70 AMERICANWAY
OCTOBER 1 2007
ILLUSTRATIONSBYTIMMARRS
SuccessStories
More andmore, people are realizing that saving our
environment requires an approach similar to running
abusiness—where the positives outweigh the neg-
atives. Here arefive peoplewhomake the short list
of nominees to head our “company.”
By JimMorrison
WILLIAMMCDONOUGH
THEARCHITECTOFAREVOLUTION
“Our job is to dream— and tomake those
dreamshappen,” saysWilliamMcDonough,
architect and revolutionarygreen thinker.
McDonoughandhisstaffatMcDonough
BraungartDesignChemistry inCharlottes-
ville, Virginia, have dreamed of build-
ings that generate more energy than they
consume. They’ve dreamed of factories
whosewastewater is cleanenough todrink.
They’ve dreamed of a fabric that will bio-
degrade without toxic consequences when
buried in the soil. And then they’ve gone
out anddesigned all those things.
McDonough tosses aside traditional
thinkingabout theenvironment.Hedoesn’t
view stricter regulations as the solution;
rather, he thinks the marketplace is the
answer. His dream—his vision— features
factories that are sowelldesigned theyneed
no regulation, and products, from running
shoes to cars,madewithmaterials that can
be “upcycled” into new goods again and
again.
The companies that invest in good, sus-
tainable design, he says, will have a com-
petitive advantage. Their workers will be
more productive, and theywill save on en-
ergy and material costs. “Companies that
don’t recognize that— they’re squandering
their assets,” he said in2001.
McDonough isn’t some wishful utopian
thinker. He has persuaded some of the
world’s largest companies and its most
populous country, China, to hire him. He
designed the restoration of Ford Motor
Company’s historic River Rouge Complex
inMichigan, aproject that included the in-
stallation of a vast roof planted with 10.5
acres of sedum, a succulent plant that ab-
sorbs water, and of a system he built that
collects rainwater. It cost $35 million less
to install the rainwater-collection system
than to install a conventional storm-water
system. And for Steelcase, an interior ar-
chitecture, furniture, and technology com-
pany,McDonoughandhispartners created
If everyhousehold in theUnited Stateswere to replace just one package of newfiber napkinswith 100-percent-recycled ones, itwould save one
