Design the Future

As a founder and Senior Principal at Model of Architecture Serving Society, known as MASS, Sierra directs the Landscape Studio and Abundant Futures Lab.  She leads many of MASS’s most complex and transformative projects across landscape, memorial, architectural, and land-use design.  With a background blending landscape, architecture, ecology, and regional planning, she is committed to comprehensi...

Mallory is a Director of Sustainability in Gensler’s Climate Action & Sustainability studio. She collaborates across disciplines to improve the ecological and health impact of buildings that provide inspiring daily experiences for all. She played a key role in the development of the Gensler Product Sustainability Standards , an open-source framework that streamlines material selection to reduc...

Gayathri Unnikrishnan has spent her career working at the intersection of design, human health, and sustainability.  Today, she is the founder and CEO of Liveable, where she helps design teams, manufacturers, and organizations understand the human impact of their work and make a stronger case for solutions that are better for people. Her new book, People Positive , offers a practical framework for...

Pauline Souza, FAIA, LEED Fellow, LFA, WELL AP, and LEED AP BD+C, is WRNS Studio’s Director of Sustainability and co-lead of the firm's K-12 and Civic Studio. Her curiosity is her superpower.  Pauline has led numerous projects with a passion for health, inclusivity and beauty--and for advancing the role of design as a medium for building a more sustainable, resilient, equitable future. Many o...

Heidi Creighton is Principal Design and Planning Manager at the City of Santa Monica, California. She is spearheading circular economy initiatives, including the creation of Circular SoCal in coordination with AIA Los Angeles, CLF-LA, and USGBC California. Heidi is FAIA, a LEED Fellow, WELL AP, a Fitwel Ambassador, and creator of the Collective Impact speaker series. Heidi was intentional about he...

Lauren Alger is vice president and national director of sustainable design at STV, a multinational  company focused on the design, engineering, and planning of infrastructure at all scales.  Lauren, a civil engineer by training, is dedicated to transforming how infrastructure is designed, built, and measured, so it becomes a driver of climate solutions for our communities. She leads ASCE Infrastru...

At Living Future 26 in Seattle, Lindsay Baker’s address was interrupted by a fire alarm. It was a false alarm, but it also persisted for a while, so the entire community got to witness Lindsay’s humor and grace as she continued her remarks.  We decided to share them here. Lindsay re-recorded the talk for us without the aggressive interruption (such an on-the-nose metaphor for our times that it see...

For developer Jill Sherman, buildings are not just assets, they are support systems for a thriving future. Jill leads Edlen & Co.’s public-private partnerships and build-to-suit projects. Jill sources new deals and manages all aspects of the development process, with a depth of expertise at integrating non-conventional sources of financing including low income housing tax credits, new market t...

Beth Heider is a thought leader at the intersection of high-performance buildings and sustainable design, global business strategy, and organizational leadership.  As founder & CEO of Heider Sustainability Advisors, Beth supports businesses, organizations, and start-ups create more resilient, healthy, and just-plain-better solutions for the built environment.  She led at Skanska USA for nearly...

Miranda Gardiner is Executive Director of the iMasons Climate Accord (iCA), a non-profit trade association focused on decarbonization of digital infrastructure. She has an architecture background and has worked in a range of organizations -- design firms, associations, and tech companies -- giving her a special perspective. She sees herself as part of multiple industries and communities.   Her lea...

Architect Lara Kaufman is a Design Principal based in Studio Gang’s New York office. As the firm's Sustainability Lead, she directs teams on implementation of holistic design approaches for decarbonization, water conservation, site ecologies, and healthy materials.  An advocate for urgent climate action within the building industry, Lara is currently co-lead for the Carbon Leadership Forum’s...

Anjanette Green has more than two decades of architecture, design, and material research experience. She launched A Greener Space in 2016, the same year she ventured into the Peruvian Amazon to lead a team in a zero waste project. An advocate for alternative building solutions, she has travelled the world promoting research for bio-based materials. Address-independent, Anjanette can be found in re...

For our latest episode, we spoke with Kristy Walson and Sarah Gudeman of BranchPattern. It was a fun moment to catch them, right after Greenbuild, and we talked about their careers and also how partnerships and friends are important in this work.  Kristy is a mechanical engineer and she is a Principal and Building Science Practice Lead at BranchPattern. Based in Orlando, Florida, Kristy is dedicat...

Julie Ju-Youn Kim, FAIA, is the William H. Harrison Professor and Chair of the School of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she founded and directs the Flourishing Communities Collaborative, an interdisciplinary research and design lab. She is also founder and partner of C2 Architecture Studio. In her early-career years in Detroit, Julie tried to meet as many people as poss...

Gladys Ly-Au Young is a founding partner of the Seattle firm, Side x Side Architects. The firm is changing practice by broadening the spectrum of architectural services, to promote community focused design that supports equity and sustainability in the built environment. Gladys was honored this year with the Hero Award from Living Future, which recognizes people who are advancing progress toward a...

Barbra is the founder and CEO of BuildingEase and Sustainable Performance Institute -- an industry leader whose innovative vision drives market transformation from public policy to professional practice. Her work focuses on the intersection of systems, processes and culture.  With a diverse background of fine arts, social psychology and nearly 30 years in architecture and sustainability consulting...

Erica McBride is the Regenerative Operations Manager at Architectural Nexus -- known as Arch Nexus. She oversees the performance and integrity of the firm’s two certified Living Buildings, in Sacramento and Salt Lake City. Erica was honored with the Living Future Hero Award in 2025 and holds credentials as a WELL AP, LEED Green Associate, and Living Future Accredited professional. Her work reflect...

Jenn Taranto has more than 25 years of experience in commercial real estate and construction and serves as Vice President of Sustainability at STO Building Group, a major construction organization. Passionate about reducing environmental impact, she drives STOBG’s internal sustainability strategy, helps clients define CSR goals, guides project teams to achieve milestones, and supports efforts to l...

Stacy Glass is co-founder and executive director of ChemFORWARD, a nonprofit that creates access to chemical hazard data and seeks safer alternatives in partnership with industry. Stacy drives partnerships, collaborations and stakeholder engagement to support this mission and her aim to end toxic chemical exposure and advance human and environmental equity.  ChemForward’s theory of change is roote...

Kaarin Knudson is an architect, a writer, and an educator with more than 25 years’ experience in design, sustainability, and community building. Trained as a journalist before becoming an architect, her work has always focused on people and place. In 2017, after a decade in architectural practice, she organized the public-interest project Better Housing Together to address Lane County’s housing cr...

Kayleigh Houde is an Associate Principal and Global Computational Projects Lead at Buro Happold, where she is responsible for the harmonized development of new technologies within the open-source coding platform BHoM. Her leadership extends to chairing the MEP 2040 Commitment, participating in the ECHO Project and ASHRAE Center of Excellence for Building Decarbonization. She is also a lecturer at...

As the Head of Sustainability for Henning Larsen, Kritika Kharbanda spearheads the global sustainability team’s initiatives, goals, and growth. She serves on the ULI New York’s Climate and Sustainability Council and is the co-chair for AIA New York’s Building Science Committee. We talked about her journey from India to Japan, Denmark, and the U.S. We discussed storytelling and negotiations; eviden...

As VP of Building Resilient Futures at Enterprise Community Partners, Krista Egger stewards the nonprofit’s national environmental programs, including Green Communities, Health Action Plan, Resilience Academies, and Decarbonization Hubs.  Krista went to Oberlin and and studied physics and architectural history. After college, a stint with AmeriCorps introduced her to a kind of applied building sci...

Dr. Upali Nanda is Partner and Executive Vice President at HKS. As the firm’s Global Sector Director, Innovation, she oversees HKS’s Research, Advisory, Sustainable Design and Cities & Communities services. Based in Ann Arbor, Upali has extensive experience leading research projects in design practice with a focus on the impact of design on human health and perception.  Upali believes that the...

Shannon Goodman is the Executive Director of the Lifecycle Building Center in Atlanta, which has redirected nearly 13 million pounds of usable materials away from landfills and generated over $6 million in community savings, including 450 in-kind material grants to nonprofits. Shannon also serves as Board President for the nonprofit Build Reuse, representing reuse-focused organizations across the...