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 45 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
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS (past and present)
US Green Building Council
Architects, Designers, and Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR)
American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA)
International Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (IRCSA)
The American Institute of Architects (AIA)
The Architects Association of Santa Cruz County (AASCC)
GREEN EDUCATION
Workshops on active/passive solar, water-catchment, grey/black water, Earthship construction, 2005
Pacific Energy Center classes on day lighting, green materials, solar, evaporative cooling, mold prevention, and energy efficiency
San Jose Green Building Program classes on green building, solar power, and cool roofs
AIA Continuing education Classes on radiant heat
AASCC courses on straw bale building
Basalt Colorado class on Permaculture
UC Berkeley classes on passive solar design
Conference on Eco-village Development, Arcosanti, Arizona
Emerald Earth Tour of eco-village
Tours of Water-catchment systems, Bobby Markowitz
Interview with Hybrid Adobe builder, Philip Mirkin
Ongoing annual professional continuing education for architectural licenses since 1990
PUBLIC SERVICE
Global Citizen Center, Planning meeting participant, 2005
Santa Cruz County Green Building Directory, Co-founder, 2005
Bay Area Build It Green Public Agency, Council member, 2004-2005
City of Santa Cruz Green Building Working Group, Chairperson, 2003
Architects Association of Santa Cruz County’s Open Architecture Tour, Co-Creator
Capitola Planning Commissioner, 1984-1986
Capitola Architecture and Site Review Committee, 1980-1984
Monterey Bay Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Director of Sustainability
CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) Conference on Sustainable Development, Co-Organizer, 2003
Green Building Forum-Synergy Network Night, Organizer, 2003
Monterey Bay Green Building Symposium, Organizer, 2002
Gaiasong Conference on Sustainable Living and Ecological Building, Co-Organizer, 2002
International Design Conference Aspen, Colorado, Participant
International Adobe Conference, Participant
PRESENTATIONS
Civinomics, Santa Cruz, CA Water Infrastructure Group, 2013
Thrive Infrastructure Think Tank, Taos NM, 2012
American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) National Conference, 2012
WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition, 2009-2011
CEO Space International, Presentation on Eco-Development Kit, 2009-2010
Water Woman Festival, 2009
University of California Santa Cruz Green Building Lectures, 2007
Santa Cruz County Green Building Talk, 2006
Tom Harvey’s Eco Review TV show, 2004-2005
Speaking engagements on green architecture at various campuses and green building forums 2002-2003
PROJECT EXPERIENCE
DESIGN, CONSULTATION, &/ OR COLLABORATION EXPERIENCE- on over 500 diverse, commercial, industrial , residential & agricultural projects, from high end luxury to process oriented commerce spaces, since 1976, accomplished in Mediterranean, Mission, Moroccan, South Pacific Island, Mexican, Tropical, Southwest, Japanese, Chinese, Craftsman, Victorian, Cape Cod, Territorial, Modern & Eclectic styles.
LOCATIONS- California (Santa Cruz, Pebble Beach, Carmel, LA, Marin, San Francisco, Tahoe), Washington (Sequim), Colorado (Aspen), & Montana (Whitefish), Nicaragua, British Columbia
INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSE- 200,000 S.F + : new construction, Tenant Improvement, & design-build projects include- produce processing plants, industrial tenant suites, ceramic & light fixture manf., fashion garment manf., rehabs for retired chewing gum plant/icehouses/juice plants, LEED meat packing plant
COMMERCIAL- 7 corporate administrative offices, 2 wineries, 2 aquatic tennis centers, 1 gallery, 6 shopping & mixed use centers, 2 jewelry stores, audio, flower, & vacuum stores, funeral home, senior center, 2 dance studios, 6 optical dental, 1 soil lab,
FOOD & BEVERAGE- 14 facilities- elegant bar restaurants, espresso bar cafes, rejuvenation spa raw juice bar, senior center commercial kitchen.
HILLSIDE GEOTECHNICAL- Dozens of waterfront, coastal bluff, mountain executive view homes, golf course communities, & high altitude alpine resort sloping sites.
ARTIST WORK SPACES- a dozen production work spaces for graphic artist, sculptors, ceramicists, painters, neon, slumped glass, & art glass
BARNS- 2 antique car barns, 2 horse barns, Venture Capitalist retreat center, 10 artist production studios
AGRICULTURAL- Ag Tech green houses with water reclamation ponds
AUTOMOTIVE- Vehicle repair and fuel stations
WATER SECURITY ASSESSMENTS- On private rural properties
GREEN- Dozens of passive solar homes more recently nontoxic w/ self-reliant optional grid utility systems
RESIDENTIAL- 100’s of new homes & remodel /additions: Dozens of coastal permits & CEO custom homes & gated communities, 7 multifamily, 12 Historical Victorian remodels, Granny units, dozens of Developer custom speculative homes, manufactured and prefab homes, site adaptation, greening of existing facilities
AWARDS
SCOPE Award, Industrial Project in City of Santa Cruz
SCOPE Award, Dental Project in City of Capitola
Rio Del Mar Improvement Association, Residential Project
Begonia Festival First Prize Float Award in City of Capitola
Link Directory Disclaimer
This website link directory is designed to give you easy access to various green building materials and topic information. The materials presented herein are provided for your convenience. We cannot warrant the accuracy, completeness or availability of information on this site.
Subscriber Web Disclaimer
While the Blue and Green Architect goes to great lengths to ensure the accuracy and completion of information (content) available on this site, this information must still be provided “AS IS,” and without warranty of any kind. Due to the overwhelming number of sources from which information (content) is obtained, The Blue and Green Architect cannot guarantee the completeness, accuracy, timeliness or fitness for a particular purpose of any information made available through this website. The Blue and Green Architect will not be held responsible for loss or injury resulting from decisions made in reliance of information (content) on this website.
The Blue and Green directory is a free resource of thousands of website links to blue and green building materials and resources, education, government agencies, nonprofit resources, media, and more.
While the project was formed and previously hosted at the architectural office’s website, it has since matured into the nonprofit 501(3)c, TheBlueArchitect.org
Cultivate your understanding of blue and green architecture with educational videos on a variety of subjects.
TheBlueArchitect1: http://www.youtube.com/user/thebluearchitect1
EcoDevelopmentKit: http://www.youtube.com/user/EcoDevelopmentKit
TheGreenArchitect1: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreenArchitect1
TheBluArchNonProfit1: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheBluArchNonProfit1
BLUE AND GREEN DISCLAIMER
Although Marilyn designs buildings with blue and green features and materials, she cannot guarantee that the incorporation of low/non-toxic materials into your project will improve your health or prevent illness. Remember that there are many ‘shades’ of green and that the quality of your indoor environment is proportional to the extent to which you use low/non-toxic methods and materials. There is no perfect set of plans or perfect projects.