The Trust for Sustainable Development was founded by visionary developer David Butterfield as an inter-disciplinary group of professionals committed to revolutionizing how we build communities. David assembled experts from diverse fields like urban planning, environmental science, economics, and social development and they were united by a shared belief that sustainable development at massive scale was not only possible but essential for our future.

David Butterfield was more than a developer. He was a revolutionary who fundamentally reimagined how humanity could build its future. At a time when suburban sprawl was accepted as inevitable progress, David saw it as an urgent crisis demanding radical transformation. His response would reshape sustainable development across North America.

In 1989, David founded the Trust for Sustainable Development, assembling an unprecedented coalition of environmental activists, scientists, and visionaries who shared his audacious belief: that development could heal rather than harm, that communities could be both dense and delightful, that profit and planet were not opposing forces but natural partners. This wasn’t just idealism. It was a carefully orchestrated revolution in how we conceive, design, and build human settlements.

David’s vision materialized in projects of breathtaking scope and ambition. In the Arizona desert, he created Civano, America’s first solar powered community with 2,400 homes that proved sustainable living could be both beautiful and profitable. When others saw a contaminated brownfield on Victoria’s waterfront, David saw Shoal Point, transforming industrial wasteland into one of Canada’s most celebrated developments. His masterwork, the Villages of Loreto Bay on Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, represented a $3 billion testament to his philosophy: 6,000 homes across 8,000 acres that demonstrated sustainable development at a scale the world had never seen.

What set David apart was his unique ability to unite seemingly incompatible worlds. He brought together Walmart executives and environmental activists, First Nations leaders and Wall Street investors, Arizona State University academics and Mexican government officials. All served a singular vision: communities that honored both human aspiration and natural heritage. His collaboration with leaders like Rob Walton, Julie Wrigley, and Ann Mortifee (with whom he co-founded Hummingbird Energy) proved that sustainable development wasn’t a niche concern but a transformational force capable of attracting the world’s most influential champions.

David’s approach was revolutionary in its comprehensiveness. He didn’t just build buildings. He created complete ecosystems where economic vitality, social equity, and environmental stewardship were inseparable. Every project underwent rigorous scientific, economic, and social analysis, backed by extensive community consultation. He pioneered the concept that developers should leave communities financially, socially, and ecologically richer than they found them.

Throughout his career, David received numerous accolades, including the Building Better Futures Community Award for his unwavering commitment to community development. Yet his greatest achievement wasn’t any single award or project. It was proving, repeatedly and at massive scale, that the choice between development and sustainability was a false one. He showed the world that when we build with nature rather than against it, beauty multiplies, value compounds, and communities thrive.

Even when facing setbacks like the Bamberton project that was ultimately rejected, David’s response was to immediately begin work on Shoal Point, demonstrating the relentless optimism and determination that characterized his entire career. He possessed that rare combination of visionary imagination and pragmatic execution, able to see possibilities where others saw only problems, and more importantly, able to transform those possibilities into reality.

David Butterfield didn’t just change how we build. He changed what we believe is possible. His legacy lives on in every sustainable community that follows his blueprint, in every developer who chooses harmony over exploitation, and in the fundamental shift he created in how we understand the relationship between human settlement and natural systems. He proved that thinking big and building responsibly aren’t contradictions. They’re necessities.