Reducing carbon while increasing housing – ideas and strategies to achieve emissions-neutral buildings
6:45pm - 7:45pm
October 27th, 2024
Sunday Panel Discussion
Alkarim Devani
CEO, RNDSQR / MDDL
Alkarim Devani is co-founder of RNDSQR and MDDL, where his passion for design and innovation drives his vision of redefining what it means to be a developer. Alkarim’s work building RNDSQR has garnered national and international recognition and is a frequent guest lecturer at The University of California, Berkeley, and The University of Calgary. In addition, Alkarim is a dedicated and active member of the community and development industry. He regularly contributes his time to numerous volunteer organizations as well as a number of industry-led boards and communities including D.Talks and Calgary Housing Company. Alkarim’s work has gained a multitude of media attention and frequently been the recipient of The Canadian Architecture Awards, MUDA Awards, American Architecture Prize, and the BILD Awards. Alkarim transitions into the next stage of his career with mddl to use his in depth experience with middle housing to help scale the delivery of housing across Canada.
The building, construction and renovation industry in Alberta grapples with how to answer the complex yet crucial question of how we can address housing shortages while significantly reducing carbon emissions in the sector. What does "energy efficiency," "sustainability," and "emissions-neutral" truly mean in the context of buildings, and how do we approach solving multiple problems at once including climate change, housing affordability, and workforce shortages?
Join our panel as they break down their dreams, ideas, strategies and tactics to achieve the goal of emissions-neutral buildings across Alberta, share a thing or two about building science, and help the audience understand what needs to be done to achieve comfortable, durable and sustainable housing in the Bow Valley and beyond.
The Panel
Juan Monterroso - Moderator
ENBIX - Alberta Ecotrust
Juan Monterrosa is a P.Eng, LEED accredited professional and a Certified Passive House Consultant. He is Senior Program Manager Emissions Neutral Building Information Exchange (ENBIX) at Alberta Ecotrust Foundation. ENBIX brings industry together to advance emissions-neutral buildings in Alberta.
Previous to this he spent 7 years at the City of Edmonton in leadership roles such as the Branch Manager of Development Services, the Director of Safety Code, Permits and Inspections, Board of Directors for the Safety Codes Council of Alberta and Energy Code Engineer.
With over 18 years of experience working in energy from source to end use he has worked on sustainability projects ranging from full neighbourhoods, high performance buildings design facilitation, to infrastructure projects using ENVISION certification. With the City of Edmonton, he worked on the original C532 policy for City of Edmonton buildings requiring a thermal energy demand intensity (TEDI) to be used with a reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas savings.
With the goal of reducing community building emissions he created an industry stakeholder group to help find a pathway to higher performance buildings in the City of Edmonton for all new construction.
With a passion for positive change in the built environment, Juan is continually looking to collaborate with change makers to build better buildings.
Sam Lane
P.Eng., LEED AP BD+C, O+M, CPHD, CEM
Associate, Sustainable Performance Discipline Lead | Calgary
A dynamic and passionate speaker, Sam presents regularly across Canada and internationally on the topics of high-performance, low-carbon buildings. With over 13 years of experience, Sam has excelled in the sustainability space as a leading voice on energy modelling and whole life carbon, as well as green building certifications and strategic sustainability planning.
As Discipline Lead at Entuitive, she is responsible for inspiring and leading all the services within our Sustainable Performance group, including energy modelling, certifications, climate action, and embodied carbon. Her role includes keeping up with the fast-moving low-carbon regulations coming online across North America.
Samantha has strong knowledge of leading green building policy frameworks across North America with exceptional working knowledge of Green Globes, Built Green, WELL, Fitwel, and BOMA BEST. She is an approved contracted LEED reviewer for the CaGBC’s LEED projects. Samantha has developed expertise in the LEED projects, creating LEED v4/4.1 specifications and tools. Sam assisted in the development of the CaGBC’s Zero Carbon Building Standard and currently sits on the Steering Committee.
Scott Fash
CEO, BILD Alberta
Scott Fash is a Registered Professional Planner and the CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association of Alberta (BILD Alberta). During his nine years, and through a variety of roles with the Association, Scott has focused on overseeing research, policy, and government relations to advance the residential construction industry in Alberta. Scott is dedicated to partnering with government and stakeholders to advance housing and communities in a sustainable and affordable way. Before joining BILD Alberta, Scott spent a decade as a planning consultant working on private and public sector projects across Canada.