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Andrew Huberman
Stanford Neuroscientist
William McDonough
Architect and Circular Economy Pioneer
Sustainability · Circular Economy · Design
Speaking Fee
Fee on request
Based In
United States
Signature Topic
Sustainability
Format
Keynote
About William
William McDonough is an architect and designer who founded his New York practice in 1981. He is the founding principal of William McDonough + Partners and chief executive of McDonough Innovation, and he was dean of the University of Virginia School of Architecture from 1994 to 1999.
His central argument is unusually easy to state and unusually hard to implement: being less bad is not the same as being good. Reducing harm still ends in harm, only more slowly. The alternative he proposes is designing products and buildings so that their materials are recovered and reused indefinitely, which is a design problem rather than a compliance problem.
He set that argument out in Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, written with the chemist Michael Braungart and published in 2002, now widely treated as a founding text of the circular economy. The follow up, The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability, Designing for Abundance, followed in 2013. He cofounded the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute in 2010 to certify products against the standard.
The built work is the evidence for the argument. It includes the Environmental Defense Fund headquarters in New York in 1984, the Herman Miller Greenhouse factory in Michigan in 1995, 901 Cherry Avenue in San Bruno in 1997 which is now YouTube's headquarters, the Nike European headquarters in the Netherlands in 1999, the Ford River Rouge complex in Dearborn in 2002, and NASA's Sustainability Base in Mountain View in 2012.
He received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development in 1996, was named a Time Hero for the Planet in 1999, won the National Design Award in 2004, and was listed among Fortune's World's 50 Greatest Leaders in 2019. He chaired the World Economic Forum's Meta-Council on Circular Economy from July 2014, and was introduced at Davos in 2017 as the father of the circular economy on receiving the Fortune Award for Circular Economy Leadership.
Keynote Topics
Cradle to Cradle Design
The Circular Economy in Practice
Designing Out Waste in Products and Packaging
Carbon as a Material, Not a Pollutant
Sustainable Architecture and the Built Environment
Best For
- Sustainability and ESG conferences
- Manufacturing, materials and packaging events
- Architecture and built environment summits
- Executive strategy offsites on circular business models
- Corporate innovation programs
Booking William McDonough: Frequently Asked Questions
What is William McDonough's speaking fee?
William McDonough's fee is not published and is quoted per event. Fees are driven by event date, location and travel, session length, and whether the booking includes an executive workshop or advisory session in addition to the keynote. Submit an inquiry with those details to receive a current quote and availability.
What is Cradle to Cradle?
Cradle to Cradle is a design framework set out in the 2002 book of that name, written by William McDonough with the chemist Michael Braungart. It holds that reducing harm is not the same as doing good, and proposes designing products and buildings so their materials are recovered and reused indefinitely rather than discarded.
Which buildings has William McDonough designed?
His built work includes the Environmental Defense Fund headquarters in New York in 1984, the Herman Miller Greenhouse factory in Michigan in 1995, 901 Cherry Avenue in San Bruno in 1997 which is now YouTube's headquarters, the Nike European headquarters in 1999, the Ford River Rouge complex in 2002, and NASA's Sustainability Base in 2012.
What kind of audience is the best fit?
Manufacturing, materials, packaging and built environment audiences are the strongest fit, because the argument is a design and engineering one rather than a communications one. Executive strategy sessions on circular business models are the other common booking.
Speakers Often Considered Alongside William
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William McDonough
Architect and Circular Economy Pioneer
Fee on request
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