The AIA the USGBC have named the second Architecture for Humanity Sustainability Design Fellow. Burtland Granvil, AIA, will succeed the first Architecture for Humanity Design Fellow in Haiti, Stacey McMahan, AIA. As the fellow, Granvil will work at Architecture for Humanity’s rebuilding center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which focuses on rebuilding efforts from the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake that devastated the country.
One goal of the fellowship is to provide leadership to make sure that Haitian rebuilding efforts include key principles of green building such as high performance, structural integrity, high energy and water efficiency, and better ventilation. “The earthquake didn’t take as many lives as the poor quality of construction did,” Granvil says. Among Granvil’s responsibilities will be to provide tools and training for safe and sustainable construction to mitigate similar building failures in the future. He will provide these to both the informal and formal trades—by increasing local professional capacity through training and assistance.
Granvil has over 10 years of experience, mainly in construction administration of various educational projects. His role in Haiti also expands to include guiding Architecture for Humanity Haiti interns and volunteers through the Intern Development Program process.
More information Architecture for Humanity’s rebuilding efforts in Haiti can be found online at http://architectureforhumanity.org/updates/2011-01-10-bati-byen-rebuilding-in-haiti-2012-annual-report. In addition, the AIA recently reported on community design and rebuilding efforts on the two year anniversary of the earthquake: http://www.aia.org/practicing/AIAB092290.
