David Butterfield started in the construction industry as a carpenter in rural British Columbia and moved to Victoria where he was active in the development of affordable housing. In 1989 a series of meetings with several environmental activists converted him to a path of sustainable development. In 1995-96, he directed the planning and creation of a new sustainable community of 2,400 homes in Tucson, Arizona, called Civano; a community The New York Times referred to as one of the four most sustainable developments in North America.

Butterfield is the President of The Trust for Sustainable Development and Founder of Loreto Bay Company, currently building the five billion dollar Sustainable New Town at Loreto Bay, Baja California. For the past decade and a half, he has committed himself to developing sustainable buildings and communities through the use of leading edge environmental and social technologies. Butterfield is a founder of The Trust for Sustainable Forestry and the Mexico Green Building Council.

Recently, Butterfield completed Shoal Point, one of Canada’s most advanced sustainable buildings, a 425,000 sq. ft. mixed-use brownfield redevelopment fronting the Victoria, B.C. harbour. Over the past several years, Shoal Point has won much recognition and numerous awards including the SAM Award for the “Best Multi-Family Building in Canada” by the National Division of Canadian Homebuilders’ Association, Urban Development Institute Award for Best Multi-Family High Rise Development, 18 CHBA Care Awards including 2003 Project of the Year and 8 CHBA Georgie Awards.

The government of British Columbia presented Butterfield with the “Building Better Futures Community Award” for his “Commitment to Innovation, Energy Efficient and Environmentally-Friendly Development, Affordable Housing, Youth Employment, Live/Work Design, and Public Art, That Extend Beyond the Industry to Enhance the Community in Which he Builds.” In May 2005, David Butterfield was awarded the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce “Good Neighbour Award” for positive contributions to US-Mexico relations.