Chrisna du Plessis, William G. Reed, AIA

    A South African architect and principal researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Chrisna du Plessis is currently developing a research program on urban sustainability science in support of the South African government’s policies on sustainable human settlements and integrated development planning. She served on an expert advisory group to the United Nations Environment Programme and was the co-coordinator of a task group on urban sustainability for the International Council for Research and Innovation for Building and Construction (CIB) and an ad hoc spokesperson on sustainability issues for the CIB. In this capacity, she prepared the UNEP/CIB Agenda 21 for Sustainable Construction in Developing Countries.
    The Integrative Design Collaborative is a consulting organization working to surpass common green building practices to fully integrate design with living systems. As its president, William Reed is internationally recognized as a leader and innovator of approaching design from a regenerative perspective.
    A regenerative design process aligns the human aspirations of a project with the unique nature of the ecosystem in that place. It is a process that does not compromise but creates a dialogue around the whole system and what is needed to support essential aspirations while engaging and healing the rivers, soil, air, and habitat that support life. This is a process that heals the healers by creating an opportunity to participate with and as nature and not simply do less damage to nature. Mr. Reed’s exploration of the core purpose of our work is the opening of a door to engage in understanding the complex relationships between the ecosystem and the built environment, thus enabling us to co-evolve with our environment.
    He served as cochair of the LEED Technical Committee and was one of the first trainers of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system and a LEED advanced faculty member, a founding board member of the U.S. Green Building Council, and has served on the national executive committee for the AIA Committee on the Environment. Currently he is an adviser to Environmental Building News and serves on the boards of GreenBuild, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, and CitiLog.