David Hertz, AIA, is well-known as an innovative architect, designer, inventor and educator in the field of environmental design. Hertz's architectural practice focuses primarily on custom residential projects with particular experience in climate responsive, environmentally-sustainable homes. As founder and president of Syndesis Inc., a multi-disciplinary architecture, design and manufacturing firm, Hertz specializes in creating sustainable homes and environmental products. Syndesis achieved national recognition by developing Syndecrete®, a precast, lightweight concrete architectural surfacing material that incorporates recycled aggregates extracted from society's waste stream.

At an early age, Hertz became interested in architecture and the juncture between the natural and built environment. He served as an apprentice to artists and worked in construction trades, giving him hands-on experience with construction and fabrication. While studying at SCI-ARC (which Ray Kappe co-founded), he obtained a strong foundation in pragmatic environmental design. Before establishing his own practice in 1984, Hertz worked in the offices of architect John Lautner FAIA (formerly an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright) and Frank O. Gehry and Associates, FAIA.

Hertz's work has been widely exhibited and published, and has received numerous national, state and local awards, including the AIA Service Award for Craftsmanship and the Sunset Magazine and AIA California Western Home Award. Recently, his work work was featured in several architectural tours, including the CABoom and Reinvention conferences, and included in several architectural publications, such as Dwell and Global Architecture.

For over a decade, David Hertz has participated actively in the environmental and design communities, serving with the L.A. Chapter of the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment, The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) and Business for Social responsibility (BSR). He has served on the faculty of the SCI-Arc Professional Development Program and has taught a course on ecology and architecture at UCLA for over ten years. In 2004, he became a LEED Accredited Professional, administered by the U.S. Green Building Council.