Editorial Advisory Board
Cassandra Adams, Adams Development
El Cerrito, Calif.
Cassandra Adams is an architect with over 22 years of experience on a wide range of building types for public and private sector clients. Ms. Adams has been awarded the title of LEED 2.0 Accredited Professional. The U.S. Green Building Council awards this certification to individuals who have "successfully demonstrated knowledge of the green building design and construction industry and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design 2.0 Green Building Rating System, Resources, and Process." Ms. Adams has taught in the Architecture Department at U.C. Berkeley, where her research focused on construction and environmental issues. She is internationally recognized for her award-winning publications and academic research as it relates to architecture, construction, and the natural environment. Her two co-authored books have been translated into several languages including Chinese, Thai, French, Spanish, Italian, and Russian.
Chris Benedict, R.A.
New York, New York
Chris Benedict’s unique understanding of buildings allows her to rethink and invent elegant holistic solutions to building systems. She specializes in rehabilitation, adaptive reuse and new construction projects that are healthy, durable and energy efficient for the same price as typical construction. Chris is a licensed Architect in New York, New Jersey and Washington D.C. and is not affiliated with LEED, USGBC or the AIA.
Lydia Corser, Corser Design
Santa Cruz, Calif.
When I was a little girl, I dreamt of redecorating my room, and of Winchester Mystery-type houses. For some reason, the creative stuff was too much fun. Maybe the puritan work ethic of my father's family (who founded the Quaker religion on the East Coast) was drowning out my natural talents. I got my first job washing dishes when I was 15, and put myself through college working in restaurants and catering for the next 11 years. I graduated from Colorado State University in 1986 with a Bachelor's of Science in Wildlife Biology. While I paid off my undergraduate student loans, I worked in catering on weekends and as an administrative assistant. Later, I got a job as a research assistant in health education research. After the Director of Research offered me a significant promotion if I were to get a Master's in Statistics and then a bad match with a project director, I re-evaluated. Finally acknowledging my love for architecture and my creative side, I took an introduction to interior design course, and decided to redirect my career entirely. Not long after starting interior design coursework at West Valley College, I began educating myself about green design.
Debra Lynn Dadd, Debra Lynn Dadd Communications
Clearwater, Florida
I have been writing in the field of health, environment and home for more than twenty years. My current book is Home Safe Home. In 1982, I self-published a small book on finding nontoxic and natural products, which led to Bon Ami Polishing Cleanser sending me on two 5-city media tours as their spokesperson. Seeing there was public and media interest, Tarcher published Nontoxic & Natural. Now, after twenty years of continuous publication in one form or another, the latest incarnation—a revised and expanded edition of Home Safe Home—will be published in December 2004. My media coverage includes appearances on the Today show, two magazine covers (East West Journal—now Natural Health—and Yoga Journal), feature articles in the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post, and many appearances on local radio and television shows. In 1990, I co-founded Worldwise, Inc. based on principles of sustainability. Worldwise, Inc, develops useful, everyday products from recycled, reclaimed, and organically grown materials, sold in over 15,000 leading retail stores throughout America. I now work part-time as the “sustainability maven,” finding and implementing ways to increase sustainability throughout the company.
Eric Corey Freed, organicARCHITECT
San Francisco, Calif.
Architect & Designer Eric Corey Freed specializes in organic and environmental design. In addition to being principal of organicARCHITECT, Eric serves as Chair of Architecture for The San Francisco Design Museum. Eric's work has been exhibited in numerous venues. He has been a visiting critic at several schools of architecture and the recipient of various awards and accolades. Eric teaches the Sustainable Design curriculum he developed for the Academy of Art. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Architects, Designers & Planners for Social Responsibility (NorCal ADPSR), Local Exchange and a Committee Member of the AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) and the Friends of Kebyar. In addition, Eric is a Program Coordinator for the Environmental Committee of The Commonwealth Club of California. In addition, Eric is co-founder and one of the editors of ecoTECTURE: The Online Journal of Ecological Design, a publication for people interested in the environment (www.ecotecture.com).
Monica Gilchrist, Global Green USA
Santa Monica, Calif.
Monica is coordinator of Global Green USA’s Green Building Resource Center, and has been involved with it since inception in April 2004. She helped create and continues to administer the displays, library, programming, databases, outreach and consultations at the center. Monica also works on developing municipal green building programs.
Christi Graham, West Coast Green
Mill Valley, Calif.
Ms. Graham is one of the most effective and visionary leaders to emerge in the green building movement. Recognized nationally as an expert in green and healthy living, Ms. Graham has spent the past seventeen years as a pioneer successfully producing and directing numerous visionary events, programs, and organizations. After serving the early part of her career directing environmental non-profits, including founding the Green Resource Center of Berkeley, Ms. Graham directed her passion and talents to the residential green building arena. She is the founder and producer of the Bay Area’s original event, the Green Materials Showcase. After eight years under Christi’s guidance, the Showcase became the largest annual green building tradeshow on the West Coast and was sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric, the AIA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Building on the past success, Ms. Graham brought her skills, relationships, and experience to the realization of full-scale market transformation at West Coast Green. In September 2006, West Coast Green inaugurated the largest residential green building conference & expo in U.S. history. Over 8,000 decision makers from every state nationwide and 14 foreign nations were in attendance - breaking all records and becoming the most featured green building event in the media. Featured in hundreds of newspapers, television stations, and magazines including The Economist as the evidence of the "tipping point," West Coast Green became established as the preeminent green building conference.
Marian Keeler, Green Building Design Services
San Francisco, Calif.
Marian Keeler provides green building services to architects, engineers and other design professionals as an independent consultant. Trained as an architect and working most of her professional life in architecture firms, she is suited to the collaborative team approach to greening buildings from the ground up. She has also functioned as a consultant to other design teams for several architectural and sustainable specifications projects. Her expertise spans knowledge of alternative materials and indoor air quality issues as well as grant writing, teaching and press contacts. Marian's view of high performance architecture is that it should be thought of through a whole building approach, considering indoor air quality and resource efficiency (soil, material and water) as well as energy conservation and efficiency. She hopes to set up a green building collaborative with fellow greenies to provide an even broader spectrum of green services to clients.
Miriam Landman, M. Landman Communications & Consulting
Tomales, Calif.
Miriam Landman is a green building advisor, writer, and educator. Through her work, she facilitates the use of healthy and sustainable practices in the planning, design, renovation, and construction of homes, buildings, and developments. Formerly, she was senior associate with Simon & Associates, Inc. Green Building Consultants in San Francisco, where she consulted on dozens of LEED certified and LEED registered projects as a LEED Accredited Professional. In previous years, she worked as green building program associate for the nonprofit organization Global Green USA, as a producer and reporter for public radio's Living on Earth program, and as the marketing manager for Mostue & Associates Architects in Boston. Miriam was a contributing author for the new edition of the book Blueprint for Greening Affordable Housing. And as a freelance writer, she has written numerous articles on green building and other environmental topics, published by Natural Home magazine, Environmental Design + Construction, Green Tech, the Environmental News Network, KQED.org, and other media outlets. She has also given many workshops and lectures on green building topics, and she taught a course at UC Santa Cruz on Environmental Policy and the Sustainability Movement. Miriam received her Master's degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University.
Michael McCutcheon, McCutcheon Construction, Inc.
Berkeley, Calif.
Michael McCutcheon is president of McCutcheon Construction, which he founded in 1980. Michael has a great love of buildings, people and community, so for him the construction industry is a natural fit. In addition to his commitment to client satisfaction, Michael is dedicated to preserving architectural and environmental integrity. His company has won awards for architectural restoration, and Michael is active in the local green/sustainable building movement. He has been a key member in developing the green building curriculum for the National Association of the Remodeling Industry Green Professional certification program, and he volunteers as an adviser to local municipalities on related issues. His interests also extend to other traditional building principles, such as feng shui and vastu. He is very active in the construction industry, has written several articles on best management practices and is a frequent speaker at industry conventions. Michael is a NARI-Certified Green Building Professional.
Andrea Traber, Andrea Traber Architecture + Sustainability
Berkeley, Calif.
Andrea Traber is principal of Andrea Traber Architecture + Sustainability, an architecture and sustainability consulting firm in Berkeley, Calif. Prior to establishing her own firm, Ms. Traber was managing principal of Van der Ryn Architects in Sausalito, Calif., a leading firm specializing in high performance green buildings. Ms. Traber’s experience includes single and multi-family residential, community centers, commercial facility improvements and renovations, and campus housing and community facilities. She has worked with various construction systems including the “greening” of conventional systems, structural insulated panels (SIPs), insulated concrete forms, and straw bale construction. Ms. Traber is a licensed architect in the state of California. Ms. Traber serves on the steering committee of the Northern California Chapter of the US Green Building Council (NCC-USGBC).
Carol Venolia, Architect
Santa Rosa, Calif.
Carol Venolia is a pioneering ecological architect and author based in Santa Rosa. She has designed homes of straw, earth, and wood and consulted on schools, healing centers, and eco-villages. Her Natural Home Magazine column, “Design for Life,” explores healing our role in the biosphere by the way we design and inhabit our homes. Her groundbreaking book, Healing Environments: Your Guide to Indoor Well-Being, has been in print for fifteen years and in three languages. Past projects include publishing Building with Nature Newsletter and co-founding the Natural Building Network. Carol gives workshops and lectures nationwide, currently focusing on ecological home remodeling.
Lili Wright, Wright Design
Carmel Valley, Calif.
Lili Wright is a third generation interior decorator with 20 years of professional experience and a strong commitment to the environment, the arts and global transformation. Raised and educated on the East Coast, Lili moved to the Monterey Bay area in 1999. Wright holds a degree in art history from Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., and has done graduate work in natural resource management. For over a decade, Lili owned and operated Decorative Arts, a specialty painting, restoration and design company. Her work has been featured in interior design magazines such as Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles, Style, Atlanta Magazine, and Veranda, and is showcased in many prestigious residences across the country. Her eco-effective approach to interior design recently won her the 2004 Watershed Hero Award for Innovation. Lili is currently co-chair of the Monterey Bay Committee of the US Green Building Council Northern California Chapter and serves as an advisory board member to The Sustainable Base Reuse Institute, an organization committed to transforming former military bases into model sustainable communities. Lili is also an activist investor in The Hunger Project, a global strategic and catalytic organization devoted to ending hunger, poverty and the subjugation of women.