Summer 2008

Alumnus Josh Knoeffler has a Passion for Sustainable Development

Joshua Knoefler has seen the future of engineering, construction and land use—a landscape consisting of sustainable communities with renewable energy sources, high-tech cooling, cutting-edge water recycling systems and innovative forms of “green” living.

Now, he’s looking for someone who shares his passion for eco-friendly development.

Knoefler (Civil Eng., ’97) thought he had found his dream community in the Green Village concept that his company, Knoefler Enterprises, proposed for National City, Calif., an ideal location near San Diego with abundant wind and solar resources and land constraint issues. The first project of its kind in the country, the “village” would have included over 1,100 condominiums, 220,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, and parks in a four-block area. It would have also been a community with “green” energy, housing, common facilities, its own recycled water system that could produce reclaimed water for irrigation and renewable energy sources.

Originally, the Terre Haute, Ind., native was hailed as a visionary and one of the “50 People to Watch in 2007” by San Diego Magazine. However, after spending millions and more than two years planning, Knoefler withdrew his proposal in August 2007, losing a battle with a new mayor who did not support water recycling.

“I’m still searching for my little slice of nirvana, where people share my vision, are willing to make policy changes, have visionary political leadership and are willing to take risks,” says Knoefler, a 34-year-old who is the son of real estate developers.

“I’m a true believer that you fail at 100 percent of things that you don’t try,” he asserts. “It takes a lot of belief and passion to change the process and sell the ideas about sustainability and ‘green’ development.”

Knoefler first became interested in examining the environmental impact of community development while starting a recycling center for his high school. At Rose-Hulman, for a technical communications project, he examined the advantages of sustainability for subdivision development. He gained professional engineering experience during five years (1997-2002) managing projects in South America, Croatia and America with the Parsons Corporation. Then, Knoefler returned to Terre Haute for a year to assist with the engineering, marketing and project management for his family’s real estate ventures. He still serves as project manager for the business, while also being president and chief executive officer for Knoefler Enterprises, a San Diego-based company that specializes in sustainable development.

“I found what I love,” Knoefler states while talking about sustainability. “There’s a holistic approach to planning the process of sustainable development that, I believe, is the future of all development... ‘Green’ building is a process, not a technology. It could be placed in any building across America.”

Now, Knoefler is taking his Green Village concepts to other communities— anyone and anywhere that will give him an opportunity. There are three projects being considered in California, and derivatives of sustainability are being promoted in this year’s presidential campaign. However, completion of the first development may still be a decade away.

“While ‘green’ may be a popular throwaway term in today’s society, realistically, full-scale sustainable development could be as far as 50 years away. We have to start somewhere and why not now?” he asks. “It takes a lot of pain, tears and, most importantly, commitment. There has to be a belief that you’re doing the right thing and you have to be passionate about it. What am I doing this for? I want to do something that led the way in changing people’s thinking... I believe that regret is worse than failing, and I don’t intend to fail.”