I've been fascinated by European building approaches ever since I attended a sustainable design conference in Denver three years ago. The keynote speaker, a Dutch architect named Marieke van der…
I was skeptical when my colleague first mentioned Kate Fletcher's work. Another academic talking about sustainable fashion? I mean, how many times can we hear about organic cotton and recycled…
Walking through the newly completed Verde Commons housing development in Tempe last month felt like stepping into the future I'd been advocating for since my college days. Here were actual…
I was standing in a client's kitchen last Tuesday, watching her run her hand along what she thought was a "sustainable" bamboo countertop, when I had to break some uncomfortable…
Standing in a converted Victorian warehouse in Shoreditch last spring, watching an interior designer named Sarah Matthews explain how reclaimed shipping container steel was being transformed into kitchen islands, I…
Standing in a client's kitchen last Tuesday, watching her rinse a single coffee mug with enough hot water to fill a bathtub, I realised we'd been approaching sustainable kitchen design…
I walked into a corporate headquarters in Phoenix last month and immediately felt like I was entering a climate-controlled tomb. The building was gorgeous, don't get me wrong—gleaming glass everywhere,…
I used to think the sustainable design world was mostly marketing fluff and expensive solar panels. You know, the kind of green building that looks great in magazines but makes…
I spent most of Tuesday morning staring at construction drawings for a new office complex in Scottsdale, feeling that familiar knot in my stomach that comes with terrible building design…
Walking through a restaurant kitchen at 2 AM shouldn't feel like stepping into a sauna, but that's exactly what happened when I consulted for a struggling pizzeria in Scottsdale last…