About the Authors

Kathleen O'Brien

Kathleen O'Brien is founder and president of O'Brien & Company, a nationally recognized leader in sustainable design-build consulting, education, and research. She organized the first regional conference in the Northwest for the green building industry and worked with local chapters of the National Association of Home Builders to develop award-winning government-supported green building programs. Her own green home has achieved the highest rating in Built Green, won the Parade of Homes Environmental Achievement Award, and has been featured on Home and Garden TV. She has published more than 100 articles including features in the Journal of Light Construction, Environmental Building News, Conservation Monitor, Construction Data, Building with Nature, BioCycle, and Resource Recycling. She is lead instructor for the Sustainable Building Advisor Certification Course. She lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington, with her husband, John Cunningham.

Kathleen Smith

Kathleen Smith is an architectural designer, sustainability consultant, and LEED project manager. She is principal of her own firm, EcoSmith Design & Consulting, which works exclusively on sustainable projects. Earlier she was senior designer, project manager, and consultant with Van der Ryn Architects in Sausalito, California. She has worked locally and nationally on projects incorporating sustainable strategies and participatory design processes, including Berea College EcoVillage, Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies, and restoration of the Old U.S. Mint in San Francisco. A faculty member with the U.S. Green Building Council, Kathleen has a master's degree in architecture and is coauthor of Rebuilding Community in America: Housing for Ecological Living, Personal Empowerment, and the New Extended Family. She lives in Winslow Cohousing on Bainbridge Island, Washington, with her husband, Christopher Gutsche, and two children, Alice and Oliver.