Susan Klinker

Co-Founder, Strawtegi

Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 1:40 p.m. | Revolution of Biogenic Building Materials

With a diverse background in natural building, architectural planning, community development and arts, Susan brings a rich perspective to her work. As co-founder of Strawtegi, Susan is dedicated to mainstream advancement of natural building technologies for contemporary urban residential environments and lifestyles. She is currently building a net zero carbon footprint demonstration home in Salt Lake City using a proto-type modular structural panel system insulated with chopped straw that she developed along with a team of consultants. It is the first permitted structure of it’s kind in the US. She is a contributing author of two books, The Art of Natural Building (2015), and Building Without Borders: Sustainable Construction for the Global Village (2004).

Susan holds a Master’s Degree in International Development from St Mary’s University with a focus on issues of shelter, and a Bachelor’s Degree (BIS) with minors in Urban Planning, Anthropology, and Interior Design from Weber State University. She worked for 10 years as a designer with Architecture Design Alliance in Philadelphia.

Susan is the Public Programs Manager with the Utah Cultural Celebration Center. Collaboration, creative partnerships and civic engagement are the foundation for her work at the center. Susan is actively involved with non-profit Builders Without Borders (BWB), and has been directly involved with the planning and construction of six straw bale homes, including design and construction of her family’s passive solar straw bale home in Teton Valley, Idaho. In 2015 she helped to organize the BWB Natural Building Colloquium in New Mexico, a gathering of 175 accomplished natural builders from across the globe, for a week long peer to peer conference.