Studio Outside is pleased to share a conversation with Erin English, PE Practice Leader & Senior Engineer at Biohabitats, an ecological restoration and regenerative design firm that operates in various bioregions across the nation. Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Erin works alongside clients as well as landscape architects to advance innovation in nature-based infrastructure with a focus on water and ecology. Erin has led the construction of wetlands, wastewater, rainwater, and water reuse engineering for award-winning projects that achieved the Living Building Challenge™ and net zero water. Biohabitats recently received the ASLA Firm Award for 2023, highlighting that ecology has a powerful role in the planning and design of human places, communities, and regions.

sO: What got you excited about pursuing sustainable water management? What inspires your work and passion?

EE: I spent five years studying chemical engineering and started working for Dr. John Todd, the creator of the Eco-Machine™, designing with natural, living systems. That early work got me excited to take a unique path and find ways, as an engineer, to partner with nature.

sO: What are the challenges that you’ve faced during your time in this field?

EE: We have a responsibility to create safe and sustainable systems. You want it to fail safely if you fail. The biggest challenge is balancing looking to nature for a solution in a way that is safe for public health while not losing the ability to truly innovate using a natural systems approach. We all need to continue to learn how to reintegrate ecological systems into our infrastructure.

sO: Being based in New Mexico, a landscape that performs with little water, how has that shaped your approach?

EE: When traveling, I often get weird looks that a water engineer would live in New Mexico. I love working here because of the preciousness of water in this arid place. New Mexico has not experienced a huge population boom like Arizona or Las Vegas. Its strong land-based culture is credited to the Native American Pueblo and Northern New Mexican communities, which have informed much of my perspective on protecting and valuing water. It’s celebrated; it’s sacred. It’s important to have conversations about water conservation when building a city or development to make sure that it is respectful of the land and the ecology that it’s in.

sO: What has been a favorite project and why?

EE: The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. It’s the first Living Building in the South. It’s a university building used for classrooms and lab space in the middle of an old campus parking lot. The building is connected to an adjacent high-performance landscape called the “Eco Commons,” a ribbon of green infrastructure that Georgia Tech is revisioning as a core part of their campus’s response to stormwater management and combined sewer sheds. The project itself is net positive water and energy, treats all its own waste, harvests its own water, and vastly reduces stormwater runoff that impacts downstream communities and ecosystems. We had a great design team, and we were able to engage university students in the process. This shows that true ecological innovation can happen in the Southeast.

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sO: Which sector, (public, private, non-profit), do you think will be the most impactful moving into the future?

EE: Most innovation comes from the private sector because it is nimbler and can move faster. I think that the private sector can do more and there is a growing need for that leadership. The work is gigantic! Getting ranchers and larger landowners on board could really move the restoration effort, and water efforts, forward. With over 95% of land in Texas being privately owned ¹, the responsibility falls largely to the private sector. It’s important to understand the place, look at what you have and the regional context around you and ask how your project can add to the ecology, and benefit the watershed-without taking anything away. Embedding this knowledge within the landscape is possible.

Studio Outside has enjoyed collaborating with Biohabitats on Galveston Island State Park and Iain Nicolson Audubon Center as well as many others across the country.

Studio Outside is pleased to share an interview we had with Heather Venhaus, principal of Regenerative Environmental Design (RED), a sustainable design-consulting firm in Austin, Texas that strives to connect natural and built systems in mutually beneficial ways. Heather works with clients to optimize environmental performance while minimizing resource use and long-term maintenance costs. Heather has held several leadership roles in the American Society of Landscape Architects and the U. S. Green Building Council at both local and national levels.

1. I read that you are a West Texas native. How has that environment inspired you and your work throughout the years? Do you often return for inspiration?

Growing up in a West Texas farming and ranching family significantly influenced me and my land ethic. I was keenly aware of the relationship between the land and the people and the impacts they can have on each other. Comparisons of wet and dry years, native and CRP grasslands, Ogallala aquifer levels, farming practices and stories of the Dust Bowl - all shaped my ideas around soil restoration, water conservation, stewardship, and resiliency.

2. What attracted you to a landscape architecture program? What eventually made you pivot from the landscape architecture industry and move into a related field? How did this lead you to start your own consulting firm and authoring Designing the Sustainable Site?

I was initially attracted to landscape architecture because it sounded like an interesting cross between design and land management. Before going to college, I had never heard of landscape architecture or met a landscape architect. I really had no idea what to expect. I liked the challenge and creativity of the design studios but wanted to spend more time outside understanding and connecting with nature. This led me to focus on ecological restoration, the teachings of Aldo Leopold, and a stronger science background. Applied Ecological Services in Wisconsin gave me my first job out of college. AES is an interesting cross between a native plant nursery and an ecological design/build firm. I learned tons, and I am grateful for all they taught me. I found a niche working with designers, natural scientists, and educators. This eventually led to work at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, where I was lucky enough to be immersed in research, consulting, and the development of SITES. After a decade at the Wildflower Center, we decided to start a family, and I knew I would need more flexibility. After our son was born, I took a leap of faith and resigned. Not long after, Wiley approached me with the opportunity to work on a book, which I wrote while Emmett napped on the weekends. It was a long two years; I’m still tired! Thankfully, clients also found me, which led to me starting Regenerative Environmental Design. At RED, I worked to connect natural and built systems in mutually beneficial ways. My work focuses on site performance and building resiliency in urban and rural environments.

3. What is your process in balancing a one-size-fits-all sustainability approach vs. solving site-specific problems? How do you see professionals balancing these methodologies when designing for SITES certification?

Because landscapes are made up of living systems impacted by the surrounding environment, I’m not sure you can have a one-size-fits-all approach and call it sustainable. Project teams must go beyond the typical materials selection and energy/water conservation practices and find ways to preserve and restore the ecological processes that provide ecosystem services – the varied benefits provided by nature that make life possible for people.

SITES is a performance-based metric that was developed around the science of ecosystem services. It acknowledges the connection between the biotic and abiotic components of a landscape. The prerequisite and credit structure lead teams to better consider the associations between design solutions and multiple benefits.

4. What specific sector of sustainability in the built environment are you most excited to focus on in the next decade? What are the indicators you see now that make you want to focus on this?

As our populations and cities continue to grow, I increasingly see the need for high-performance urban landscapes that accomplish multiple ecosystem services and, most importantly, connect people to nature. I want to be part of projects that help cities create clean air and water, provide food and habitat, and improve our health. I also want to be part of projects that bring sustainability and a love of nature into places it is not commonly found.

5. We are currently working with you on The Ditch, which is attempting to achieve SITES Platinum. Tell us a little about this project from your perspective and what is unique about it when compared to other SITES projects?

There are over 200 SITES projects in the world, and only two are platinum. It’s a high bar, but I believe this owner and the design and construction team are right for the challenge. To move from SITES Gold to Platinum, projects need a champion, leadership from the Owner that is creative and tenacious enough to make it happen. The Middle Trinity Groundwater District project manager Stephanie Keith is our champion. Her energy, vision and passion are a strong driving force. I find the Ditch super exciting because it shows that sustainability, at a very high level, can be achieved on smaller projects with a limited budget. I also find the educational opportunities for visitors, the community, and groundwater districts across the state to be inspiring and a reason to work hard towards SITES Platinum.

Click here for more information about: Heather Venhaus, Regenerative Environmental Design (RED), and SITES.