For the latest episode of the Design the Future podcast, Lindsay Baker and I spoke with Erica McBride, the Regenerative Operations Manager at Architectural Nexus -- known as Arch Nexus. She oversees the performance and integrity of the firm's two certified Living Buildings, in Sacramento and Salt Lake City, which are both reuse projects.
Erica was honored with the Living Future Hero Award in 2025 and holds credentials as a WELL AP, LEED Green Associate, and Living Future Accredited professional. Her work reflects a deep passion for regenerative design and sustainable building operations.
This lovely human is living these buildings -- no joke. She is experiencing and nurturing them in a hands-on way. She had some great stories for us about what that means, including days that require a squeegee on the roof in the rain or even a swim in a cistern!
She has inspiring advice about how the Living Building Challenge is, as she puts it "so attainable! You really just have to, to think about the building as an ecosystem. Then ask: 'How do all of these pieces within the building ecosystem fit together?' Once you understand how your building likes to be operated, it's easy."
She also has thoughts about what could make it even better: She'd love to see the operations people at the table at the outset of the project design and planning. She believes that operations people have a lot of practical experience that could be leveraged as design decisions are made.
Listen at www.designthefuturepodcast.com/epsiodes/erica-mcbride or on your favorite podcast platform. (Please consider leaving a review on Apple or Spotify; it helps people find us!)
#LivingFuture #LivingBuildingChallenge
For more about these two projects, see Living Future case studies here:
https://living-future.org/case-studies/arch-nexus-sac/
https://living-future.org/case-studies/architectural-nexus-salt-lake-city/
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Kira Gould Hon. AIA
Kira Gould CONNECT
Mission Hills KS
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