The past met the future recently at a gathering to honor the memory of architectural designer Roger Rasbach and to further his dream of transforming home building in this country through an advanced construction technology.

The gathering, in the home of CLEAN president Jane Dale Owen, launched the Houston Environmental Housing Project, a joint effort of CLEAN and the Federation of American Scientists. It also celebrated the 76th birthday of Rasbach, who died last year.

Ms. Owen was offered her good wishes to the group and conveyed her strong support to Rasbach’s vision. “We are here to celebrate the realization of Roger’s fondest dream,” she said, “to build an environmentally sensitive, beautifully designed, affordable and energy-efficient home in Houston, the nation’s most environmentally challenged city. I want to thank all of you who are here tonight to remember Roger, his vision, his genius, his kindness. Thank you for helping make Roger’s dream a reality – to build the house of tomorrow today.”

Dr. Henry Kelly, president of the Federation of American Scientists, flew in from Washington, D.C., for the event. He introduced the CLEAN/FAS plan to build a prototype of a low cost, environmentally friendly house in Houston, remembering the many years he and Rasbach had collaborated on the development of the technology.

“Roger dedicated 30 years to exploring and developing an advanced construction technology that would be both commercially viable and energy efficient,” said Kelly. “I worked with him for a number of those years. Together we investigated and identified technologies and components that would result in a home that is cheaper to build while saving homeowners a minimum of 50% in energy use.

“Our goal is to interest home builders and developers in a way to build a better house at a lower cost,” Kelly continued. “At the same time, home owners can count on significant reductions in their utility bills with this technology. We think we’ve found a win-win situation. And we’re going to prove it by building a prototype of the house right here in Houston, thanks to the commitment of Janie Owen and her staff at CLEAN.”

Home builder Joe Ecrette shared his experience with the technology, which includes building modular classrooms for schools in the Houston Independent School District.

Guests at the party included friends of Jane D. Owen: Sharon and William Morris, Louise and Denton Cooley, and architect Ed Eubanks. Also attending were long-time friends of Rasbach, including Dr. Lee Pryor, Sue and John Porretto, Nancy and Bill Davis. Gwen Watson traveled from Midland to celebrate the occasion.