Bruce King • Alternative Materials • Alternative Construction • Green Engineering

History

After graduating from the School of Architecture and Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, I spent three years practicing engineering with Skidmore Owings & Merrill in San Francisco, designing high-rise office structures in San Francisco, then two years with Spillis, Candela & Partners and Deca in Miami, working on various commercial structures and aircraft retrofits.

In 1983 I started my own engineering consultancy in Boulder, then moved that practice to the San Francisco area where I grew up. While my engineering work mostly concentrated on traditional low-rise wood-framed construction as is common in the western USA, I also worked on a wide array of structures such as churches, retail shopping centers, Tahitian resorts, Buddhist monasteries and ski lifts.

Starting in the early 1990’s I began working more and more with “green” or alternative materials, and saw the need to bring the “how to’s” of ecological building from the fringe to the mainstream where the ideas can save money and energy. Over time I have increasingly become a green materials consultant in addition to my work as a structural engineer, non-profit researcher, writer, and public speaker.

“Green” just means building well:

• Don’t throw that away! Reduce or eliminate waste of energy, water, materials or the ingenuity of people.
• Let my people breathe! Improve health by using clean materials
• Play the cards you’re dealt! Reduce reliance on external energy and materials

Affiliations

Education

BS with Honors, Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado, 1978

Personal

I work all over the world, and live an hour north of San Francisco with my wife, Sarah, my son Tyler and daughter Lucy, and an ever-changing array of other furred and feathered companions. I’ve also personally been through large earthquakes, fires, category 5 hurricanes, and children’s birthday parties, and seen what they can do to buildings.