WRNS Studio has revealed that Pauline Souza has been elevated to American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows. The College of Fellows honours members who have made significant contributions to the profession of architecture and society on a national level.
Pauline Souza, FAIA, is a Partner and the Director of Sustainability at WRNS Studio, responsible for implementing sustainable design principles into all of the studio’s projects and business operations. A long-time advocate for sustainable design, Ms. Souza serves as a USGBC Green Schools National Chair and has served as the Green Schools Advocate for the USGBC Green Schools Campaign since 2007. Her advocacy and community engagement help raise awareness about sustainability and environmental stewardship, making these topics accessible, relevant, and personal.
Ms. Souza focuses especially on the health factors of environments. By making sustainability understandable and available to a diverse audience, and then implementing sustainable strategies for healthier, high-performing environments, she fosters cultural change while crafting new environments. Through Ms. Souza’s work with policy makers, mayors, and institutions, she advises on sustainable site and building attributes, alternative methodologies, and strategies to advance sustainable schools and communities.
A LEED Fellow, Ms. Souza has led award-winning and community-focused projects like Sacred Heart School’s Net-Zero Stevens Library, the first library in the U.S. and the first school building in California to achieve ILFI’s Net Zero Energy Building Certification, and Sonoma Academy Janet Durgin Guild and Commons, which is targeting LEED Platinum, Net Zero Energy, WELL Education Pilot, and Living Building Challenge Petal certification and was honored with a 2018 COTE Award. She recently led a large effort with the Department of Hawaii to develop a statewide sustainability master plan for all new public schools. Additionally, the re-imagined Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus is targeting LEED Platinum, Net Zero Water per the Living Building Challenge, and Well Building certification.
Ms. Souza helps clients make choices that become a part of projects and impact the organizations themselves; such choices also influence peer organizations, the sector, and the public. She was awarded the USGBC Green Business Leader Award, presented at the 2016 Green Schools Conference and the UCSGBC Greenest Apple Award. She earned her BArch degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
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