Anthony Dente
Anthony Dente, PE, LEED AP, is a licensed engineer across the US and CEO at both Verdant Structural Engineers (VSE) and Verdant Building Products (VBP) and is the vice president of the Cob Research Institute (CRI). With VBP, he is leading the Phase 1 deployment for their prefabricated, carbon-storing, straw wall panels which was originally developed under the EPA SBIR grant program. VSE assists clients with permit acquisition as well as product, research, and code development for low carbon, structural building solutions. They have also designed over 300 structures using natural-building wall systems such as straw bale, adobe, hempcrete, ceb, cob and rammed earth. With CRI, he was the lead engineer for the Cob (Monolithic Adobe) Construction Appendix in the International Residential Code, as well as the Hemp-Lime (Hempcrete) Appendix, both the first of their kind in the US.
Anthony recently authored Essential Cob Construction, A Guide to Design, Engineering, and Building with New Society Publishers. He also contributed to the Straw Bale Building Detail book published by the California Straw Building Association (CASBA).
Anthony is the chair of the structural sub-committee of the TMS Earthen Modular Masonry Standard Committee developing the much-needed contemporary adobe and CEB building code. Dente has advised, designed, and collaborated on numerous university research programs testing the structural behavior of natural materials, and writes and lectures extensively about appropriate use of environmentally sensitive building materials.
Dente was recognized by the Constellation Prize for his Sustainable Engineering Practice, and he continues as a visionary and leader in the natural and low carbon building fields.