Muscoe B. Martin

Martin, Muscoe B. (Skip) Muscoe Burnett Martin Jr., an architect whose career in sustainable design began long before the term green architecture became part of the vernacular, died of cancer at home in Philadelphia on Sunday (12/28/14). He was 59 years old. Mr. Martin graduated from John Burroughs School in St. Louis in 1974. He earned his Bachelor's degree in architecture from Princeton University in 1978, and his M.A. in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984. His career in sustainable design and architecture began with his work in solar design in California. He moved on to Philadelphia, where he went to work as an associate at the Philadelphia firms of Jacobs/Wyper and Wallace Roberts and Todd, and then as a partner at Susan Maxman & Partners. At each firm, he sought to imbue the principles of sustainable design into all that he did. In 2005, he then founded his own firm, M2 Architecture. He also taught courses at University of Pennsylvania's School of Design for many years and inspired his students to build green. Professionally, he worked tirelessly to spread the word about sustainable design. Locally, he chaired the AIA Committee on the Environment and served on the Board of the Delaware Green Building Council. Subsequently, he was a board member for the national U.S. Green Building Council, where he also chaired numerous committees. He helped to establish the principles of LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) for USGBC and taught LEED certification workshops all over the country. In his own practice he achieved LEED's highest certification, platinum, for the recently completed Stroud Water Research Center, located in Chester County. He was inducted in 2013 as a USBGC LEED fellow, the organization's highest honor. He was an athlete and avid outdoorsman. He and his family went on many adventures together, including on climbs of Half Dome in Yosemite and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. He loved a good sports outing, especially if one of his children was representing Germantown Friends School or Lawrenceville School on the track or soccer fields. He was a founding season ticket holder for the Philadelphia Union, and you could find him cheering in the stands, decked in the club scarf, most summer weekends. He also laced up his own cleats for competitive bouts of Ultimate Frisbee on the fields at Haverford. Mr. Martin is survived by his wife of 28 years, Jennifer Pinto Martin; three daughters and one son: Emily, Nora, Charlotte and Muscoe III (Jack), all of Philadelphia; by his mother, Ella Rena Chapman, of St. Louis; his stepfather, James O'Bannon, of St. Louis; his brother, Wellesley Chapman, of Seattle; and two stepsiblings, Ted Chapman, of Boston, and Lynn Chapman, of Seattle. He was predeceased by his father, Muscoe Martin, of Paducah, Ky., and by his stepfather, William D. Chapman, St. Louis. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to Breakthrough Bike Challenge, 14 West Highland Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19118. This non-profit was formed by friends and family to raise funds to devote to cancer research. The BBC's inaugural ride was pedaled last May and will occur every year. Services: A memorial service is set for 3 p.m. January 10 at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, with a reception to follow at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.