Wade Thompson

Kenya Hudson

by Kelly Bryan Smith
April 16, 2008

Wade Thompson, 32, of Duvall Decker Architects, is one of the founding members of Jackson's branch of the U.S. Green Building Council, a group of architects, interior designers and contractors he describes as "environmentally forward-thinking, passionate people." Thompson emphasizes the importance of considering the lifetime energy costs of operating a building with new construction or remodeling. The high cost of green building is a misconception, he says, even if you aren't spreading it out over the life of a building.

"It really doesn't cost all that much on the front end, period," he says.

When I spoke with Thompson at his firm, sunlight poured through the windows of the renovated building on North State Street. They used the foundation and masonry wall from the old, run-down building that sat across from Fondren Corner, and added many windows to increase natural lighting, along with other energy-efficient features.

Thompson was born in Columbus, Miss., then moved to Macon, Ga., as an infant. When he was 10 years old, he and his family returned to Mississippi, living in McComb until Thompson started college at Mississippi State University. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in architecture from MSU in 1999, but he didn't always know that he wanted to be an architect. "I just kind of fell into it, actually," he says, laughing. Architecture turned out to be the best way to combine his loves of math and art, while allowing him to make a "quiet difference" in people's lives.

Eco-friendly building grabbed Thompson's interest because it is the responsible thing to do. "This profession needs to go down this road, and if I'm not a part of it, what the heck am I doing?" he says.

Thompson's work involves more than using recycled and energy-efficient products in conventional design. When planning a project, he considers the location, driving distances, waste and more to plan for the most environmentally friendly methods and materials. Today, Mississippi is looking to make its buildings more efficient, and Duvall Decker Architects will be planning some of the state's projects.

Thompson encourages people who want to get involved in Jackson's green renaissance to check out the workshops offered by the U.S. Green Building Council. The Mississippi State University College of Architecture's fifth-year program has been very helpful in offering the use of their facilities in downtown Jackson for such workshops and meetings. Find out more at http://chapters.usgbc.org/mississippi.

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