In 1983, Carol Kurth became the youngest licensed female architect in New York at a time when women in the field were few and far between. She credits her education at what was then known as City College for fueling her interest in sustainable, green design, which was then called energy efficient design. “For me it was part of the natural extension of my education and I was doing projects that I would deem passive solar design, even in school,” Kurth says. From the outset of her career, Kurth involved herself in projects that innately included passive solar design. Kurth is the founder of OOCK green design boutique out of her office in Bedford.  Most recently Kurth received an American Institute of Architects award for the Link House in Pound Ridge. Kurth feels one of her greatest contributions is site sensitivity and using the land as part of the project and home she is building. Kurth feels the design of the home, large or small, can have a minimal impact on the site. “For instance a house might be on four acres, but it doesn’t mean we go and clear cut the lot and just find the easiest spot to put the house on,” Kurth says. “So we’re very careful about looking at the terrain, looking at where the vegetation is, and looking at the natural features and trying to position the house to best capture the natural light.”