Grown up to be a green architect in Goshen

By Ginny Privitar

Aspiring architect Brandon Fuentes holding his award for his Palisade Hotel design project. The award says “CTGBC 2021 Green Building Awards Student Design Award of Merit”. Credit The Connecticut Green Building Council (CTGBC)

Goshen:--

Brandon Fuentes recalls being in a Goshen High School class that designed in 3D software.

“We made a beach chair out of wood,” he said. We designed it with Sketch Up software, and the Computer Numerical Control machine,m, that dictates factory tools’ movements, cut out the wood pieces and we assembled a chair.”

“Just seeing pieces go from computer to real life really mesmerized me; seeing what the software was capable of doing--from that time I knew I wanted to pursue architecture as a career,” Fuentes said.

Goshen native Brandon Fuentes, currently pursuing an Advanced Master of Architecture degree at the University of Harford, won a 2021 Student Design Award of Merit last October from the Connecticut Green Building Council for his theoretical redesign of an existing building for The Palisade Hotel project. This is the second time Fuentes has won the award, having previously received it in 2020 for a new building design, the Pompeii Archaeology Lab project.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Green building, whether new or renovated, is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s lifecycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction. Green building design involves extensive climate analysis, passive cooling design, daylighting analysis, and exterior and interior building performance analysis.

Fuentes is passionate about Green building practices and sustainability. He achieved the title of LEED Green Associate; a credential that affirms a thorough comprehension of green building practices and principles.

Early Influence

Goals

Fuentes’ goal as an architect is “To provide and to integrate sustainable architecture, which utilizes design strategies that benefit the environment and decrease negative impacts.”

He wants to design desirable spaces people will enjoy. His interest in making sustainable architecture really blossomed as a college sophomore in a class taught by Seth Holmes. He learned about sustainable building systems and strategies: different ways a building can be designed; for one example, in terms of windows and walls in relation to local climate--using it to your advantage when designing.

Prestigious Awards

For two years in a row, Fuentes has won awards for his “green” theoretical projects. “I first won the Student Design Award of Merit in 2020 for the Pompeii Archaeology Project,” he said. The assigned project was to build a laboratory for archaeologists digging in Pompeii, blending the [envisioned] architecture lab in with the ruined Pompeii. Researchers still excavating in Pompeii would have a laboratory space for examination of artifacts, as well as space to showcase and store them.”

In 2021, Fuentes won for his theoretical Palisades Hotel Project. He had to imagine revitalizing an existing space, incorporating two existing buildings with a new design for a boutique hotel that would benefit downtown Hartford. What made it green? “Utilizing climate to advance solar orientation; harnessing prominent winds (passive cooling opportunities); and on the exterior, balconies that afforded a view as well as acted as shading,” Fuentes said. He looked at daylight patterns and included or removed windows as needed. Extensive energy efficient analysis was done for present and projected energy use and how that would affect annual costs. Fuentes was the only student who also did load-bearing calculations for the project.

Asked if there was one thing he would change about architecture education, Fuentes said, “Sustainability should be introduced early in architectural education, to prepare the students for a more in-depth understanding and integration within their projects.” He added, “Now, more recently with climate drastically changing from human activity, there needs to be a more sustainable approach towards architecture to reduce the overall carbon footprint of buildings.”

Future Plans

After earning his Advanced Master in Architecture degree from the University of Hartford’s College of Engineering, Technology and Architecture this May, Fuentes said, “I’ll probably go back to New York, looking for an architectural firm that deals with practices of sustainable architecture and design.”

When he’s not designing, Fuentes enjoys golf, a sport he excelled in at Goshen High School.

Ed note: Fuentes would like to thank the professors and mentors who’ve helped him: Matthew Milnamow; John O’Rourke; Seth Holmes; Theodore Sawruk; Mark Hopper; William Richter and Daniel Davis.

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Sidebar: Architectural renderings of Brandon Fuentes’ award-winning designs:

Jessica: You can just use the first rendering—the 2021 Palisades Hotel Project—if there’s only room for one.

CAPTIONS FOR Two Architectural renderings supplied by Brandon Fuentes:

A rendering of the Palisade Hotel. Fuentes won the “Connecticut Green Building Awards Student Design Award of Merit” for this theoretical project in 2021

A rendering of the Pompeii Archaeology laboratory. Fuentes won the “Connecticut Green Building Awards Student Design Award of Merit” for this theoretical project in 2020.

A rendering of the Palisade Hotel. Fuentes won the “Connecticut Green Building Awards Student Design Award of Merit” for this theoretical project in 2021

A rendering of the Pompeii Archaeology laboratory. Fuentes won the “Connecticut Green Building Awards Student Design Award of Merit” for this theoretical project in 2020.