Bill Browning

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Biographical Information

"Early in his career, Bill helped build Buckminster Fuller’s last experimental structure, based on advanced geometry systems. In 1991, he founded Green Development Services at Rocky Mountain Institute, an entrepreneurial, non-profit “think and do tank” whose work advances energy-efficient and environmentally-responsive design. His 300+ consulting projects at RMI included new towns, resorts, building renovations, and high-profile demonstration projects including Wal-Mart’s Eco-mart, the Greening of the White House, and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Village. He also worked on energy efficiency improvements for a number of U.S. Department of Defense facilities, including the Pentagon, the Navy Yard, the Air Force Academy, and the Pacific Air Force Headquarters. In 1999 Green Development Services was awarded the President’s Council for Sustainable Development/Renew America Prize. Bill remains a Senior Fellow at RMI.

"Beginning in 2004, Bill was the Director of Design and Environment for Haymount, a New Urbanist community in Virginia. In this capacity he led the development’s site planning, authored a set of design guidelines, and guided the strategic development of innovative infrastructure systems for energy and resource management. In 2005 he left Haymount to join Jeffrey Bannon in co-founding Browning+Bannon LLC, an independent real estate and consulting firm focused on environmentally responsive development.

"Bill was a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Board of Directors, and still serves on the USGBC’s Governance Board. Over the years Bill has served in a Board or advisory role to numerous other organizations, including: the Nature Conservancy, Greening America, the American Institute of Architects, the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education, RealEnergy, the Roaring Fork Conservancy, and the American Society for Testing and Materials. Currently, he is a member of the Real Estate Council for The Trust for Public Land, the Interface “Green Dream Team,” the Department of Defense’s Defense Science Board, and is an editorial advisor for Environmental Building News, Environmental Design & Construction Magazine, and Green @ Work.

"In addition to consulting, Bill writes and lectures widely on sustainable design and building practices. He is a co-author of Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate; A Primer on Sustainable Building; and “Greening the Building and the Bottom Line.” He has published articles in Architectural Record, Progressive Architecture, Urban Land, and AIA’s Environmental Resource Guide. His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Popular Science, among others, and he has been interviewed by NPR, CNN, and PBS.

"Bill received a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Design from the University of Colorado, specializing in energy-conscious architecture and resource management. He holds a Masters of Science in Real Estate Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was awarded the MIT Center for Real Estate's 1991 Public-Sector Fellowship, and, in 1995, the Charles H. Spaulding Award. In 1998 Bill was named one of five people “Making a Difference” by Buildings magazine. In 2001 he was selected as an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, and in 2004 he was honored with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership Award. Bill is based in Washington, D.C."

• Advisory Board, Sustainable Settings
• Jury Member (2009), Buckminster Fuller Challenge