William D. Browning received a bachelor's in environmental design from the University of Colorado, specializing in energy-conscious architecture and resource management. He has a masters of science in real estate development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was awarded the MIT Center for Real Estate's 1991 Public-Sector Fellowship, and, in 1995, the Charles H. Spaulding Award. He has been involved in the design of a number of projects, including advanced multi-story solar greenhouses using Buckminster Fuller's last structural system, and an American Institute of Architects sponsored joint Soviet/American team for an award-winning youth exchange camp in the Republic of Georgia. In 2005 Browning and Jeffrey Bannon co-founded Browning + Bannon LLC, a consulting firm focused on design innovation and the development of environmentally responsive real estate. In August 2006 Browning became a partner in a new firm, Terrapin Bright Green LLC with offices in New York and Washington DC. Terrapin BG provides consulting services on sustainability strategies for corporations and governments. In 2006, Browning was appointed to the Department of Defense’s Defense Science Board.