BARBARA GEHRUNG, Principal

• Dipl.-Ing. Architektur | Certified Passive House Consultant

• AIA Int.Assoc., CPHC

Growing up in Germany, Barbara developed a passion for architecture, energy and sustainability, while the green building movement there grew from exotic to main stream.  First as architecture student, then as faculty at Technische Universität Darmstadt (TUD), she focused on energy-efficient building design. Following an internship at the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics at Carnegie Mellon University, she initiated and lead Germany’s first participation in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon competition in 2007; both of TU Darmstadt’s winning Solar Decathlon entries of 2007 and 2009 are certified passive houses, simultaneously demonstrating  drastic reduction of energy consumption and aesthetic and highly-functional design integration of renewable energy-technologies.

Barbara has guest lectured internationally both at universities and professional events, such as USGBC Greenbuild or the German-American Chamber of Commerce. She has authored and co-authored several publications and recently has served as guest-critic at the University of Virginia and the University of Kentucky on sustainable building design projects.

Upon moving to the United States, Barbara worked for Hays-Ewing Design Studio, before founding bg design & consulting llc in 2010.
She is one of the pioneer passive house designers in the United States, and has won several awards for her passive house consulting projects, including affordable multi-family buildings for Habitat for Humanity in Washington D.C. and the ecoMOD South project for the University of Virginia.

Barbara is excited to continue take part in shaping a more sustainable and energy-efficient future of our built environment in partnership with Mark Graham.

She lives in Belmont, an historic neighborhood within the City of Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband, children & airedale terrier.