Kenneth Haggard

Beginning in 2006 Haggard began to focus on education and writing after he realized that buildings use 72% of America’s electricity and generate 40% of the global warming gases.

As the early 2000s the San Luis Obispo Sustainability Group began to focus on public buildings that could enhance the understanding of a passive solar design and sustainable building materials. This included several pivotal projects, such as the Wolken Education Center at Hidden Villa in Los Altos, the Congregation Beth David Synagogue, and the San Luis Obispo Botanic Garden Education Center. For the design of Congregation Beth David Synagogue they skillfully used passive solar architecture to eliminate a central HVAC system and also cost no more than a conventional building. Energy use is 90% below state code requirements and the rabbi and members appreciate the beauty, comfort and savings the building provides.

2000 to Present: Education and Passive Solar Public Buildings Green design comes of age as its critical importance becomes increasingly obvious. SLOSG’s projects include the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden Education Center, Congregation Beth David Synagogue and the Mountainbrook Community Church—all registered with the U.S. Green Building Council for LEED certification. Books and articles on passive solar architecture include local, national and international publications.

1994: AIA and IUE Sustainable Communities Competition This entry, a collaboration between SLOSG and faculty from Cal Poly, was one of the first-place winners in this international competition. It proposed processes for Los Osos, a community of 15,000, to evolve into a sustainable community:

In 1993, their office and home were destroyed in a wildfire. Losing all the records, plans and photographs and artwork was devastating, but the clean slate allowed them to design and build a model passive solar off-grid office and home using renewable materials such as straw bales and wood milled from the fire killed trees.

1991-2000: Firm Expansion SLOSG operates an off-grid, straw bale passive solar complex near Santa Margarita, Calif. During this period, the firm expanded into campus planning, education buildings for nonprofit groups, landscape regeneration and the politics of sustainability on the Central California coast.

Haggard was Co-principal Investigator on a project for the California Energy Commission that led to the development of the Passive Solar Handbook for California in 1980. From 1984-1988, he was the founder and Director of the Renewable Energy Institute at Cal Poly. After retiring from Cal Poly, the work at the San Luis Sustainability Group intensified, with projects ranging from home and commercial remodels to new homes, schools, and commercial buildings.

1978-1980: Passive Solar Handbook for California This handbook by Ken Haggard and Phil Niles, sponsored and published by the California Energy Commission, was designed to make it easier for architects in the state to design passive solar buildings. As part of this handbook, Niles designed the Cal Pas prediction model. This model became the basis of the performance standards in the then-new California Title 24 energy code and the basis of most passive solar performance models.

1976: Energy-Efficient Office Building SLOSG’s design of an energy-efficient state office building, with Christie Coffin, Phil Niles, Jake Feldman and Jens Pohl, was an Award of Merit winner in the California Energy-Efficient Office Building Competition. In addition to illustrating the application of the roof pond system to larger buildings, the design addressed urbanism and human-scale issues now referred to as “The New Urbanism.”

1976-1990: Passive Solar Residences. The rise of the fossil fools in the 1980s saw solar architecture increasingly viewed as redundant and unfashionable. SLOSG survived by remaining small, with low overhead. During this period, the firm designed 160 solar buildings, mostly residences. 1991-1994: Green Materials and Social Aspects In the early ’90s, SLOSG expanded its design considerations to include green materials and the social aspects of building.

In 1975, Haggard met Polly Cooper at Cal Poly, beginning a long productive partnership. They became a voice for a more sustainable approach to architectural design and the education of architects at Cal Poly. In 1976, they established their architectural practice, specializing in site-responsive design that takes advantage of on-site thermal sources and sinks and on-site energies to provide solar heating, natural cooling and ventilation, and day lighting. In later years, their emphasis has broadened to include a wide range of sustainable design issues including sustainable materials, rainwater harvesting, and regenerative landscapes. By combining different perspectives, the practice achieved more comprehensive, integrated decisions.

From 1972 to 1975, he was the Principal Investigator for a Research Evaluation of a System of Natural Air-Conditioning funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. This project built and tested the first 100% naturally heated and cooled home in the country.

1972-1975: Prototype Roof Pond House This solar house was built in 1972 as a prototype for the roof pond system of heating and cooling invented by Harold Hay. Several aspects distinguish the project:

As a child Haggard was influenced by his father, a landscape architect who ran a Civilian Conservation Corps camp during The Great Depression . After his retirement, he concentrated on restoring a burned-out peanut farm in south Texas to a mixed Savannah grassland. Haggard grew up with Texas dust, heat, oil wells, rainwater harvesting, hot springs and cottonmouths. After a BS in chemical engineering and service in the US Army, he switched to architecture and design with a BA at NC State and then a Masters in Urban Design at the University of Pennsylvania. After stints as a planner and designer, he became a teacher while maintaining a design practice. From 1967 to 1988 he taught at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. In the summer of 1970 he taught in Bangladesh. This experience changed his approach to design and architecture, and led to his lifelong commitment to design for the real world.

Kenneth L. Haggard (born 1935) is an American architect, educator, and solar pioneer who has designed more than 300 buildings and seen more than 200 built. He is a licensed architect in California and Florida. He and his partner Polly Cooper were awarded the American Solar Energy Society Passive Solar Pioneer Award in 1996. They have been leaders in both passive solar architecture and the rediscovery of straw bale building.