of his most innovative designs may be found in a home built near Galveston Bay, designed for low maintenance while meeting high wind load conditions and withstanding the ravishes of water and sun. Building to accommodate the unique challenges of a particular microclimate is one of the strengths Williams brings to each residential project.

Over the years, LaVerne Williams has received a number of recognitions as well. His work has influenced the Austin Green Building Program, considered the nation’s premier green building program. He was appointed an advisor to the Governor’s Advisory Council and the Texas Energy Advisory Council. He helped form the Houston and the Texas Solar Energy Societies and the Texas Renewable Energy Industry Association. His firm designed the Southern Solar Energy Center’s “Houston Passive Solar Demonstration Home” in 1979. While having earned the prestigious certification of LEED Accredited Professional, Williams is the proudest of his 1993 Hershey Conservation Award from the Houston Audubon Society for “exemplary long-term commitment and dedicated action to conservation goals.”

Williams’ career soul-searching thirty years ago has paid off. The decision to concentrate on green residential architecture has proved a good one. “I can achieve more results in residential than any other building type,” he says, “because the end user is making the final decisions.” His architecture practice has grown from pioneering to thriving, as he guides his clients to build and renovate homes that are as healthy as possible for the inhabitants… and for the environment.

Visit Environment Associates for more information on making decisions about the buildings and surroundings that define your quality of life,.

According to Houston architect LaVerne Williams, green architecture is architecture that is guided by sustainable principles that strive to provide for the needs of current generations without compromising the needs and well being of future generations.

“We say ‘green’ instead of ‘sustainable’ architecture because creating truly sustainable buildings is impossible as long as fossil fuels are used in any way to mine, transport, and process building materials, or to construct, operate, or maintain a building over its lifetime. Sustainable means only renewable energy can be used ‘cradle to cradle.’ Therefore, since fossil fuel use is unavoidable at present, green home architecture strives to be as sustainable as possible, based wholistically upon all the factors involved, including the owner’s financial means. But it is much more than merely using recycled products, tight construction, energy efficient appliances, lighting, or being Energy Star-rated. Much, much more.”

Sick Home Syndrome

For more three decades, LaVerne A. Williams, AIA, LEED AP, has been pushing the design/construction envelope while educating consumers and the building industry about healthy, high-performance green homes. His portfolio of green home projects dates from the mid 1970s and is one of the most extensive in the nation.

Williams has identified a number of problems with home design and construction that can lead to poor indoor air quality and illness among those living in the home.

“The biggest downfalls of conventional housing – other than inappropriate design and construction for the microclimate conditions where the home is located – are the health and durability aspects,” he says. “People are falling ill and they don’t know why.” He finds people complaining of allergy symptoms, fatigue, and low energy that frequently clear up when they leave the home. When consulting with clients on a problem house, he considers a number of factors, including:

• House orientation and design, construction systems, clients’ age, mechanical systems, ease of maintenance.
• Personal considerations, such as owner/occupant activities, furnishings, air quality and house-cleaning methods.
• Carpet, trapping dirt and chemicals, including pesticides, is one of the greatest contributors to poor indoor air quality. Synthetic fibers are especially poor choices.
• Fiberglass supply ductwork will fill with mold. Plastic-lined flex ducts, during the heating season, pump plasticizers into the home.
• Oversized air conditioning systems cannot run enough to remove the humidity.
• Whether current A/C return-air methods contribute to poor indoor air quality.
• Air leaks let humidity in. A home’s humidity must be kept at less than 60% to prevent mold formation.
• Whether finishes are toxic.
• Whether particleboard and interior plywood cores in cabinetry are made with formaldehyde.

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