Land Language

We sit down with Kate Forester (Landscape Architect, ASLA Oregon CBAC) and Laura Squillace (Architect, Green Hammer) for a working session about process: who gets called first and why it matters, the early decisions that shape everything after (a dry well or a rain garden is a choice with consequences), and how a landscape can stack functions the way a high-performance building does.We discuss One Water, climate-adaptive solutions, and why buildings and landscapes should be designed together. Kate works at the scale of rivers, wetlands, and habitat corridors. Laura designs zero-energy and regenerative buildings, including a project going for Living Building certification. Both say the same thing: neither of them can do the work alone.CHAPTERS:00:00 Start00:34 Meet The Guests02:33 Defining Regenerative Design04:18 Origin Stories07:35 Stewardship And Place08:49 Designing With The Land11:12 Ecology And Regulation14:34 One Water Mindset16:17 Coastal Resilience Training20:00 Fire And Water Systems22:28 Collaborating Early24:13 Living Machines Teaser24:29 Living Machine Basics25:47 Why It Feels So Hard27:20 Selling It To Cities29:58 One Water Rain Gardens32:58 Rethinking Native Plants34:12 Climate Adaptive Science36:56 Nurseries And Habitat Layers40:05 Oak Savanna Senior Community43:18 Teaching Courage And Tribe46:36 What Keeps Them Going48:21 Closing ThoughtsThis episode was a live recording of Common Ground, a Sustainable Building Week 2026 event.Follow Kate:Website: https://www.herrerainc.com/Herrera on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herreraenvironmental/Follow Laura:Website: https://greenhammer.com/Green Hammer on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenhammerinc/Follow Land Language:Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/Connect with Us:Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together.About Land Language:Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

In this episode of Land Language, we sit down with Emma Kraft Saldivar, President of Kraft Custom Construction, the Salem, Oregon design-build remodeling company her father, Robert Kraft, started in 1982. Emma came to construction from psychology and case management, and she brings that background into every project and client conversation. Emma describes “longevity planning” as designing homes around how clients live now and in the future, focusing on purpose, feelings, routines, community, and wellness. CHAPTERS:00:00 Start00:33 Meet Emma Kraft Saldivar01:56 Designing for Future You04:19 From Psychology to Construction08:03 Project Types and Service Area09:10 Discovery Call and Fit10:57 Curiosity Builds Trust13:43 Homes for Community17:37 Wellness and Hobby Spaces19:51 Budgeting for Longevity23:36 Where to Spend vs Save27:30 Invest in Infrastructure31:23 Stormwater and Regenerative Design33:44 Leading Change on Teams34:25 Collaborating Early Pays Off38:20 Building the Right Expert Team43:02 Emma’s Next 20 Years44:03 Closing ThoughtsFollow Emma:https://www.kraftcustomconstruction.com/https://www.instagram.com/kraftcustomconstructioninc/ Follow Land Language:Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together.About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.About Emma:Emma Kraft Saldivar is the second-generation owner and president of Kraft Custom Construction, a design-build remodeling company serving Oregon’s Willamette Valley since 1982. She leads the company with a focus on thoughtful design, lasting craftsmanship, and creating homes that support the way people live today while standing the test of time. With a background in social work, Emma brings a people-centered approach to the remodeling process, grounded in listening, understanding her clients’ needs, and helping them make informed decisions about their homes.

Hosts Brit Sastrawidjaya and Bethany Rydmark close out Season 2, and share what changed how they run their own teams, what's happening underground that most landscapers never measure, and why the same values keep showing up whether you're in the Pacific Northwest or rural Australia. They also discuss the challenge and value of hosting controversial episodes and inviting honest dialogue.CHAPTERS:00:00 Start00:33 Season Two Reflections01:20 Handling Controversy03:03 Community Dialogue Matters05:19 Season Three Vision07:25 Favorite Season Two Guests08:06 Global Lessons and Values09:56 Stories That Inspire Change13:18 Scaling Regenerative Business15:25 Stewardship Mindset Shift16:57 Backyard Aliveness20:40 Time Perspective and Care22:13 Woo Woo and GeoTuning23:45 Industry Builders and Events25:45 Generational Wealth of Land27:11 Legacy for Our Kids29:16 Purpose and Response30:58 Celebrate and Stay Connected32:11 Closing ThoughtsFollow Brit and Bethany:Brit: https://be.land/@theblueprintearthBethany: https://www.bethanyrydmark.com/@brydmarklandscapesFollow Land Language:Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/Connect with Us:Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together.About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

In this episode of Land Language, host Brit Sastrawidjaya sits down with Mark Woolbright, founder of Verdtech (verdtech.com), maker of Varden, a lightweight, plantable retaining wall and vertical garden block system. Mark invented one of the first plantable concrete retaining wall systems in the US after seeing vertical gardens built into small Swiss retaining walls on a backpacking trip, spent decades engineering drainage, soil, and structural systems for that original system before industry consolidation moved him to sell, and has now rebuilt the idea from the ground up as Varden.CHAPTERS00:00 Start00:33 Meet Mark Woolbright02:38 Europe Inspiration04:06 Concrete Wall Business07:55 Engineering and Drainage11:57 Soils Compost Carbon14:50 Industry Consolidation Exit19:20 Why Plastic Blocks22:28 Testing Policy Barriers28:33 Design Focus and Planting40:09 Marketing Webinars Education50:03 Habitat Toad Condos54:42 Closing Thoughts--Follow Mark:Website: https://www.verdtech.com/Verdtech on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GreenwallmojoFollow Land Language:Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together.--ABOUT MARK WOOLBRIGHT:Mark Woolbright is an inventor and innovator of living walls with over 30 years in design, manufacture, marketing, and installation of plantable, living wall systems. Mark graduated from Eastern Illinois University and is currently Managing Member of Greenwall Ventures, LLC, and most recently, CEO/Founder of Verdtech, Inc. Throughout his career, he has been awarded twenty patents, with more applications pending. Mark has served on the Board of the St. Louis USGBC, as a member of the Green Wall Committee of GRHC which develops course curriculum for its Green Walls 101 course and has been a certified Biophilic Design trainer through GPGB. He is passionate about educating the building community on the environmental benefits of Living Walls and best practices for their use. ABOUT LAND LANGUAGE:Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.

Sarah Lebner is the founder and director of Cooee Architecture, a sustainable residential practice based in the alpine region of south-east Australia, where she designs energy-efficient, low-carbon homes for rural and regional communities. We discuss bushfire-resilient design beyond codes, including defensible sites and landscape strategies, and contrast Australian mandates for rainwater tanks and firefighting reserves with U.S. approaches.Chapters:00:00 Start02:49 Sarah’s Origin Story06:23 Trust and Greenwashing09:12 The 18 Intentions11:56 Bushfire Resilient Design16:31 Rainwater Rules and Storage22:12 Energy Ratings and Retrofits33:26 Sharing Knowledge at Scale38:41 Better Team Collaboration46:02 My First Architecture Job48:51 Why It’s Called Cooee50:13 Getting Back to Yourself51:47 Closing ThoughtsFollow Sarah:Website: https://www.cooeearchitecture.com.au/Xera Plants on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cooee_architecture Follow Land Language:Land Language Website: https://www.landlanguage.org/Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelandlanguage/Connect with Us: Got questions? Ideas for future guests? DM us on Instagram or visit our website to share your thoughts. We're building this together.About Land Language: Land Language is a podcast for landscape professionals, plant lovers, and anyone who wants to understand what it really takes to build regeneratively. Hosted by contractor/designer Brit Sastrawidjaya and designer Bethany Rydmark, each episode brings you expert insights, practical tools, and honest conversations about transforming the landscape industry from the ground up.About Sarah:Sarah Lebner is the founder and director of Cooee Architecture, a sustainable residential practice based in the alpine region of south-east Australia, where she designs energy-efficient, low-carbon homes for rural and regional communities. Before returning to the area she grew up in, Sarah was Principal Architect at Light House Architecture and Science in Canberra, one of Australia's leading building science practices, where she spent years working at the intersection of passive design, thermal performance, and affordability. She is the author of 101 Things I Didn't Learn in Architecture School, a 2023 recipient of the Australian Institute of Architects Dulux Study Tour Prize, and the sole winner of the Institute's 2020 National Emerging Architect Prize. Alongside her architectural work, Sarah runs Cooee's scalable resources arm, creating affordable tools and guides to help everyday homeowners retrofit their homes for comfort and efficiency.