Professional Activities & Publications – Mary Kraus

  • Professional Activities

    • Board of Trustees, Cohousing Network, a national/international organization promoting cohousing development, 1998-2001.
    • Board of Directors, Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, 1993-1995. Executive Committee, 1995.

  • Selected Speaking Engagements

    • “Common House Design Workshop“, “Sustainability through Comprehensive Design” and “Net-Zero Energy Homes and Community Buildings“, 2008 National Cohousing Conference, Waltham, MA; June 2008.
    • “Sustainable Living“, presentation to University of Massachusetts class on Sustainable Studies, April, 2006.
    • “Land Use and Zoning“, Housing within Reach – Innovations In Affordable Housing Conference, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, February 2005.
    • “Sustainable Design” , 2003 National Cohousing Conference, Boulder, Colorado, June 2003.
    • “Best Practices of Successful Designers and Builders”, panel, Building Energy / 2003 Quality Building Conference, Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, Boston, MA, March 2003.
    • “Sustainable Building: Sound Strategies for Your Dollars and Energies” and “See What it Feels Like: A Hands-On Site Planning Exercise”, The 2001 North American Cohousing Conference, University of California, Berkeley, July 2001.
    • “Sustainable Architecture in the Community Context” and “Cohousing Communities in North America”, The Art of Community, Fellowship for Intentional Community, Frost Valley, NY, November 1999.
    • “What is Green Building?” panel, Sustainable Boston Urban Forum II: Greening the Built Environment in Boston, Boston, MA, May 1996.
    • “Sustainable Development: Rural Case Studies” panel, Building Energy / 1996 Quality Building Conference, Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, Boston, MA, March 1996.
    • “Participatory Design Process” and “Building Environmentally Sustainable Communities” panels, Second Annual North American Cohousing Conference, Boulder, CO, September 1995.
    • “Designing Your Own Neighborhood”, Berkeley, CA, June 1995.
    • “Working with Professionals” panel, First Annual North American Cohousing Conference, Boulder, CO, October 1994.
    • “Housing Initiatives – Cohousing and Sustainability”, Creating Community Sustainability Across America Conference, Fairfax, VA, November, 1993.
    • “Healthy Homes, Healthy Building Materials”, Western Massachusetts Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Northampton, MA, February 1992.

  • Public Design Projects & Competitions

    • Revitalized town center for Cape Elizabeth, ME.
    • “The Well Planned Community: Emerging Theory and Practice”, Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association, 1991 Annual Meeting, Portland, ME, September 1991.
    • Neighborhood Housing Partnership cohousing project, Cambridgeport, MA.
    • “Our Lives Have Changed, Our Housing Hasn’t”, Alternative Housing Charrette sponsored by the Women in Architecture committee of the Boston Society of Architects and the Women’s Institute of Housing and Economic Development, Boston, MA, October 1991.

  • Selected Publications

    • “Evaluation Strategies for Healthy Construction”, article featured in The Healthy House, 4th edition, 2001. Previously published in Northeast Sun, Spring 1992; reprinted in Custom Builder, May-June 1992. Principal author.
    • “Designing a Common House to Feel Like Home”, CoHousing, Spring 1996. Principal author. (Note: “common house” refers to the community building in a cohousing community.)
    • Review: Environmental Resource Guide of the American Institute of Architects, Environmental Building News, March/April 1996.
    • “Keys to a Successful Site Design Process”, CoHousing, Spring 1995.
    • “Wearing Two Hats: Proceed With Caution”, (article examining the issues of hiring in-house professionals in cohousing communities), CoHousing, Winter 1994.
    • Book Review: Healing Environments by Carol Venolia, Northeast Sun, Spring 1992.
    • “Sustainable Development in the Pioneer Valley Region of Western Massachusetts”, presented at the 13th National Passive Solar Conference in Cambridge, MA, June 1988. Co-author.

  • Selected Teaching Experience

    • Teacher: Institute for Social Ecology, “Design and Planning for Sustainable Communities”, June 1997.
    • Excel Program at Amherst College, “Architectural Design”, summer program for high school students, 1996 -1997.
    • Thesis advisor: University of Massachusetts – Amherst, theses on cohousing and related community design, 1996-1997.
    • Visiting critic: University of Massachusetts – Amherst, design studios on cohousing and other communities, 1990-present.
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, design studio on sustainable communities, 1988.
    • Visiting lecturer: University of Massachusetts – Amherst, overview of rural and urban cohousing communities for landscape architecture class, 1996.
    • Wentworth Institute of Technology, presentation on cohousing for architecture studio, 1995.