World-renowned architect, designer, and winner of three U.S. presidential awards, William McDonough, FAIA, will present a keynote address at the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council’s Ecobuild Federal and AEC-ST. The address, sponsored by Mechoshade, will take place December 14, 2005 during the event which runs December 13-16, in Washington, D.C. at the Washington Convention Center.
Recognized as a “Hero for the Planet” by Time Magazine, McDonough will share his insights on sustainable design and development in a keynote address entitled “Cradle to Cradle Design—From Chemicals to Countries." McDonough will make the case that an industrial system that “takes, makes and wastes” can be transformed into a system whose goods and services generate ecological, social and economic value. Both private and public sector design and construction professionals working on Federal projects will benefit from learning more about hopeful, nature-inspired design principles that are making industry both prosperous and sustainable.
Founding principal of William McDonough + Partners, and principal of MBDC, LLC, “William McDonough is about new concepts for what his firms call ‘the next industrial revolution.’ With his product development firm MBDC, GreenBlue design guidelines, and books such as Cradle to Cradle, McDonough is moving at light-speed trying to make us aware of the urgent priorities of the next decade,” notes Mark Kalin, Ecobuild America Conference Director.
“We are thrilled to have William McDonough as the opening keynote speaker for Ecobuild Federal,” declared SBIC’s executive director, Helen English. “McDonough has been instrumental in encouraging an ongoing dialogue in the U.S. about renewable sources of energy and building products and processes that are truly sustainable.
Speaker with a Depth of Experience
William McDonough is the winner of three U.S. presidential awards: the residential Award for Sustainable Development (1996), the National Design award (2004); and the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge award (2003). Time Magazine recognized him as a “Hero for the Planet” in 1999, stating that “his utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that – in demonstrable and practical ways – is changing the design of the world.”
McDonough has been a leader in the sustainable development movement since its inception. He designed and built the first solar-heated house in Ireland in 1977 while still a student at Yale University and designed the first “green office” in the U.S. for the Environmental Defense Fund in 1985. McDonough was commissioned in 1991 by the City of Hannover, Germany to write “The Hannover Principles: Design for Sustainability,” the official design guidelines for the 2000 World's Fair. He and German chemist Dr. Michael Braungart co-authored Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (North Point Press, 2002), which has now been published in English, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean.
McDonough is founder and principal of two design firms: William McDonough + Partners, Architecture and Community Design, which has created numerous landmarks of the sustainability movement since 1981; and McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, which employs a comprehensive “cradle to cradle design” paradigm and design tools for product certification, material assessment and optimization, corporate consulting and visioning, and sustainability issue management. McDonough and his firms have received multiple national and international architectural, environmental, industrial and design awards for their work.
About SBIC’s Ecobuild and AEC-ST Federal
SBIC’s Ecobuild Federal focuses on sustainable land development practices, design, products, and tools to improve the affordability, energy performance, and environmental soundness of America's built environment. This event addresses the special needs of those who design, build, and manage government facilities. AEC-ST Federal “Lifecycle Strategies for the Built Environment” examines technology tools and methods to improve the use and sharing of information in multiple data formats both within and between each stage of the built environment lifecycle. Attendees include representatives from all segments of the public sector plus private sector professionals from the entire building and construction industry.
The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC), Ecobuild and AEC-ST Federal’s marquee sponsor advocates a balanced, holistic approach to designing new buildings. Working in close partnership with federal agencies, policy makers, and national laboratories for over 24 years, the Council has led the way in “Advancing a ‘whole building’ approach to design.” For more information, visit www.SBICouncil.org.
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