David Arkin

David is one of the founders and current Director of the California Straw Building Association (CASBA). He is past-President of Architects, Designers, and Planners for Social Responsibility (ADSPR) and served for twelve years as a board member of the Solar Living Institute (SLI). He has taught and lectured on the subject of sustainable design for over twenty years. David is a native of Wisconsin and earned his B.Arch from the University of Minnesota. A licensed architect since 1991, he spent four years as project architect and planner with Van der Ryn Architects - most notably on the Real Goods Solar Living Center - and apprenticed with Obie Bowman at The Sea Ranch. While in graduate school at UC Berkeley he also worked with Peter Calthorpe and Dan Solomon, focusing on mixed-use, city and regional planning issues. David and Anni are married and live in a 100-year-old solar and wind-powered home in Albany, CA, where David served as a planning and zoning commissioner for over 10 years.

Arkin Tilt Architects, founded by principals David Arkin and Anni Tilt in 1997, is an ecological planning and design firm in Berkeley, CA. Winner of the Acterra Business Award for the Sustainable Built Environment in 2002 and 2016, the 2011 Cool California Small Business Award, and numerous design awards, their work has been published nationally and internationally for excellence in design and sustainability. The firm has a particular focus on “alternative” construction methods, such as straw bale and earth. Both principals lecture on the subject of sustainable design and have been on the boards of the Ecological Building Network and Architects Designers Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR). They are among the founding members of the California Straw Building Association (CASBA); David is the current director.