David Randall Hertz

In 2018, Hertz along with a team called the Skysource/Skywater Alliance won the XPRIZE Water Abundance competition by achieving the foundation's goal of producing at least 2,000 liters of water in a single day for no more than two cents per liter.

Most recently, ORO Editions has published a monograph titled "The Restorative Home: Ecological Houses by David Hertz" which focuses on residential homes built throughout his career. Hertz is also working to promote widespread adoption of atmospheric water generator technology with Skywater, using his machine in Venice, California to provide drinking water and water for local community gardens. He and his wife Laura Doss-Hertz have also partnered with the GO Campaign to fund sustainable water projects around the world. Hertz founded The Skysource/Skywater Alliance team which was selected from 98 teams from 27 countries for the Grand Prize of the Water Abundance XPRIZE having made more than 2,000 liters of water in 24 hours using 100% renewable energy at a cost of less than 2 cents/ liter. In April 2017, Hertz sold his home residence for US$14.6 million

Hertz currently is involved with the construction of environmentally beneficial residences and commercial buildings, primarily in and around Venice, California with his company Studio of Environmental Architecture, as well as promoting sustainability, including a presentation at TEDx in 2013. In 2014, residences he designed and built were featured in Los Angeles American Institute of Architects (AIA) Monograph Tour. In 2015, he was featured in KCRW's Art Talk in the episode titled "Daring and Inspirational Architecture Around the World." In 2016, he spoke at the Greenbuild Expo in Los Angeles on historical and cutting-edge techniques of extracting drinking water from the air.

In 2011, Hertz completed his most ambitious and widely recognized project to date. The 747 Wing House was built from a mothballed Boeing 747-100 in the Santa Monica mountains. The project was extremely complex and called for using a CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopter to transport sections of the plane to the building site. By making use of large sections of prefabricated material, he was able to reduce the greenhouse emissions that would have been required to bring raw materials and remove waste material.

The Mullin Automotive Museum, located in Oxnard, California, was completed in 2010, and holds the car collection of philanthropist Peter W. Mullin. Hertz renovated the 50,000 sq, ft building which previously held the Otis Chandler Transportation Museum, and added features such as solar panels and a rooftop garden to make the building more environmentally sustainable, while also including new and vintage Art Deco elements in the decorations throughout, to keep in tune with the collection of 1920's and '30s automobiles.

Another example of Hertz's creative use of unusual building materials is the "Panel House," in Venice Beach, California, so named because of its use of industrial refrigerator panels to provide insulation. Designed for the owner of a company that manufactures automobile washing equipment, the house was constructed like a miniature sky-scraper, utilizing a heavy metal frame in poured-concrete base, making weight-bearing walls unnecessary and allowing for large, automated windows which provide ocean views from almost anywhere in the house. In 2009, the house earned the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design's American Architecture Award.

In 2004, he became Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accredited. In 2007 he founded the architectural firm S.E.A., the Studio of Environmental Architecture, based in Venice Beach, California, which has an emphasis in environmentally sustainable buildings, making use of high efficiency light and water systems, as well as solar panels and solar water heating. In 2008 Hertz was elected to the prestigious College of Fellows of The American Institute of Architects as the youngest member in its 152-year history. His architectural and material work has been exhibited internationally.

Completed in 2003, Hertz's home residence took was built in two phases, and consists of four structures connected by enclosed bridges, in a style inspired by Balinese architecture. The building was designed as a testbed for many of his environmentally conscious building ideas, such as rooftop solar heating panels for water, radiant heating, sustainable woods used throughout, and extensive use of his custom concrete, Syndecrete, which uses recycled industrial and post-consumer waste. Additionally, the large Syndecrete walls are designed to work as a solar sink, absorbing the sun's heat during the day and slowly release it at night. The house was regularly used as a location in the series Californication (TV series).

David Hertz got his start in architecture at a young age. In high school Hertz often sneaked into construction sites because of his interest in building. After being caught by a property owner, he was introduced to the building's designer, famed Los Angeles architect John Lautner. Hertz then apprenticed under Lautner for four years. After receiving a degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture in 1980, Hertz went on to work in the office of Frank Gehry before founding his own firm, Syndesis, in 1983. That year, Hertz developed "Syndecrete," a form of concrete which incorporates post-consumer and industrial waste such as polypropylene carpet fibers and fly ash, and is lighter weight than traditional concrete, and may have other waste products such as wood, crushed glass, or plastic chips added for decoration. Syndecrete was included in the MoMA show "Mutant Materials in Contemporary Design" in 1995.

David Randall Hertz (born October 6, 1960) is an American architect, inventor and educator. He is known for his work in sustainable architecture and as an early innovator in the development of recycled building materials.