The Biking Architect

5 Questions Joe Ferraro

Welcome to our first installment of 5 Questions.

This is a spot where we will be asking architects a bit about their craft and how they integrate green design into their work.

And the 5 Questions are:

1. Why did you choose Architecture to express yourself in your work?
2. What was/is your favorite project and accomplishment?
3. Have you taken the Architecture2030 Challenge and how are you working LEED into your designs and projects?
4. How do you challenge a client to use green, sustainable, or alternative energy resources or incorporate green design when there is no code or financial incentives to comply?
5. What impact can Architecture have on our Global Environmental Future?

So I now ask you to give our first 5 Questions Architect a warm welcome.

Name: Joseph Ferraro

Firm: Ferraro Choi

Website: http://www.ferrarochoi.com/

1.  Why did you choose Architecture to express yourself in your work?

I think I didn’t choose architecture, but it chose me. Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be an architect. It was hardly a conscience decision, so it must have been instilled genetically or by artificial intelligence. My father had a construction company so my brother and I were immersed into the building industry as soon as we could hold onto a hammer. (He’s also an architect) In 1967 after graduating from high school, I enrolled into the Interior Design department at Pratt Institute and received a BFA in 1971. I worked in the design field in New York City for ten years for interior designers, industrial designers and architects before relocating to Hawaii in 1982. I enrolled at the University of Hawaii’s in 1984 and completed undergraduate and graduate classes at the School of Architecture before receiving my registration in Hawaii in 1988. I love all aspects of the design process. It solves problems in a logical and systematic manner. It helps people directly in their daily lives providing the basic needs of shelter and a healthy environment. It produces tangible results that are measurable and visually rewarding, and when done well, reduces the footprint on our environment.

2.  What was/is your favorite project and accomplishment?

It would have to be South Pole Station. We started survey trips and gathering research for the project in1992 and the actual design in 1996. The design process allowed me to make more than a dozen trips to the Antarctic to meet with scientists, contractors and facility managers in planning for the project. I was privileged to head a team of incredibly talented engineers from Alaska, Canada, and the mainland US. I also worked with people from the Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research Laboratory in New Hampshire and NASSA offices throughout the country on the unique remote location aspects of this research facility. It was a special opportunity to design for a pristine environment with parallels for Hawaii.  In January of 2008, I was one of a select group of dignitaries to fly to the station for its commemoration.

3.  Even though there were trials and tribulations in designing and implementing the NW Regional conference of the AIA in Hawaii October 2008, what did you learn from the conference and preparation?

The theme of our conference, Crossroads of Design and Diversity, turned out to be well suited for the spectrum of people and ideas represented at the three day event. Even though I had a great deal to do with the selection of the theme and the steering the development of the programs, I was surprised how much I learned about the diversity. I found and came to appreciate the differences not only in our region but within our local Hawaii components. There was diversity in brainstorming ideas and decision making in our planning group. I took part in monthly planning conferences with the past and upcoming conference planners in Hong Kong, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Japan.  During those one hour calls I heard diverse perspectives on how the conference is viewed in other parts of our region and what their themes would be. I attended Hong Kong’s and Spokane’s conferences at the geographic and cultural extremes of our region and found that as diverse as the people, cultures, languages, climates, politics and landscapes are in those two regions, what seems to hold us all together is our fellowship as architects and our dedication to finding design solutions for our diverse environments.

4.  Have you taken the Architecture2030 Challenge and how are you working LEED into you designs and projects?

I have been designing sustainably for the last 26 years in my Hawaii-based practice. My partners and I took on a green challenge back then because our islands have been on a fragile life line for energy and food supplies for decades. As was reiterated in our AIA Northwest & Pacific Conference, Hawaii has approximately two weeks of food and fuel on hand at any time even though we are blessed with ample resources and weather to be independent in both. Currently over 85% of our energy is produced from imported oil.

To aid our state in turning this situation around, our office has been designing with the LEED system since 1998. We took an active part in the LEED pilot program for Commercial Interiors (CI) and designed the first LEED CI gold project in Hawaii. We have also designed the first LEED for new construction (NC) Platinum project in Kailua Kona, Hawaii which was an AIA Committee on the Environment’s Top Ten projects for 2007. We have taken the 2030 challenge to heart but since there is no actual measurement system at hand, we continue to monitor our progress through LEED and Laboratories for the 21st Century, (Labs21).

5.  What impact can Architecture have on our Global Environmental Future?

What we have heard is that the building industry uses approximately 60% of the energy resources in the United States. We know that it has a huge impact on resources for materials, energy and jobs. By producing energy efficient buildings we can reduce our carbon imprint and extend our available energy fuels. By producing environmentally friendly buildings we can also reduce illness and provide for a better quality of life for their occupants. So we as architects can have a tremendous impact on the global environment.

There cannot be any substantial change in our environment to curb global warming without the participation of architects.

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