William D. Browning

William D. Browning

Senior Fellow, Rocky Mountain Institute, Socrates Program

William D. Browning is one of the world's leading practitioners and spokespersons for sustainable building design and real estate development.

William D. Browning received a Bachelor of environmental design from the University of Colorado and a MS in real estate development from MIT. In 1991, Browning founded Rocky Mountain Institute’s Green Development Services, which was awarded the 1999 President’s Council for Sustainable Development/Renew America Prize. Browning’s clients include Wal-Mart’s Eco-mart, Starwood, Yellowstone National Park, Lucasfilm’s Letterman Digital Arts Center, New Songdo City, Bank of America’s One Bryant Park, the White House, and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Village. He coauthored Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate, Green Developments (CD-ROM), A Primer on Sustainable Building, and Greening the Building and the Bottom Line. Browning was named one of five people “Making a Difference” by Buildings magazine, and an Honorary member of the AIA. He was a founding member of US Green Building Council’s Board of Directors. In 2006 he became a principal in Terrapin Bright Green LLC, which crafts environmental strategies for corporations, government agencies and large-scale developments. He served on the DoD Defense Science Board Energy Task Force.