Building Performance

Munger Hall Meets Hans Christian Anderson

 |  Over the years I have noticed that while good ideas come and go, truly bad ideas take on a life of their own. Some ideas even move into the realm of what Amory Lovins calls ‘spherically stupid’—stupid from any direction you look. Billionaire Charlie Munger is giving the University of California Santa Barbara $200 million […] — Read More

How We Got Here

 |  This feature is a follow up to Bill’s previous post on The Journey of Sustainability. 1 September 2021 Thirty years ago today, Amory and Hunter Lovins, over the objections of some of the Rocky Mountain Institute’s board of directors, allowed a 29-year-old to launch a new program to work with real estate developers to make […] — Read More

The Journey of Sustainability

 |  The green building movement and arguably the larger discussion about sustainability have progressed in scope and understanding over the last three decades. Terrapin staff have been at the heart of this journey. In retrospect, this progression can be understood as three distinct levels of sustainability, each with their own focus, and with direct and indirect benefits […] — Read More

Bill to Speak at Design Week Portland

 |  Bill heads to Design Week Portland to speak on one of the week’s many panel discussions and programs exploring the process, craft, and practice of design across disciplines. — Read More

Biophilia in an Abiotic Environment

 |  While humans have reached nearly every corner of the surface of this planet, there are still inhospitable places where, without the slow process of evolutionary adaptation, we explore only as visitors aided by advances in technology.  The ice-locked continent of Antarctica is one such place.  — Read More

Natural Ventilation: Learning from the Past

 |  Bill discusses his own experience with natural ventilation systems, and Professor Alan Short’s timely new book, The Recovery of Natural Environments in Architecture. This work is very encouraging as it will not only lower energy costs and improve ventilation, it also offers a new level of resilience when conventional systems fail. — Read More

Terrapin at Living Future unConference 2017

 |  It’s that time of year again! The Living Future unConference by the International Living Future Institute is just around the corner. The progressive green building and sustainability conference will run from May 17th to May 19th in Seattle, Oregon. In line with this year’s theme of Genius + Courage, the lineup includes heavy-hitting keynote speakers […] — Read More

Creating a Healthier World

 |  Terrapin works across a broad spectrum of areas—environmental strategy, biophilic design, ecological design, and bioinspired innovation—but all of our efforts aim to create a healthier world. Supporting human health has implications at all scales of the built environment and unites our work across these diverse fields. — Read More

Chris Garvin Appointed to GSA’s Green Building Advisory Committee

 |  Our partner Chris Garvin was recently appointed as a member of the U.S. General Services Administration’s Green Building Advisory Committee. The Green Building Advisory Committee provides advice to GSA to accelerate the successful transformation of the Federal building portfolio to sustainable technologies and practices. Chris will bring his extensive knowledge and experience in the architecture and sustainable […] — Read More

Clif Bar Industrial Bakery

 |  Using the 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design research as a framework, Terrapin analyzed the Clif Bar project and identified interventions to support employee health and wellbeing. Clif Bar is likely the first food manufacturer to deliberately incorporate biophilic design into an industrial bakery. — Read More

Chris Garvin at the SHIFT Zurich 2016 Summit

 |  Our partner Chris Garvin will be moderating a full-day workshop at the SHIFT Zurich 2016 Summit. The Summit is a leading platform for impact investors, entrepreneurs, and innovators from around the world who are passionate to implement resilient strategies and solutions informed by nature. — Read More