Dan Smith, Principal
Dan is a registered architect with over thirty years of experience. He received his architectural training through U.C. Berkeley, and it was during this time that he developed a strong interest in sustainable design practices. Dan has led over 400 residential, community and commercial projects in the greater Bay Area, into which he has incorporated an array of green design elements from passive solar basics to comprehensive green design with LEED certification. Dan has vast experience in straw bale building and has authored and been featured in many straw bale publications.
Dietmar Lorenz, Associate
Dietmar Lorenz has been devoted to green building from the beginning of his career in Germany, where sustainable design practices have been established for decades. He is experienced with environmental design and alternative building materials and methods. Dietmar has taught classes at the Building Education Center in Berkeley for several years, led green building workshops, and given many presentations at green building conferences in the US and abroad.
Mieke Strand, Associate
Mieke studied art and architectural history before completing her M.Arch at Berkeley in 2002. At Berkeley, she developed an interest in housing and sustainable design, which she has pursued while working for small residential firms in the Bay Area. Outside of what she learned in architecture school, Mieke’s most enduring life lessons have come from playing capture-the-flag and ultimate frisbee.
Nick Buehrens, Designer
Nick graduated with a B.A. from The Colorado College, where he studied art, architecture and sustainable design. He also completed independent coursework at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Prior to joining DSA, Nick worked at Michael Collins Architects in Colorado Springs, focusing on adaptive reuse and historical restoration. Nick’s dog Rhubarb is the unofficial DSA mascot.
Jean Casey, Office Manager
Jean brings a background in physics research and residential lending to DSA, and is a recent transplant to Berkeley from Southern California. Having lost interest in building tiny devices to measure theoretical concepts, she naturally turned her curiosity to efficient systems that are more relevant to our everyday lives. Jean is considering building science as her next route of formal education. In addition to natural building and sustainable design, she is also interested in the acoustics and lighting of healthy spaces.
