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BIO (short)
Michael A. Berk is the F.L. Crane Endowed Professor and a senior faculty member in the School of Architecture @ Mississippi State University. Professor Berk was named the Director of the School of Architecture in July 2010 (following one year as the Interim). He is a registered architect (California & Florida) with an extensive practice as a design partner and project architect prior to his return to the academy. Professor Berk teaches and researches in the areas of: digital media + information design; factory-built housing (GreenMobile®), and ‘sustainable’ architecture and planning. He is considered by many to be a leading expert in the area of ecological design – - and is often invited nationally to lecture on this topic. Recent invitations include: the U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory @ Oak Ridge, TN (2007); the Hearst Lecture Series @ Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2008); Auburn’s University’s Rural Studio Lecture Series(2008); the US EPA LifeCycle Construction Conference in Atlanta (2009); the Texas A+M College of Architecture (2009); and most recently, the National Building Museum in Wash DC. on 20 October 2010 (as a part of the DOE’s “Building Technologies of the 21st Century” Series).
National Building Museum Lecture (DOE Lecture Series)
DOE
Posted: November 16, 2010
LINK>>>  “Clean. Green, and Mobile: Designing the GreenMobile® Home Unit”
Presented by: Michael A. Berk   F.L. Crane Professor of Architecture
Building in the 21st Century Program
October 20, 2010  12:30 – 1:30 pm
Michael A. Berk, Director of the Mississippi State University School of Architecture and developer of the GreenMobile® home unit, discusses how this federally-funded housing prototype can replace the traditional mobile home. The GreenMobile®, which includes a variety of energy-efficient technologies, ranked number one in FEMA’s Alternative Housing Pilot Program in 2007.
Purchase Tickets
Special Instructions:Â FREE. Registration required. Walk-in registration based on availability.
Sponsored By:Â U.S. Department of Energy
AIArchitect (American Institute of Architects e-Journal)
GreenMobile® featured in Volume 15 of AIArchitect (29 FEB + 06 JUN 2008):
Posted: February 12, 2009
Berk’s GreenMobile® research project is featured in the American Institute of Architects e-journal Volume 15 2008 (AIArchitect) in the PRACTICE and SUSTAINABILITY sections.
—————————————————————-
ARTICLE 1 Volume 15: Issue February 20 2008
PRACTICE
“Mississippi State Brings Sustainability Down Home: Architecture professor champions green mobile homes”
by Heather Livingston
Contributing Editor
See links below to see article and images:
Page 1
Page 2
—————————————————————-
ARTICLE 2 Volume 15: Issue June 06 2008
SUSTAINABILITY
“Factory-Built Housing: The Green Alternative”
by Michael J. Crosbie, PhD, AIA
Contributing Editor
See links below to see article and images:
Page 1
WCBI (CBS) News Video Segment [July 2008]
Film Clip about GreenMobile® (2.5 Min. )
Posted: August 04, 2008
01:58 |Â Living Green In Starkville 7.29.08Â WCBI Columbus MS (CBS Affiliate)
WCBI’s Paolo Salalzar interviews Prof. Berk about his research and the GreenMobile® home unit.
(A 30 second commercial precedes the segment – be patient)
GreenMobile® wins the 2007 EPA LifeCycle Bldg. Challenge
GreenMobile ® Wins EPA + AIA sponsored Life Cycle Building Challenge CompetitionÂ
Posted: August 04, 2008
U.S. EPA Announces Winners of First in the Nation Green Building Design Competition
For Immediate Release: Sept. 20, 2007
Contact: Wendy Chavez, 415/947-4248
Innovative Green Building Competition
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is recognizing cutting-edge green building ideas to reduce the environmental and energy impacts of buildings. U.S. EPA Assistant Administrator Susan Bodine, American Institute of Architects President RK Stewart, and Building Materials Reuse Association President Brad Guy recognized award winners of the Lifecycle Building Challengecompetition in a video awards ceremony on September 20, 2007, at the West Coast Green Conference in San Francisco, California . . . .
Building:Â Professional – Unbuilt
Winner: GreenMobile® Factory-built
Housing Units for SE USA Adaptable mobile home unit for disaster relief and permanent use
Michael A. Berk
Please see Life Cycle Building Challenge site for competition entry:
http://www.lifecyclebuilding.org/2007/winner-greenmobile.php
Please see EPA site for full details, story, and video about the competition:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/solid/construction/lifecyclebuilding/index.html
Residential Architect -Aug 2007
GreenMobile® published in Residential Architect magazine (Aug 2007 print issue)
Posted: June 18, 2008
project: upwardly mobile
Source: residential architect Magazine
Publication date: August 1, 2007Â (august)
Pages 56-57 {article + images)

By Nigel F. Maynard
After working in private practice for nine years, architect Michael A. Berk shifted gears in 1990 to become a professor and researcher. His new pursuit ultimately led him to explore affordable and ecologically based factory-built housing in the rural Southeast and Delta regions, where the dynamics of poverty differ from those seen in urban centers . . . . (click link below for rest of story)
See related link for complete article and photo gallery of print material in magazine (pp. 56-7):
http://www.residentialarchitect.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=282&articleID=555037#.
MEMA Mississippi Eco-Cottage Grant
MEMA Awards a $49,000. Design Advisor Grant to Berk for the GreenMobile® FEMA AHPPÂ
Posted: January 23, 2008
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), has awarded a grant ($49,000.) to Professor Berk. He will act as the Design Advisor for the GreenMobile™ FEMA AHPP grant ($6 million previously awarded to the state) as the state transforms the GreenMobile™ into the newly named stream-lined Mississippi ECO-Cottage (October 2007).
See following MSU Press Release (Dec 2007) link for more detail:
http://www.msstate.edu/web/media/detail.php?id=4093
AIA COTE TEACHING AWARD
National teaching recognition for course entitled: PASSIVE DESIGN SYSTEMS (Ecological Design)
American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) awarded recognition to Berk’s course entitled: ARC 2713 Passive Design Systems (Ecological Design) for theirEcological Literacy In Architectural Education program in the Summer 2005.
See the following links for more information:
GreenMobile® ranks number one in FEMA AHPP Grant Award
$5.9 Million Award (FEMA Alternative Housing Pilot Program)
Posted: August 09, 2007

(December 2006) FEMA announces award and selection of Mississippi’s GreenMobile™ project for the Alternative Housing Pilot Program (AHPP). Mississippi’s GreenMobile™ project submittal was designed and trademarked by Professor Michael Berk, a faculty member at Mississippi State University School of Architecture. A national jury consisting of members from FEMA, AIA, DOE, and HUD selected and ranked the GreenMobile project number one of 29 submittals. In all, five projects were funded for a total of $388 million. The GreenMobile project was funded for $5.9 million.
This pilot program aims to expand the types of housing FEMA provides disaster-affected communities by identifying, developing and evaluating alternatives to FEMA travel trailers and mobile homes. This program will also provide housing to people with on-going housing needs due to the 2005 hurricanes in the Gulf Coast.
See following FEMA link for more detail:
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=32426



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