William D. Browning received a bachelor's in environmental design from the University of Colorado, specializing in energy-conscious architecture and resource management. He has a masters of science in real estate development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was awarded the MIT Center for Real Estate's 1991 Public-Sector Fellowship, and, in 1995, the Charles H. Spaulding Award. He has been involved in the design of a number of projects, including advanced multi-story solar greenhouses using Buckminster Fuller's last structural system, and an American Institute of Architects sponsored joint Soviet/American team for an award-winning youth exchange camp in the Republic of Georgia.
In 1991, Browning founded Rocky Mountain Institute's Green Development Services; a program that researches and provides consulting on environmentally responsive real estate development. His consulting projects include new towns, resorts, building renovations, a bug zoo, Wal-Mart's Eco-mart, the White House, the Grand Canyon National Park, Lucasfilm's Letterman Digital Center, and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Village. He has worked on a number of US Department of Defense facilities including; the Pentagon Renovation, the Navy Yard, the Air Force Academy, and the Pacific Air Force Headquarters. Browning has given numerous lectures and workshops for such organizations as the American Institute of Architects, CERES, the Councilors of Real Estate, the Urban Land Institute, the International Facilities Managers Association, MIT, Harvard's Graduate School of Design, Peking University, and Yestermorrow Design Build School.
He is a co-author of Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate, published by John Wiley & Sons, and a companion CD ROM, Green Developments. Browning has also co-authored A Primer on Sustainable Building, a textbook; and Greening the Building and the Bottom Line, a study of increased worker productivity in energy-efficient buildings. He has published articles in Architectural Record, Progressive Architecture, Building Operating Management, Urban Land, and AIA's Environmental Resource Guide. He has appeared on CNN, NPR, PBS's Future Quest, and AIA's Building Connections teleconference series. He was interviewed for articles in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, House Beautiful, Popular Science, and Elle, among others.
In 1998 he was featured in the cover story for the October issue of Interiors & Sources, and was named one of five people "Making a Difference" by Buildings magazine. Green Development Services was awarded the 1999 President's Council for Sustainable Development/Renew America Prize. In 2001 he was selected as an Honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, and in 2002 he served on the national steering group for the AIA Committee on the Environment.
In 2006, Bill Browning partnered with Bob Fox and Rick Cook to found Terrapin, a firm dedicated to creating high-performance sustainability strategies for governments, corporations, and large-scale developments.
