jonah stanford, CTO & co-founder
Jonah founded the design firm NEEDBASED Inc and is Co-founder of B.PUBLIC Prefab. Both companies focus on socially and environmentally sustainable designs responsive to need and the development of thoughtful buildings. After completing a Beta LEED for homes Pilot project and applying this knowledge to affordable housing development, Jonah joined the first generation of Passivhaus Consultants trained in North America in 2009. Quickly after training, Jonah completing the first Passivhaus in the Southwest, a mixed-use in-fill condominium development in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2010. Jonah’s work typically targets site-net-zero-energy and incorporates his enthusiasm for building science and material science applications. He has won national awards for sustainability, including the ECOHOME design award. Jonah was a founding board member of the Passive House Institute, U.S. He has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, providing pro bono design services of new Habitat for Humanity homes in Santa Fe aligned with Passive House construction techniques. Besides his leadership and design for B.PUBLIC and NEEDBASED, Jonah finds time to play pickleball with his family and loves hiking around New Mexico and Colorado.
Jonah’s work is often featured in print including Architectural Record for advancing the field of resilient architecture, Monocle Magazine, and Santa Fe Trend.
He attended The School for the Art Institute of Chicago and graduated undergraduate from the Academy for Art & Design (Aki) Netherlands in fine arts. Jonah’s route to licensure in architecture (Registered Architect #61501 Arizona) through apprenticeship track requiring thirteen years of practice and passing all registration exams. Jonah came to the profession through hard work, dedication, and experience.