October 25, sessions 7-9
Session 7
Resilience Rising – Exploring Climate Equity and Reconciliation
Wednesday, October 25th, 2023
Climate change poses the greatest threat to those least responsible for it, including low-income, equity seeking, and Indigenous communities. Together, we must work to address the unequal burdens made worse by climate change while ensuring that all people share the benefits of climate protection efforts. Join The City’s Equity Program Lead, the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY), and Blood Reserve Land Management on a journey of resilience as they highlight the remarkable efforts of Indigenous communities and youth in tackling urgent climate issues, and forging a sustainable and equitable future for all.
Emcee
Jaspreet Sandhu, MSW, RSW
Equity Program Lead, Community Strategies, The City of CalgaryJaspreet (she/her) is the Equity Program Lead for the City of Calgary. She has been with the City of Calgary for 20 years working in a variety of Business Units. Her worked has spanned over the past two decades in frontline, community, and leadership positions. Her City of Calgary work is complemented with volunteer work in the non-profit sector, including work internationally in Scotland and Saint Lucia.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work, and recently completed her Human Rights Connection certification through Equitas, providing a new human rights lens to her work. Jaspreet’s experiences and education are all focused on advancing, social equity and justice through programs and services for equity-denied groups.
Speakers
Alvin First Rider
Kainai Nation, Environmental Technician, Blood Reserve Land ManagementAlvin First Rider is an enrolled member of the Kainai nation of Alberta and a descendant of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana of the Blackfoot Confederacy. Alvin is an environmental scientist who works for Blood Reserve Land Management as an environmental technician. He works towards rekindling connections between the elements to help create balance in the environment. Alvin has coordinated environmental, archaeological and traditional land use assessments, and works towards bridging western science and black foot ecological knowledge to help balance ecosystem health. Alvin also enjoys birding, hiking, kayaking and just being out on the land. Alvin sits on boards such as the Alberta Prairie Conservation Forum, PCESC23, and other grassland conservation groups.
LeeAnne Ireland
Executive Director, Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY)LeeAnne Ireland is a mixed-race, Anishinaabe person from the central Ontario area. A graduate of Trent University with a degree in Indigenous Studies, LeeAnne has been the Executive Director at the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY) since 2008. LeeAnne primarily focuses on social justice issues facing Indigenous youth living in the Calgary area, and with their involvement, creates programs, tools, and supports that foster healing, well-being, and empowerment. The Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth has been an influential not-for-profit organization in Calgary since 2001, which works to provide essential programming and services to Calgary’s Indigenous youth.
Adonai Nicholson
Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY)Adonai Nicholson is Mountain Cree from Northern Alberta but grew up in Calgary, Alberta. He grew up in a family where everyone was fairly crafty and artistic and he enjoys creating things. Adonai wants to spread information and inspire people with what he creates. His artwork is featured in the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY) app IndigiTRAILS, and he is also on the cover of their New Tribe Magazine advocating for climate change action.
Session 8
The New Metric – Embodied Carbon
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Our homes and buildings are a major contributor to global GHG emissions. Most of our attention thus far has been on reducing emissions associated with the operation of buildings – operational carbon. More recently, we’ve realized this isn’t the complete picture and we also need to consider CO2 emissions associated with the production of building materials. Only by taking a life-cycle approach to buildings can we understand and address their impacts on climate. This includes considering the emissions associated with the production and transportation of building materials, construction and end-of-life management of buildings – what is referred to as embodied carbon.
Emcee
Gil Yaron
Managing Director, Circular Innovation, Light HouseGil is Managing Director, Circular Innovation at Light House where he leads the organization's work advancing circular policy and practice in the built environment. Gil brings more than three decades of experience across multiple sectors, including environmental policy, ESG reporting, managing extended producer responsibility programs in 8 provinces and supporting the development and implementation of CRD diversion strategies for local governments. He most recently co-authored A Blueprint for Change: Preventing Demolition Waste Through Home Relocation and Deconstruction and is collaborating on several initiatives to develop a multi-factorial framework that includes life-cycle analysis to assess building materials. When he isn't thinking about buildings, you'll find him at his piano composing musicals.
Speakers
Shijie Wang
Senior Project Manager, Light HouseShijie is a leader in sustainable building practices with expertise in embodied carbon calculations. His work includes advising clients on the use of carbon-friendly materials in building design and conducting embodied carbon calculations on building projects to meet regulatory and certification requirements. He recently presented on new embodied carbon requirements under Vancouver’s Building Bylaw at Buildex 2023.
Adam Stoker
Senior Sustainable Infrastructure Engineer, Climate and Environment, The City of CalgaryAdam has been working with energy-efficient and sustainable buildings since 2004. His background in mechanical engineering, project management and green design allows him to offer a broad range of knowledge and expertise on sustainable design and environmental stewardship. Adam has worked on nearly 100 green building projects across western Canada and has worked directly with designers, contractors, and building operators in all phases of the building lifecycle. Through his work with the Canada Green Building Council, he has supported the development of programs and tools that push the industry forward including the LEED Rating System and the Zero Carbon Building Standard. In his current role as a Senior Sustainable Infrastructure Engineer at the City of Calgary, he is championing climate action and sustainable design across a multitude of projects.
Adam Auer
President and CEO, Cement Association of CanadaAdam was appointed President and CEO of the Cement Association of Canada (CAC) in April 2022. Formerly Vice President of Sustainability, Adam has spent more than two decades working with public, private and non-profit institutions, leading policies and programs to support industrial decarbonization. As CAC’s President and CEO, Adam’s leadership is focused on ensuring the cement industry remains a competitive leader in Canada’s transition to a climate resilient net-zero economy. He also serves as a Director of the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute as well as on the Canadian Climate Institute’s Council of Advisors. Before joining the CAC in 2012, Adam managed Environment Canada’s Corporate Environmental Innovation initiative - a multi-stakeholder program to promote the business and financial case for corporate environmental leadership and the link between sustainability and an innovative and competitive economy. Adam holds a Masters' of Environmental Studies from York University and a Bachelor of Science in Ecology from the University of British Columbia.
Jon Makar, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Low Carbon Construction Materials Theme Lead, Low Carbon Built Environment Challenge Program, National Research Council CanadaDr. Jon Makar is the Low Carbon Construction Materials theme lead for the National Research Council’s platform to Decarbonize the Construction Sector. He coordinates internal construction materials research activities, strategic planning, and works with academics, industry, and governments to develop knowledge to support the sector in deploying materials that meet Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. Dr. Makar is also a Senior Research Officer in NRC’s Construction Research Centre and a registered professional engineer in Ontario. He has written over 100 research papers and reports in various fields, including steel, cement, concrete, polymers, wood products, and fire performance. His work on cement-carbon nanotube composites has been widely cited, and he has been identified as one of the top 2% of researchers worldwide in his field of work.
Session 9
Accelerating Retrofits in Calgary’s Residential Sector
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
What will it take to accelerate retrofits in the residential sector in Calgary? In this session, learn about innovative climate solutions making an impact in Calgary, through work supported by Alberta Ecotrust’s Climate Innovation Fund. Hear about the Home Upgrades Program, which provides fully subsidized upgrades to lower income households, and Passive House Alberta’s work on electrification and its impact on deep energy retrofits. These projects are approaching residential retrofits from both an individual and societal impact level. Alberta Ecotrust Foundation’s Climate Innovation Fund launched in 2020 to support local climate action, through the Low Carbon Cities Canada Network, a pan-Canadian approach to supporting emissions reductions in cities.
Emcee
Brittany Tran
Corporate Environmental Specialist, Community Energy, The City of CalgaryBrittany is an environmental professional with experience in developing and implementing energy efficiency programming and strategies. In her current role at The City of Calgary, Brittany is a Corporate Environmental Specialist leading the Energy Poverty portfolio which supports households that can’t afford their utility bills through energy efficiency upgrades.
Speakers
Adil Shivji
Program Specialist, Climate Innovation Fund, Alberta Ecotrust FoundationAdil is a Program Specialist leading the Climate Innovation Fund in Calgary. Working in partnership with the City of Calgary and the City of Edmonton, the Climate Innovation Fund initiates, supports and accelerates urban carbon-reduction solutions in the two largest urban centres in Alberta, helping those cities and Canada meet their climate change targets. Adil has used his several years of diverse leadership experience in consulting, management, and the environment towards shaping organizations to build a culture of sustainability within and setting direction towards our sustainable future. His comprehensive experience encompasses everything from implementing renewable energy projects in the developing world to managing the first municipal Carbon Budget Framework project in North America.
Stefanie Drozda
Program Specialist, Climate Innovation Fund, Alberta Ecotrust FoundationStefanie is a Program Specialist leading the Climate Innovation Fund in Edmonton. Stefanie aims to connect, support, and advance the ideas and people leading urban climate solutions in Edmonton and Calgary. With a passion for the environment cultivated while growing up in rural northern Alberta, Stefanie holds a BSc in Environmental Economics and Policy from the University of Alberta. She has worked in the sustainability field for nearly a decade, in the post-secondary and municipal government sectors.
Frank Crawford
Education Committee Lead, Passive House Alberta FoundationFrank is a Professional Civil Engineer and a Certified Passive House Designer and Tradesperson. He designed, built and now lives in one of the first Alberta homes built to the International Passive House Standard. Through his work as an Energy Efficiency Consultant, the Education Committee lead of Passive House Alberta and a Passive House Canada instructor, he helps others learn how to achieve the benefits of building or renovating to a High Performance Building standard while minimizing the embodied and operational carbon and capital costs.
Yasmin Abraham
Co-Founder, Kambo Energy GroupYasmin is a leading expert in equity based energy and climate programming, working with governments and utilities across North America to design and deliver inclusive solutions. Yasmin is President and Co-Founder of Kambo Energy Group, a social enterprise that reduces energy poverty and improves housing in communities that have historically been underprioritized across the pacific northwest. For over 14 years Kambo has supported communities through it’s three flagship programs each designed to address a unique gap in the market: Empower Me, an education and awareness program designed to support environmental justice communities; the Home Upgrades Program, Alberta’s first deep energy retrofit program to reduce energy poverty, and Community Power which works with Tribal and First Nations to take action on housing.