Chris Hallman/University Photography

Stephanie Horowitz in her Sibley Hall studio with her thesis project to redevelop an area along the waterfront of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, N.Y. Her plan, an improvement on the one proposed by New York City planners, leaves more public space for the community to access and enjoy the waterfront without compromising commercial needs.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- What is "green" architecture and why is Stephanie Horowitz so excited about it?

"It's architecture that considers the role and needs of the natural, human and built environments," says Horowitz, who graduates with a B.Arch. degree from Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art and Planning this month. Green architecture can encompass anything from the effect a building's materials have on its occupants to how producing and shipping those materials affects the natural environment, she explains.

She was drawn to architecture that has an environmental conscience because "I'm troubled by the irresponsible way that buildings consume energy and resources. I hope to provide some form of resistance to the way architecture is traditionally practiced and to improve the relationship that buildings have with the world around them."

Horowitz, who grew up in Princeton, N.J., was interested in the natural environment from a young age. She credits a "great" teacher in high school with helping her fuse that interest with another one -- architecture. When she searched for a good five-year architecture program, "This [Cornell's] was the only one I fell in love with. I only found out later that it was rated number one."

In the course Environmental Literacy, in the College of Human Ecology's Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, Horowitz was introduced to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. "It's essentially a green building rating system. It helps architects, engineers and building owners qualify and quantify how green a building is," she explains. Then, in a 2002 summer internship with the Hillier Group, she completed a feasibility study for the LEED certification of a building for Sprint Corp. The involvement taught her some of the program's benefits (great recognition for a company) and drawbacks (applying for LEED certification can be expensive).

In spring 2003 Horowitz was chosen by her peers to be one of three leaders of a core team of 70 Cornell students in the national Solar Decathlon Competition -- competing against teams from 18 top colleges and universities to build the best solar-powered house. The project is entirely student run, and many more students have since become involved. The solar house is moving toward completion in a warehouse just east of campus, where Horowitz will spend the summer helping to finish it. The house will be transported to Washington, D.C., and displayed on the national mall along with the other entries this October -- then returned to campus, where "it will be a great educational tool for the university," Horowitz predicts.

Because it involves so many elements, from building design and construction to engineering, including developing heating and cooling systems, the project has been "a great opportunity for collaboration between the different disciplines across campus," says Horowitz. For her, the best outcome is not the house itself but the process of so many students working together to create it.

The experience, which has involved meetings with engaged alumni and senior administrators, also has given her "a great appreciation for the university, how it works, the larger picture," she says.

Earlier this month Horowitz was cool and professional as she presented her fifth-year thesis project before a traditionally critical panel of architecture faculty and professionals. She earned mostly praise as she described and displayed her plan -- the culmination of a year's research, planning and design -- to redevelop an area along the waterfront of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, N.Y. The plan was actually a response to a design by the New York City Planning Department that has provoked resistance by community groups. Studying the city's plan and meeting with its planners to learn more about the issues, Horowitz saw a way to offer more public green and recreational space and link it neatly to public transportation while still meeting the economic needs of developers and the city. "I kept the [city's] program but not the plan," she says. Her innovation: providing the same volume of residential housing but using less of the area to do so -- leaving more public space for the community to access and enjoy the waterfront.

Graduation for Horowitz is "just a temporary culmination of my formal education," she says. She will move to New York City after the Solar Decathlon Competition, seek work with an architectural firm and "continue to learn as a professional." She will possibly return to school for a graduate degree later on. Her dream job? "To start my own firm and design green buildings."