Courtney Crosson
· Associate Professor of ArchitectureUniversity of Arizona · School of Architecture
Active 1976–2026
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About
Courtney Crosson is a licensed architect and associate professor at the University of Arizona, where she teaches courses on water in the built environment and community outreach studios. Her studios, funded by city, county, or private practice, address critical issues in urban sustainability and involve design work that engages citizens and governments in city solutions. Her current research focuses on advancing decentralized water systems to tackle urban challenges such as water scarcity in the U.S. Southwest and safe, affordable water access in informal settlements like Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya. Crosson’s work has been published in peer-reviewed journals across architecture, engineering, and planning disciplines, and she has received numerous awards for her teaching, outreach, and research efforts, including the AESS President’s Award and the ACSA/AIA Practice and Leadership Award. Her professional experience spans work with notable firms and organizations across Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America, where she has contributed to sustainable design projects, master planning, and net zero water and energy systems, including the design of a secondary girls' boarding school in Kenya and the net zero design of Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Santa Monica City Hall extensions.
Research topics
- Computer Science
- Ecology
- Environmental science
- Environmental engineering
- Water resource management
- Engineering
- Environmental economics
- Geography
- Environmental planning
- Economics
Selected publications
Rainwater as a renewable resource to achieve net zero urban water in water stressed cities
Resources Conservation and Recycling · 2020 · 34 citations
1st authorCorrespondingLandscape and Urban Planning · 2022 · 29 citations
ACS ES&T Water · 2020 · 25 citations
1st authorCorrespondingInnovation in urban water systems is required to address drivers of change across natural, built, and social systems, including climate change, economic development, and aged infrastructure. Water systems are complex socio-technical systems that interact with biophysical systems to supply and reclaim water. We present a vision for enhancing urban water system resilience through a net zero urban water (NZUW) approach, which meets the needs of a given community with a locally available and sustain…
Optimize urban food production to address food deserts in regions with restricted water access
Landscape and Urban Planning · 2020-06-04 · 17 citations
articleInnovating the Urban Water System: Achieving a Net Zero Water Future Beyond Current Regulation
Technology|Architecture + Design · 2018-01-02 · 15 citations
articleOpen access1st authorCorrespondingRecent extreme climatic events and failing infrastructure have increased awareness of the need for expanded resilience within urban water systems. Architects and engineers are more seriously considering integrating water capture and reuse technologies into projects; yet, the systems necessary to meet net zero water resilience are not currently legal for commercial use. This paper investigates the regulatory changes necessary to accommodate net zero water projects in Arizona. Institutional innova…
Recent grants
Frequent coauthors
- 4 shared
Daoqin Tong
Arizona State University
- 4 shared
Yinan Zhang
Shanghai Institute of Quality Inspection and Technical Research
- 4 shared
T. Meixner
University of Arizona
- 3 shared
Qing Zhong
Hong Kong Metropolitan University
- 3 shared
Jennifer G. Duan
University of Arizona
- 2 shared
M.J.H. Tonking
- 2 shared
Dominic L. Boccelli
University of Arizona
- 2 shared
Wicky Moffat
Education
B.A.
Duke University
M.Arch, Architecture
Yale University
Awards & honors
- ACSA/AIA Practice + Leadership Award (2018)
- AESS President’s Award (2017)
- AIA Community Education Award (2019)
- AIA Community Design Award (2019)
- Dobras Award | Dean’s Award (2018)
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