Erik Bowden – Erik has spent the better part of a decade collaborating on building projects using mostly local, non-toxic, and low-impact biogenic building materials, founding two LGBTQ-owned sustainable building companies along the way. Driven by the desire to realize the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, he returned to university to earn a B.Eng. in Building Engineering, a modern engineering discipline that combines mechanical, civil, electrical, and specialized fields of engineering to understand the design of all building systems. With the advent of emerging technologies and advancements in LCA, biology, and material science, he believes the time is ripe to rapidly transform the built environment into one of the world’s great carbon sinks. His combined skill set made him the perfect person to spearhead the development of BEAM from a clunky spreadsheet into the great tool it has become.