If it takes a village to raise a child, it surely takes a community to write a book. While I am listed as author, I couldn't have written this book without the support of many people.

To start with, I have to thank Lou Rosenfeld, Marta Justak, and Sue Honeywell who physically made this book possible. They're the main folks at Rosenfeld Media who signed, edited, and designed the book. In particular, Lou took a chance on a very different topic for one of his books that not all of his advisors thought fit well with the rest. It's a tribute to his commitment in not only creating a new kind of publishing company but also to his personal interest in sustainability.

I also need to express a deep gratitude to the entire community of faculty, staff, and students at Presidio School of Management, where I received my MBA in Sustainable Management in 2006. This is where, for two years (and three since), I learned about sustainability, studied examples, and built new ones. In particular, Hunter Lovins, Maggie Winslow, Paula Theilen, Nicola Acutt, Dwight Collins, Paul Sheldon, and Bob Dunham taught me more than I ever thought possible about our future. Although there are many students whom I've had the pleasure of working with and even teaching, my core study group, Holly Coleman, Meg Escobosa, and Ruth Katz got me through my two years with humor and a lot of great food. (We weren't self-named "Eating for Six" for nothing.)

My co-professors at the University of California, Berkeley, Sara Beckman and Alice Agogino, welcomed me with open arms into the course they have been teaching for over 13 years and helped me learn how to be a better teacher of design and sustainability. Together, their students and mine at CCA have created some wonderful solutions in the two years I've taught with them.

My friends and family also made this book possible. I've ignored them all too much while sequestering myself this year to get four books out at once. My mother, Phyllis Shedroff, brother Daniel and his family, friends, Laurie Blavin, Nathalie Kakone, and their daughter Amelia have taken the brunt of this neglect. I also wanted to thank my friend Eric Friedman for making sure I didn't completely ignore fun and relaxation with trips to Sea Ranch or merely walks in the Marin Headlands.

Also, I appreciate the many people who allowed us to use their photos and diagrams to help explain how sustainability and design can change the future for the better.

I'm sure there are others, including the many authors I've read within this domain and my friends' mothers, Norma Laskin and Gail Solomon, who always appreciate being mentioned in my books even when they didn't know about them.