William McDonough

William McDonough Profile

Since 1995, William McDonough’s Cradle to Cradle values and roadmap have guided organizations in realizing products and practices that benefit the health of people and the planet. Described by Al Gore as “the mastermind of sustainable design”, Mr. McDonough has demonstrated that we can create a world of abundance, peace, and quality of life that is not only sustainable but actually improves from generation to generation.

An architect by trade, Mr. McDonough’s early projects opened his eyes to the relationship between design, our health and well being, and our environment. He began to focus on environmental design, which led him to create the world’s largest living roof at the time and buildings that produce their own energy – such as the structure that houses YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California, Google’s Googleplex in Mountain View, CA; NASA’s Ames Campus in Mountainview, CA; and Nike’s European headquarters.

In the early 1990s, one of his projects introduced him to Michael Braungart, a German chemist and former Greenpeace director, who collaborated with him in the “Cradle to Cradle” vision and encouraged him to take his views of sustainability and abundance beyond architecture. Today, Mr. McDonough’s organizations, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, work with multiple manufacturers globally to ensure the safety and beneficial footprint of their materials and design.
His books Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things and Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability—Designing for Abundance have helped propel the Green Revolution.

Mr. McDonough is the recipient of numerous awards, the most recent of which include the 2014 National Wildlife Federation Conservation Award; the 2016 US Green Building Council Leadership Award; and the Fortune Award for Circular Economy Leadership, which was presented to him during the 2017 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he was introduced as “the father of the circular economy.” Mr. McDonough was the Inaugural Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Meta-Council on the Circular Economy (2014-2016) and currently, serves on the Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of Environment and Natural Resource Security. Watch some William McDonough’s World Economic Forum presentations on YouTube.

• View Extended/Alternate Bio

  William McDonough is a world-renowned architect, designer, speaker and winner of three U.S. presidential awards: the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development (1996), the nation’s highest environmental honor, the National Design Award (2004); and the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2003). Time magazine recognized him as a “Hero for the Planet” in 1999, stating that “his utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that—in demonstrable and practical ways—is changing the design of the world.”

  McDonough is one of the primary proponents and shapers of what he and his partners call ′The Next Industrial Revolution.′ Time magazine again recognized Mr. McDonough and Michael Braungart as “Heroes of the Environment” in October 2007. Also in 2007, Mr. McDonough was elected an International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

  McDonough′s leadership in sustainable development is recognized widely, both in the U.S. and internationally, and he has written and lectured extensively on his design philosophy and practice. McDonough co-authored the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, which maps the lineaments of a new design paradigm, offering practical steps on how to innovate within today’s economic environment. Part social history, part green business primer, part design manual, the book makes plain that the re-invention of human industry is not only within our grasp, it is our best hope for a future of sustaining prosperity. In 1991, McDonough was commissioned to write The Hannover Principles: Design for Sustainability as guidelines for the City of Hannover′s EXPO 2000.

  McDonough is the founding principal of William McDonough + Partners, an internationally recognized design firm practicing ecologically, socially, and economically intelligent architecture and planning in the U.S. and abroad. He is also co-founder of MBDC, a product and systems development firm assisting prominent client companies in designing profitable and environmentally intelligent solutions. Mr. McDonough is an Alumni Research Professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, and Consulting Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. McDonough also serves as U.S. Chairman and member of the Board of Councilors of the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development. He is part of the Management Committee of HRH The Prince of Wales’s Business & The Environment Programme at Cambridge University. From 1994-1999, McDonough was the Edward E. Elson Professor of Architecture and Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia.

  McDonough is acclaimed for his creative and effective building designs; he is also recognized as the world leader in the field of ecologically intelligent architecture. Mr. McDonough believes firmly in minimizing human impact on the environment by modeling design on the elegance and efficiency of natural systems. Through this approach, McDonough has produced numerous environmentally friendly, economically responsible buildings for corporate, commercial, institutional, and residential clients