Nicholas Holmes is an ecological designer-builder with a passion for all things nourishing. He is co-founder of The Nourishing Tree, a mixed-use center for healthy & sustainable living located in Joshua Tree, CA, and runs his own design-build company, Holmes Ecological Design & Construction, as well as Solstice Eco Building Supply. For the last 10 years Nicholas has been based in the Mojave Desert community of Joshua Tree, CA, working professionally as a consultant, designer and builder on a wide range of sustainable building projects in the Western U.S. and Denmark. The majority of his work involves structures, including buildings that shelter and nourish, and the visible and invisible structures that support regenerative life in buildings and the landscape that surrounds. Areas of focus in Nicholas’ work include passive solar/ climate-adaptive/ energy-efficient building design & construction, non-toxic & healthy building materials & systems, adaptive re-use of salvaged materials, rainwater harvesting buildings & earthworks, and greywater irrigation systems.

Nicholas received degrees in Architecture and Sustainable Development from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and continues to broaden and deepen his education, training and certifications in sustainable systems design & construction. He’s completed training in rainwater harvesting systems design & construction with the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association, become a certified Greywater Installer through Greywater Action, and become a certified Permaculture Designer through Quail Springs Permaculture and the Permaculture Research Institute.