Lance Hosey

Lance Hosey is an American architect, known as a thought leader in sustainable design. For a decade, Hosey was a design director with "green pioneer" William McDonough and also has been the first Chief Sustainability Officer with the international architecture firms RTKL Associates and Perkins Eastman. In 2017, he joined Harley Ellis Devereaux to oversee design in its San Diego office and "lead the firm’s initiatives for Design Excellence."

Earlier in his career, Hosey worked as a designer with Rafael Viñoly and with Charles Gwathmey in New York. He also has served as President & CEO with the sustainability research institute GreenBlue, founded by McDonough and Michael Braungart and named one of "10 Green NGOs Business Should Know About."

Hosey was born and raised in Houston, TX, where he studied jazz performance (saxophone and piano) at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and he holds degrees in architecture from Columbia University and Yale University. Hosey has been featured in the “Next Generation” program of Metropolis (architecture magazine) and Architectural Record'’s “emerging architect” series, and he has been a Fellow of the Michael Kalil Endowment for Smart Design and a Resident of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center. In 2014, he was elevated to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows, which recognizes "architects who have made a significant contribution to architecture and society." In 2015, the US Green Building Council / Green Building Certification Institute named him a LEED Fellow, the "most prestigious designation" for a green building professional. As of 2016, he is one of only 30 people who have received both honors.

Hosey has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Fast Company, and he has a regular series in the Huffington Post and a past column with Architect magazine (2007-2010). His books include The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology, and Design (Island Press, 2012), the first book to study the relationships between beauty and sustainability; Women in Green: Voices of Sustainable Design (Ecotone, 2007) (co-authored with Kira Gould), the first book in the design industry dedicated to sustainability, diversity, and innovation; and Green Homes: New Ideas for Sustainable Living (HarperCollins, 2007), for which he wrote the introduction, “The Ecology of Home.” Some of Hosey's writings on design for social equity, including "The Ethics of Brick" and "Toward a Humane Environment: Sustainable Design and Social Justice", are widely cited sources on the topic.

Hosey is a frequent public speaker, having given keynotes at TED, the Idea Festival, SXSW Eco, and many other events.