Conservation In Practice

A publication of the Society for Conservation Biology

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Born Again

WILLIAM MCDONOUGH, A RADICAL ARCHITECT, dismisses traditional recycling as tired and inadequate. Instead, he's invented "industrial ecoystems" in which substances and machines are infinitely recycled.

By Jim Robbins
January-March 2005 (Vol. 6, No. 1)

From his perch atop the gleaming observation deck at Ford Motor Company's Rouge River complex, William "Bill" McDonough, in a black shirt, black pants, and a black beret, looks out over a sun-drenched 4-ha meadow, enthusiastically describing the hummingbirds and butterflies that use it. Nothing unusual in that, except the fact that the sprawling meadow sits atop the cavernous assembly plant that turns out dozens of new Ford trucks each day.

McDonough takes obvious pride in the "living roof," the 10 cm of soil and grass that filter rainwater and smokestack emissions, give off oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide, and help insulate the factory. McDonough is proud as well of the fact that

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