Michael Eliason is the Director of Design & Policy for the Seattle Social Housing Developer. He is also an award-winning architect specializing in mass timber, social housing, Baugruppen (urban cohousing), and Passivhaus buildings. He has helped usher several legislative efforts on Point Access Blocks and other building code reforms across the US. His professional experience includes work in both the US and Germany. From 2022-2026, Michael was the director of Seattle-based Larch Lab – part architecture and urbanism studio, part 'think and do' tank - focused on research and policy; decarbonized low-energy buildings; and climate adaptive urbanism. Michael is also an author, recently publishing Building for People: Designing Livable, Climate-Friendly, Affordable Neighborhoods (Island Press, 2024) which advocates for planning neighborhoods where public health, affordable housing, climate adaptation, and a high quality of life are prioritized.