The short story…

Buildings are a big part of the climate crisis, but they will be a big part of climate healing. After 45 years as a structural engineer, 35 studying ecological design in 25 countries, five books and eight videos (so far), all of my work is focused on shifting the design and construction industry towards healing. Which, as it’s turning out, will also promote lovelier, safer, and more healthy buildings than ever before. For everyone, from Palo Alto to Port au Prince.

I am the author of “The new Carbon Architecture” and “Build Beyond Zero” with Chris Magwood and have been designing and studying buildings of every size and type all over the world. I am also the author of the ASTM standard for earthen construction, the Marin County Low-Carbon Concrete Code, and the books “Buildings of Earth and Straw“, “Making Better Concrete”, and “Design of Straw Bale Buildings“. In 1996 I co-founded the Ecological Building Network (EBNet), a non-profit information resource that sponsors BuildWell video and other free online resources on climate friendly building