About Marilyn
Marilyn Crenshaw’s architectural and artistic experience combined with her commitment to sustainability result in building designs that are outstandingly beautiful, vibrant, creatively composed, and environmentally considerate. With more than 30 years of experience in green architecture and an additional ten years with “blue” architecture, Marilyn has designed over 500 residential, commercial, and industrial projects throughout Santa Cruz and around the country. Her expertise lies in her ability to design buildings that naturally heat and cool themselves, source power from the sun and wind, harvest and recycle their own water, and are constructed using non-toxic and/or natural building materials.
A native of Santa Cruz, California, Marilyn received her degree in architecture from UC Berkley. As an early member of the US Green Building Council and LEED Accredited Professional, Marilyn has been immersed in green architecture since the beginning. While Marilyn was chair of the City of Santa Cruz Green Building Working Group, the organization implemented one of first mandatory green building programs in the United States. In 2011, the State of California adopted the program as the mandatory California Green Code, and then as a template for the International Building Code (IBC).
Throughout her career, Marilyn has participated in green tactic seminars, workshops, conferences, and continuing education courses and has shared her expertise as a speaker at conferences and universities around the US. In partnership with the Tree of Life Center Marilyn will teach the “Masters of Blue and Green Building, Civilization Infrastructure, and Community Development” program beginning June 2015.
An ever passionate activist, Marilyn has dedicated years to compiling and self-funding a digital database of information on blue and green architecture, building products and technologies, resources and inspiration, which she makes available free of cost. This database has been moved to the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, TheBlueArchitect.org, which Marilyn founded in 2012 to inspire solutions to water scarcity issues through improving civic water fluency.
CREDENTIALS
ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION
UC Berkeley Architecture Department, Honors, 1979
GREEN ACCREDITATION
LEED Accredited Professional, U.S. Green Building Council
ARCSA Accredited Professional, American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association
LICENSING
California Architecture License #C21382
Colorado Architecture License #306446
Washington Architecture License #8947
Arizona Architecture License #50164