Indulge your curiosity - come by the Center on Friday, June 6th at 6:30 PM for our June Open House! Here, you'll take part in an evening of connection, creativity, and community. Explore our space and our Global Dream Lab, meet professionals from a wide range of industries, and get inspired by ideas shaping the future of green design. Light snacks & refreshments provided. A $10 donation is appreciated (but not required). See you there! #CMPBSOpenHouse #TexasNonprofit #TheCenter #SeriousCommotion
Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems
Architecture and Planning
Austin, TX 427 followers
About us
Mission: The Center creates healthy and sustainable communities through the design and testing of innovative programs that integrate air, water, food, energy, and material systems. Through the creation of Protocols, Policies, and Prototypes, The Center inspires ecologically balanced environments, stewards natural resources, and elevates community resilience and economic vitality. Background: The Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, established in 1975, is a non-profit education, research, and demonstration organization specializing in life cycle planning and design. We undertake projects based on their potential contribution to site, regional and global sustainability and human health, and actively pursue collaborations with associate organizations, businesses and professional firms. Projects emphasize regional contexts as bases for responsible resource use relative to materials, energy, water, waste, food, and meaningful employment. Our expertise is accessible through green planning and design services, conference presentations, public lectures, and published papers.
- Website
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http://www.cmpbs.org
External link for Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems
- Industry
- Architecture and Planning
- Company size
- 2-10 employees
- Headquarters
- Austin, TX
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 1975
- Specialties
- Life Cycle Design and Ecological + Master Planning
Locations
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Get directions
8604 FM 969
Austin, TX 78724, US
Employees at Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems
Updates
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Looking forward to CMPBS Co-Director Gail Vittori's conversation at the 2025 #WomenInGreen event!
Mark your calendars! The USGBC Texas 2025 #WomenInGreen event is set for August 8th! Save the date for the statewide #Women in #Green (WIG) luncheon on Friday, August 8 : https://lnkd.in/gHG_Pnsw Join us for an inspiring event that highlights the dynamic #voices of #womenleaders in the green building sector! Together, we’ll celebrate their innovative strategies for reducing carbon footprints, proving that #sustainability thrives on #diverse perspectives. The luncheon will feature a conversation with Gail Vittori, former Chair of the U.S. Green Building Council and Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI). In 1989, she established the initial conceptual framework for Austin Energy Green Building, recognized as the first green building program in the U.S. She has significantly influenced health, climate, and equity conversations on both #national and #global levels. #earthweek #womenleadership Sustainable Design Network
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Since we didn’t get to see you all for our Holiday Party this December, we’re excited to welcome everyone to a springtime gathering at the Center instead! 🌱 Join us for a Community Garden Party + Potluck on Friday, April 4th from 6pm to 10pm. Bring a dish or a beverage to share, enjoy some great food, and hang out with neighbors and colleagues from all over. Head to the link below to get more details and RSVP - can't wait to see you there! https://lnkd.in/gttifgnd
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Come on out to the Center on Friday, March 7th at 5:30 PM for our monthly Open House! CMPBS Open Houses are much more than just a tour of our grounds - though you'll get to do that too! These gatherings focus on building community with folks from a variety of backgrounds and industries, providing a space to make personal and professional connections for the future of green design. This month, we'll kick off the conversation by sharing a bit about our ideas for a multimodal transportation system, as well as other exciting projects in the works. Light refreshments and snacks will be provided, and a suggested $10 donation is always appreciated but not required. We can't wait to see you there! #TheCenter #SeriousCommotion #CMPBSOpenHouse
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Last Friday was a huge success at the Center! We had the pleasure of hosting 60 bright students from American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), who explored our grounds with an insightful tour led by Gail and Pliny. They then dove into a creative Global Dream Lab workshop, honing their problem-solving skills for a brighter, more sustainable future. We’re excited to see how these future architects and designers will use their talents to build a better, more connected world! #TheCenter #SeriousCommotion #TexasNonprofit
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As a member of EarthShare Texas, CMPBS receives support from the nonprofit federation through unrestricted funding and capacity support. We are thrilled to be a part of their Green Leaders Fellowship 2025 cohort, and it is a privilege to introduce you to the Green Leader who will be amplifying the work of our organization over the course of the Fellowship. Susana Pulido-Figueira will be collaborating with CMPBS staff to produce storytelling materials that showcase 50 years of sustainable design history and impact. Through this collection of projects, photos, and memories, we’ll be able to reflect on how far we’ve come as an organization, and envision where we're going in the future! This initiative seeks to expand opportunities for early-career environmentalists while simultaneously addressing capacity limitations for nonprofits - a nuanced solution that addresses Green Workforce constraints while building the green leadership pipeline. Follow along at EarthShare Texas! #TexasNonprofit #TheCenter #SeriousCommotion #GreenLeaders
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Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems reposted this
Regenerative Economist, Futurist, Bioregionalist, Co-Founder & Director of the BioFi Project
One of my favorite things I have gotten to do since launching The BioFi Project a few months ago is weave people together in a given bioregion that are doing aligned work and helping them discover how the whole of their efforts can be greater than the sum of their parts. It was an honor to do just that last month when The BioFi Project co-hosted a gathering with the Foundation House for bioregionalists and Indigenous leaders from across the Forests of the Northeast bioregion. We learned about each other's work and visions and discussed a wide range of topics, including what one or more BFFs to support the work happening in the region might look like. The Indigenous elders provided incredible perspective and pledged their willingness to engage more deeply with the efforts emerging. One participant was so moved that he provided a very generous grant to the effort on the spot. It was magical to see BioFi flowing in real time to grassroots regeneration. I am so inspired by this emerging Bioregional Organizing Team and look forward to watching their work unfold! We are in the early stages of planning another bioregional gathering in the Edward's Plateau bioregion in December at the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems with my amazing friends and OG bioregional leaders - Pliny Fisk III and Gail Vittori. Holler if you're a bioregionalist working in the Austin/Hill Country area and would like to join us/co-create the agenda! #biofi #regeneration #grassrootsorganizing
It's a pleasure & honor to help energize the ongoing emergence of bioregional coherence! Example A: On September 20, Ben Roberts & I co-facilitated the Forests of the Northeast Bioregional Regeneration Forum, hosted by Richard Zimmerman & Mimi S. at the Foundation House in Connecticut, in collaboration with Samantha Power & Edward West of The BioFi Project. https://lnkd.in/e9y_d2v4 The gathering built on engagement between BioFi and a number of different initiatives in the bioregion that had expressed interest in piloting the development of a bioregional financing facility (BFF) for the bioregion. Ben led a number of dynamic "Liberating Structures" processes https://lnkd.in/eg-_4qWf that deepened relationship -- including "TRIZ" (or "Creative Destruction"), where we brainstormed the most disastrous outcomes and how best to achieve them (as a pathway to do the *opposite*!) . But it was at the end of the day, as we were about to enter into a reflections session, that the magic really sparked. At that point, Michael Thomas of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center and Jelani Fletcher of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation broadened and deepened the context of our conversation through their longtime connection to the landscape and the lifeways that have emerged from these relationships. In the closing round, I reflected that it felt like the "foundation house" we were meeting in was transformed into sacred space. And in that round, one attendee pledged $25k to support the ongoing work of the group -- which we've been pursuing ever since, with our next in-person gathering coming up at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center, for an introduction to their Cultural Intelligence work. What has been particularly striking is the way that this event emerged through a series of synchronicities that arose organically, affirming a collective sense that the time is ripe for the coalescence of a bioregional movement... Attendees (which I've tagged in this group picture) included: Top row, left to right: Jelani Fletcher, Rahiem Eleazer, Chez Liley, Will Szal, l.ee mixashawn rozie, John Fullerton, Zbigniew Grabowski, Magenta Ceiba, Vincent Arena, Michael Thomas Bottom row, l-r: Keetu Winter, Amelia Tracy, Maggie Favretti, Connor Stedman, Ben Roberts, Billy Gridley, Samantha Power, Marianne Connor, me, Edward West Missing from this picture: Bill Reed, Mimi Sternlicht, and Richard Zimmerman (who snapped this shot). And this gathering served as a precursor to the next week, when I attended the Bioregional Funding Ecosystems Launch Event in the Greater Tkaronto Bioregion -- which I'll share about in a subsequent post.
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Hi folks! We can't wait to see you at our next Open House on November 1st - the first one of the year with fall weather! The fun starts at 5:30pm, so dress warmly and come join us for an evening of dreams and discovery. We'll share a bit with you about our current work and future plans, take you on a tour of our campus, and get you plugged in with other folks interested in the sustainable design field. Light refreshments and snacks available, and a $10 dollar donation is requested. Don't miss it - check out the link below for location details! https://linktr.ee/cmpbs #CMPBSEvent #SeriousCommotion #OpenHouse
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Exciting news - the latest episode of Sustainable Futures Podcast (from the lovely folks at Green Roofs for Healthy Cities) is now live! Join Gail Vittori as she sits down with host Steven Peck to discuss her pioneering work in sustainable healthcare and resilient building, as well as the groundbreaking design strategies that could enhance our built environment for future generations. Tune in for an inspiring conversation about the power of the natural world and its impact on our health! Link below. https://lnkd.in/gK6xmNrW #CMPBS #SeriousCommotion #SustainableDesign #SustainableHealthcare
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Yesterday, our wonderful CMPBS Co-Directors participated in EnergizeUT's Innovation Mentorship Luncheon! This event was a unique opportunity to connect with The University of Texas at Austin students interested in energy, sustainability, innovation, and entrepreneurship. It was exciting to meet some of the newest potential members of the Green Workforce! Couldn't make the luncheon, but interested in learning more about Gail and Pliny's work at the Center? Reach out at the link below to connect! https://linktr.ee/cmpbs #CMPBSEvent #SeriousCommotion #GreenWorkforce
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