Erin Sterling | Eco-architect

Photo by Beth Riley

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Erin will always remember the day she logged onto Frank Harmon’s website.  “I called my mom and said, ‘I would never want to jinx anything – but this is perfect.’”  She had just finished an architecture degree and was looking for a practice where she could learn from a master of her trade.  Frank Harmon Architect, a Raleigh firm, was right up her alley.  Since joining the firm six years ago, the company’s sustainable principles have affected Erin both inside and outside of the professional realm.  “We’re so addicted to these concepts that we carry them over into our personal lives.”  She lives half a mile away from work, keeps a garden, a compost pile, and now a “worm factory,” which turns her household waste into rich soil.  “It’s all about reducing your carbon footprint.”  A LEED-certified designer, Erin is also working on green designs for North Carolina’s headquarters of the American Institute of Architecture, and a green addition to First Presbyterian Church in downtown Raleigh.  

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• Erin grew up in Mississippi and studied architecture at the University of Kentucky.
• Erin says she slipped into her job unnoticed; her predecessor’s name was Aaron.
• When the mail-woman delivered Erin’s worms to her, she handed the package over by the corner and said, “Girl, there are worms in here!”