About David Goldman
David Goldman began his formal architectural education at the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating with his Bachelor of Architecture in 1986. He spent the next three years at McLeish and Johnson Architects in East Greenwich, Rhode Island working on educational, commercial, institutional and residential projects. In 1989 he relocated to South Lake Tahoe, California where he became a Registered Architect and started his own practice.
After ten years of working on residential, educational and commercial projects he decided it was time to follow his heart and to master the then undeveloped discipline of sustainable design. Throughout his career to that point he had been reading about and exploring sustainability issues on his own but the field was in its infancy and information on the subject was limited and underdeveloped.
With deep sorrow he left the Lake Tahoe area on his quest to learn how to truly create environmental architecture. His first stop was the San Francisco Bay area which was one of the leading locales for cutting edge architecture. While searching for the heart of green architecture he worked at many of the leading design firms in San Francisco and worked on many different types of projects of all sizes from small retail spaces to large mixed use projects. Unfortunately he soon came to realize that sustainable design and green building were not yet progressing in the United States to the level he sought.
Looking to the lead that Europe was taking in this discipline he moved on to London where he studied in the Environment and Energy Studies program at the Architectural Association. Here was a renowned design school with an advanced course of study in sustainability; truly an opportunity to learn how to create environmental architecture. He graduated with honors in 2002 and returned to San Francisco where he continued his education working at Architectural Energy Corporation (AEC), one of the nation’s leading sustainable design consulting firms. At AEC he worked with many of the architecture firms where he had previously worked as a consultant, but this time he was working to bring sustainability to their projects.
One of his major responsibilities during this time was as the technical coordinator for the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS). CHPS is a nonprofit organization dedicated the construction of high performance, sustainable educational facilities in California. Here he had an opportunity to work with the nation’s top experts in all areas of green building and sustainable design. During this time he also taught in the Graduate Architecture program at the Academy of Art University, sharing his knowledge of sustainable design and encouraging his students to explore creative ways to use these principles in creating their own architecture.
After three years with AEC and CHPS David returned to South Lake Tahoe in 2007 to resurrect his practice and bring back the knowledge he gained on his enlightening journey. He is now the driving force behind David Goldman Environmental Architecture and continuing his quest by using progressive environmental design solutions to create the next generation of architecture.
Awards & Accolades
2014 | TRPA Best in Basin Award
SUP Tahoe
Emerald Bay Road, South Lake Tahoe, CA
2010 | Tahoe Quarterly
7th Annual Mountain Home Awards/Green Design
Rypins – Risdon Residence