Investing in Sustainable Buildings and Community Empowerment with April Magill of Root Down Designs
On this episode, we welcome April Magill, the owner of Root Down Designs, an architectural firm focused on sustainable design; April is also the executive director of the non-profit Root Down Building Collective, which provides architectural services, consulting, and house plans for climate-smart structures. An advocate for natural building materials, April explains how plant-based and mineral-based building products help reduce our carbon footprint, increase building performance, and are better for our health than commonly used plastic-based products. As April navigates this growing movement of sustainable design for us, she reminds us of two very important things: 1) making even one sustainable building choice matters and 2) community building, skill building, and empowerment work together to elevate the health of our neighbors and our environment.
Learn more:
For more information on natural building materials, check out the US Hemp Building Association.
(Coming soon!) Be sure to check out Root Down Building Collective’s “Events” page throughout the year to discover new women-centered programming.
Conversing with Nature is hosted by Dr. Liz Fly, edited by Nicole Pehl, and produced by The Nature Conservancy. Original music provided by Matt Williams, cover art designed by Amy Nguyen, and funding provided by the Therblig Foundation and The Nature Conservancy.
Published: January 16, 2026
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music