Of the many rising stars in the field of green architecture, Richard Cook is arguably the brightest. He has a theoretical rigor and passion for sustainability on par with William McDonough. He has the design ingenuity of Frank Gehry. So it’s not surprising that Cook is quickly making his name known among the vanguard of 21st century architects.

Eco-conscious college living: not just for off-campus hippies cooped up in co-ops anymore! At the University of California-Berkeley, sophomore Rachael Robertson lives in what’s being billed as America’s first green dorm room, replete with energy-saving devices and a free supply of natural toiletries.

In its Best of What's New 2005 issue, Popular Science gave a Grand Award for Engineering to a magnificent eco-friendly skyscraper under construction at One Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan. Early in 2008, Cook + Fox Architects will finish building a 54-story tower of crystalline glass that will not only serve as the iconic corporate headquarters of Bank of America, but also incorporate an unprecedented number of planet-positive technologies, from super-insulated windows to “waterless” toilets that use captured rainwater to recycled building materials.