Speakers

Aderonke Akande

Aderonke Akande is the Manager of Tower and Neighbourhood Revitalization at the City of Toronto. She currently leads the City's Tower Renewal program which focuses on improving the City's older apartment buildings and the neighbourhoods that surround them. Aderonke has led the design and implementation of Hi-RIS, a $10 million financing program designed to support energy retrofits and renewable energy technologies in apartment buildings and a new financing program called Taking Action on Tower Renewal. She has also overseen the implementation of a number of Tower Renewal initiatives, delivering site improvement guidance and implementation supports, and leveraging investments and programming in tower communities. Aderonke is a Registered Professional Planner with a background in sustainable community planning practices and certified Project Management Professional. ×

Jen Arntfield

Jen is the Lead of Sustainable Affordable Housing at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. She led the design of the Sustainable Affordable Housing funding offer and is currently focused on program continuous improvement and operational effectiveness. Prior to joining FCM, Jen led the development of the City of Calgary’s affordable housing strategy and ten year plan. ×

Chris Ballard

Chris Ballard has a history of supporting environmental and land use causes, most recently as the Ontario’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change implementing the government’s plan for a clean environment and a sustainable economy. He also served as the Minister of Housing and the Minister responsible for Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy and a Member of the Treasury Board. Chris’ political experience also includes being a municipal councillor in Aurora, Ontario. Chris is a past Executive Director of the 60,000 member Consumers’ Association of Canada (Ontario) and a founding board member of the Consumers Council of Canada. His leadership in journalism, communications and public affairs includes terms as President and Board member of the Public Affairs Association of Canada. ×

Jeff Belanger

Jeff Belanger is the Director of Asset Management for Windsor Essex Community Housing Corporation. Jeff has been with CHC for 10 years and previously has had an extensive career in Land Development, Real Estate and Construction throughout Canada. Jeff can take a project from conception through construction to completion. Mr. Belanger consistently leads multi-discipline teams in the successful completion of a wide range of projects for CHC including public private partnerships, energy retrofits, and large-scale renovations. Jeff oversees the Asset Management Department, in the important role of responsible management and protection in the investment of valuable public resources by making the right decisions and augmenting the delivery of value. ×

Sean Brady

Sean Brady is a trusted strategy advisor, strategic carbon and energy efficiency consultant and a certified business coach and trainer. Following 30 years developing strategies to overcome Ontario’s complex energy challenges, Sean blends his passion for corporate sustainability with his drive for business success. As a strategic energy management consultant, and as Efficiency Capital’s Director of Business Development, Sean helps clients understand that sustainability and resource optimization can be a platform for profitability and competitiveness. Sharing his expertise with diverse audiences, Sean has acted as brand spokesperson for multiple projects, and leads educational seminars and advisory sessions with ease. ×

Deborah Bryne

Deborah is COO of Kearns Mancini Architects. She has a degree in Structural Engineering with over 18 years of extensive experience working in the architecture and planning, real estate and construction industry. Deborah has been at the forefront of the Passive House conversation, as a Board Member, Designer, Peer Reviewer, Trainer, Speaker, Policy Change Advocate and Writer. She is a founding member of Passive House Canada, Ontario Passive House Group, and the Passive House Association in Ireland. ×

Edward Buset

Edward started New City Contracting in 1997, and he has worked on everything from renovating his Mamma’s dining room to a 40-storey building envelope project in the heart of downtown Vancouver. Over the years, Edward has developed New City Contracting as a one-stop contracting resource for Property Manager and Engineers, and he has developed cost-effective plans for Building Envelope Renewal for all types of building in a unique climate. Edward has frequently given educational presentations on the importance of Building Envelope Maintenance and Repair. He has provided important information to Property Managers and during Strata meetings on the purpose of the building’s “skin” to keep out temperature extremes, moisture, dust, and wind, and not permit weather elements to be trapped inside and cause further deterioration. ×

Mark Carver

Mark is an R&D Project Lead at CanmetENERGY, Natural Resources Canada and a member of the Buildings and Renewables Group. He leads NRCan’s Prefabricated Exterior Energy Retrofit (PEER) project. His research interests are in net-zero energy and passive homes and building enclosures, prefabrication, climate resilient buildings, low-carbon design and construction and cost-optimization. Mark is passionate about making high-performance design, constructionw and renovation mainstream. He has presented at conferences across North America. Mark and his family recently moved out of their retrofit heritage home in Ottawa to a 1970s bungalow that will be their next project. ×

Stephen Crawley

Stephen Crawley is New City Contracting’s Ontario General Manager, has recently joined New City after running a successful marketing company which provided services for small and medium businesses throughout York Region and the GTA. His background spans over 25 years in senior marketing positions in major Tier One consumer organizations, including Coca-Cola, Canada Bread and Rogers Communications. His strategic and analytic marketing capabilities as well as his ability to build trust and respect will hugely leverage New City’s BC success into the GTA and Southern Ontario Markets. ×

Dan Dicaire

Dan Dicaire has an undergraduate and a Master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Ottawa. He is a P. Eng and a Certified Energy Manager. Dan currently works for Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) as the Manager of Energy and Sustainability. Over the past 11 years, he has coordinated the installation of 500 kW of solar arrays on 36 different OCH sites and managed a portfolio wide LED Lighting Retrofit which will save over 4.6 GWh of electricity annually. He supported OCH’s development team to produce Ontario’s first Mixed-use Passive House at 1290 Coldrey and is currently part of OCH’s development team which is building Canada’s largest Passive House building at 811 Gladstone as well as another 1000 units worth of passive house low, mid and high rise buildings. He is also developing the Zero GHG retrofit strategy for OCH’s 15,000 unitswhich started with the Presland Net-Zero Retrofit where a 4 unit block of townhomes was retrofitted to net-zero energy and GHG using pre-fabricated panels. Under his guidance, OCH’s Sustainability department has saved over $46.5M and in 2020, Dan received the Association of Energy Engineers’ Young Energy Professional of the Year award for Canada. He is the proud father of a lovely 5 year old daughter. ×

Patrick Fyfe

Patrick is a Mechanical Engineer in Training from the University of British Columbia. Over his four-year career he has specialized in Mechanical Building Systems. Patrick has completed many types of projects from commercial, industrial, educational, residential, and retail projects. Patrick has recently joined Impact Engineering as a Project Manager to follow his passion of reducing GHG emissions and energy usage to create a better future for generations to come. ×

Sarah Gray

Sarah Gray has been in the building science field for over 20 years. Her work is focussed on heritage building rehabilitation, existing building condition assessment and renewal, building enclosure consulting for new construction, and Building Enclosure Commissioning services. Previous speaking engagements include: “Masonry and Passive House: Technical Considerations and Case Studies for New-Build and Retrofit” presented at the North American Passive House Conference, October 18, 2018; “Building Energy Retrofits in Canada” webinar presented for Rockwool, June 8, 2021; “Building Enclosure Considerations for Heritage Buildings” presented at The Buildings Show December 2020 ;“Retaining Buildings in Four Dimensions.” Presented at the Ontario Association of Architects annual conference, May 2018, among others. ×

Johnny Hehr

Jonny is a registered Architect and Managing Director of Design at Gibbs Gage Architects. Jonny has taken his education from the Emily Carr Institute Art & Design and Masters from the University of Calgary to achieve award winning designs in furniture and architecture. Jonny is active in the community as a guest critic at the University of Calgary and also works with local high schools to teach emerging students about the opportunity and impact design can have on our world. Jonny is passionate about fostering creativity and wonder in today's youth and the power of place-making in architecture. He has had the opportunity to work on a variety of project types during his career including retrofit's and renovations of existing office towers to respond to deteriorating facades and the utilization of tower infrastructure to suit the growing needs of housing in downtown cores. ×

Jennifer Hogan

Jennifer is a Certified Engineering Technologist with over 13 years of experience in building science engineering. Jennifer is currently the Practice Leader for Energy Management, Building Envelope Commissioning, and Passive House Services at Pretium Engineering Inc. In addition to her extensive experience in the investigation of building envelope failures, building condition assessments, specification writing, contract administration and field review of building condition rehabilitation projects, and capital planning studies; Jennifer also has experience in energy and green retrofit analysis, Passive House, hygrothermal modelling, building enclosure commissioning, and artistic renderings. Jennifer has been an active participating member of the International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants (IIBEC, formerly RCI) since 2012, serving on the Board of Directors since 2015. Jennifer is a frequent presenter at all the associations she participates in and has authored several technical publications. ×

Tom Hunter

As CEO, Tom leads the strategic renewal and redevelopment of CityHousing Hamilton’s portfolio, the first phase of which includes four new builds and one high-rise retrofit all to the Passive House standard. CHH is also engaging in two development partnerships that will revitalize social housing communities while broadening the spectrum of affordability provided. An experienced senior leader from the healthcare sector, he has deep experience in fostering high-performance culture, guiding organizational transformation, and is known for his work in the field of mental health. Tom’s integrated approach to understanding what impacts health outcomes has shaped his determination to create high-performance buildings that meet the needs of individuals while benefiting the local community and contribute to a sociallysustainable city. He champions the City’s vision to be: “the best place to raise a child and age successfully,” bringing a human-centred approach to housing. ×

Jonathan Frank

Jonathan (Jon) Frank serves as Head of Clean Energy at Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB) and is involved in all aspects of project financing. Jon joined VCIB through the acquisition of CoPower, Canada’s first sustainable investment platform and a leading provider of clean energy and efficiency project financing, where he served as a Managing Director and Head of Project Finance. Jon has been involved in a wide range of clean energy technologies across Canada that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate strong financial returns including solar and wind energy, energy efficiency retrofits, geothermal heating and cooling, bio-energy, combined heat and power and energy storage. Jon has served on a number of advisory committees on low carbon strategies for the Canadian Green Building Council, the City of Toronto, MaRS Discovery District and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Green Municipal Fund and has an ongoing role on the Advisory Committee of Low Carbon Cities Canada (LC3). Prior to joining CoPower, Jon was Director of Business Development at SunEdison Canada and began his clean energy career in Technical Sales and Business Development at RESCo Energy. Jon was one of the founding executives of Emerging Leaders for Solar Energy and has served as Co-Chair of the National Board of Directors leading initiatives including a charity solar project in Nepal and Canada’s first national mentorship program for renewable energy professionals. He is also the 2015 recipient of the Canadian Solar Industries Association’s “GameChanger” Award for Emerging Solar Leader. ×

Joanna Jackson

Joanna Jackson joined Minto in 2017 after 15 years as a mechanical building services consultant and has used her engineering experience to improve the energy and water performance of Minto’s residential building portfolio. Currently, Joanna monitors performance and utility consumption to ensure buildings are operating efficiently, and she identifies opportunities to implement new technology to further reduce energy, water and carbon intensity. Joanna’s speaking engagements include hosting a “discussion pod” at CaGBC’s 2020 Building Lasting Change conference, a panelist on the CFAA’s June 2021 “Utility Metering for ESG” webinar, and several CaGBC Disclosure Challenge participant webinars. Joanna also presented on Sustainability and Technology at Minto REIT’s 2021 Virtual Investor Day. ×

Scott Kennedy

Scott has been a principal of Cornerstone Architecture, currently a 15 employee firm, since 1988. He is a Professional Engineer with a degree from University of Alberta and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from UBC. Scott has committed Cornerstone Architecture to start the conversation about Passive House and its principles with each new client. The firm has had success and currently has an 85 suite mixed use 6 storey wood frame Passive House building under construction, and 11 additional Passive House projects at various stages of development. “The Passive House concept is important and I believe we are just getting started. We must spread the word and protect it from being watered down, as it is a wholistic concept that delivers a reliable building if it is executed properly. Hopefully in the future the Passive House standard or something similar will be standard practise and our organization may cease to be relevant other than as a liaison to code committees on the subject. We can only dream.” ×

John Kooymans

John is a renowned engineer with over 30 years of experience in building design. He leads RJC’s Structural Glass and Façade Engineering group, delivering excellence in structural glass systems, bridges and stairs. John is well-known for his strong interest in commercial, institutional and specialty glass projects. He is also respected for his strong background in engineering for live theatres and shopping centres. A visionary with boundless creativity, John has a proven track record of creating some of the most extraordinary glass structures in North America. John also is committed to sharing his knowledge about structural glass and facade engineering. He is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Waterloo teaching a masters level structural glass design course; the first of it’s kind in Canada. Additionally, John speaks at international glass symposiums in Europe and North America and sits on the editorial board for The Journal Glass Structures and Engineering. ×

Laszlo Lepp

Laszlo Lepp studied and graduated in Architecture at the University in Innsbruck, Austria. After four years experiences in an architecture studio in Innsbruck he completed the civil engineering exam. In 2010 he started at the Passive House Institute as researcher for energy efficient buildings where he is currently the office manager of the Department Innsbruck. Since 2018 he is also member of the scientific advisory board of the Austrian network organization Passivhaus Austria. His tasks include consulting and certification of national and international new built projects and refurbishments of existing buildings; the certification of components in the field of opaque building envelope, such as wall and construction systems; project management and cooperation in various funded research projects; as well as further education on the topic of passive house (Passive House Designer, PHPP and designPH workshops, lectures, etc.). Laszlo Lepp has given numerous lectures at international conferences worldwide, published many technical papers on the Passive House and is one of the main Passive House experts in Austria. ×

Kai Liang

Kai Liang is the key figure of New City Contracting’s project teams and has the overall success of delivering a project’s set targets both safely and correctly. With a UBC Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy, Kai is a quick learner and has the hunger for new knowledge. Kai joined New City Contracting over 4 years ago and has developed a strategic approach on every project; being able to visualize completion of project at the beginning during planning phase. While managing her projects, Kai has created positive communication procedures with stakeholders and residents which has evolved New City Contracting’s communication methods. ×

Saverio Lopez

Saverio Lopez has been a big part of New City Contracting’s growth since 2013 and is one New City’s senior project managers. With a long history of specialty sales and operations management at Home Depot, Saverio has brought expertise in Business Development, Project Coordination, Operations' Management and Customer Relations. His hands-on management style has solved many problems from staffing, scheduling, and client communication services. He interacts productively with a broad range of personalities and cultures from all roles and walks in life and builds effective business relationships at all levels of the corporate structure. ×

Bernadette Majdell

The CEO of HomeSpace Society since 2016, Bernadette Majdell has 20 years of experience within the affordable housing, development and property management sector. Over her career, she has held leadership positions at Hestia Group, AgeCare and Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation. Bernadette has been active in the homeless sector serving as a board member at the Calgary Homeless Foundation. She held a prominent role in the development of Calgary’s 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness and participated on the committee recommending the creation of HomeSpace Society. Bernadette has built her career around helping organizations and people succeed. Her strong background in leadership, strategic planning and building collaborative business relationships have enabled her to lead HomeSpace to become one of Calgary’s leading affordable housing providers. ×

Carolina Maloney

Carolina’s experience includes a variety of construction projects focusing on building envelope design and construction. Carolina has been involved in a variety of evaluation, restoration, and new construction projects for both residential and commercial buildings. Her experience includes contract administration and construction review, diagnosis of building envelope failures, performing design reviews and designing of building envelope systems. ×

Ed May

Ed May is an Architect and Passive House Consultant. Ed has been an Adjunct Professor at Parsons the NewSchool University in NYC as well an Industry Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ where he directed the 2015 Solar Decathlon program. In addition, Ed teaches with the Passive House Academy the North American Passive House Network, and Passive House Canada and is certified by the Passive House Institute (PHI) in Germany and the Passive House Institute of the US (PHIUS) as a Certified Passive House Consultant. ×

Koré Mason

Koré Mason is an Associate Director for Turner and Townsend, working within Consulting UK, currently responsible for leading a major home decarbonization Accelerator. As a seasoned leader with over 10 years of sustainability experience she is both personally and professionally committed to tackling climate change by providing smart carbon reduction solutions. Her ambition and drive have seen her develop and lead award winning multi-million-pound initiatives. Koré is known for delivering solutions that challenge the status quo and drive cost-effective innovative decarbonisation solutions and investing deeply in developing strong multilevel stakeholder partnerships. She most recently led a team of commercial and technical experts to develop and launch a public private partnership aiming to create a transformational change in our approach to home retrofit through delivering performance assured, net zero, offsite manufactured, home retrofit at an economic price point. Before that she worked in several roles within UK central and regional government and the Clinton Foundation focused on home energy efficiency, sustainable supply chains and carbon reporting. Koré holds a first-class BSc (Hons) in Multimedia and Business Management – which led to her earlier career with IBM UK and Accenture UK where she worked in technology consulting for 6 years. She is based in Turner and Townsend’s UK office in London. ×

Ana Maria Medina

Ana Maria has 20+ years of international policy and management experience related to environmental issues and energy management. She has been part of the Environment & Energy Division for 12 years, providing energy management services for internal clients, advancing the climate change adaptation and resilience file, and more recently, leading the development of the Net Zero Existing Buildings Strategy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, post-graduate degrees in Environmental Management and Quality Assurance, and is a certified PMP. ×

Ben Mills

Ben sees his mechanical and energy engineering practice as a way of inspiring people to reach for a more sustainable future. His objective is to push performance and ambition to achieve optimal occupant comfort through low energy, low carbon design. Ben has almost 20 years of diverse project experience both in scale and strategy; Institutional, Office, MURBs, Health Care. Ben has assisted clients to achieve substantial energy savings, including full building electrification. ×

Stephen Montgomery

Mechanical engineer and Building Systems Pursuit Manager, Stephen Montgomery, has 20 years of experience in the building industry. His experiences in both design and construction have developed into a pragmatic approach to resolving the complexity of modern high performing buildings. Among the first engineers certified by the CaGBC in 2003, Stephen has witnessed a transformation of the construction industry through the introduction of various social and legislated environmental pressures. With this experience, Stephen seeks to assemble the right collection of environmental and systems solutions to meet the unique challenges of each project and the unique vision of each client. ×

Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore is a Building Systems Analyst at Steven Winter Associates, Inc. specializing in Passive House, Net Zero, and advanced energy modeling. Thomas works on integrated teams of architects and engineers to design and construct exceptionally efficient buildings. Thomas brings a deep understanding of building envelope, HVAC, and domestic hot water systems to all projects. Thomas seeks to move projects towards decarbonization, electrification, and Net Zero Ready designs using the principles of Passive House. Thomas has 6 years of professional experience in the field of building science and energy efficient building design. His direct project experience includes large institutional projects such as the Passive House student dormitories designed for University of Toronto, and University of Southern Maine. Thomas also has extensive experience on affordable multifamily residential projects such as Betances V in Bronx, NY, and Beach Green Dunes II in Far Rockaway, NY. ×

Heather Morley

Morley has proudly served as Executive Director of Inn from the Cold since April 2019. She brings decades of experience and advocacy in the social services and homeless-serving sectors across Canada and in the United States. The focus of her work has always been supporting families from crisis to stability. Heather holds a MA in Counselling from the University of San Francisco. She has instructed at the University of Calgary, presented nationally and internationally at conferences focused on homelessness and domestic violence, and published research on Women’s Shelters in Canada. Heather is committed to supporting our communities’ most vulnerable, and to raising awareness of homelessness and social injustices in our society. ×

Alan Murphy

As a founding partner of Green Reason, Alan brings over 25 years of architecture, interiors, project and construction management experience in the building industry. Alan’s experience ranges from managing commercial redevelopment and national construction programs to providing sustainable consulting services. Alan was one of the early LEED and WELL AP’s in Canada, a founding director of Passive House Canada, is a member of the CaGBC’s Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group, the University of Waterloo, Faculty of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Council and is also a Certified Passive House Designer. Alan founded Green Reason to offer clients smarter, more sustainable building solutions. His comprehensive understanding of building design, construction and operations allows him to develop integrated solutions to sustainable building that balance cost and schedule with a client’s environmental goals. ×

Jim Nostedt

Jim has been involved in energy conservation and sustainability in buildings for most of his forty-year engineering career. Early in his career, he worked in energy performance contracting, designing energy-efficient buildings, and later as Sustainability Manager for the Royal Canadian Air Force. In 2019, he started SEEFAR Building Analytics Inc. to focus on improving the sustainability of new and existing buildings. SEEFAR-Valuation© is a program that compares the Total Cost of Building Ownership (TCBO) of low first cost code buildings to High-Performance Buildings (HPB). HPB use over 80% less energy, have a longer life, and better indoor air quality. Our analysis shows that HPB have a 30 to 40% lower TCBO. When people can see that HPB have significantly lower costs, they are more likely to build them, which will reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These same TCBO principles can be applied to retrofitting existing buildings with similar results. ×

Lori O'Malley

Lori O’Malley, a P.Eng., M.A.Sc., and LEED Green Associate, has specialized uniquely in building envelope design and construction for over 24 years, serving as PCL’s in-house building envelope engineering specialist for the last 12. Based out of PCL’s Toronto District, Lori provides technical assistance on high-performance building envelope projects across North America. In addition to providing technical assistance throughout the project life to identify improved building envelope performance solutions, she assists in material selection, identifying continuity concerns, and potential constructability and sequencing concerns of building envelope throughout the design, construction and commissioning phases of a project. Before joining PCL, Lori was an associate responsible for the Façade Consulting Services department at a large consulting engineering firm in Toronto. Lori has spoken at several industry events and lectures including Facade Tectonics, OBEC, Construct Canada and the University of Toronto. ×

Andrew Peel

Andrew’s primary areas of expertise are in low carbon buildings and renewable energy. His professional and academic experience ranges from consultancy, program management, authoring technical and non-technical articles, course and lecture delivery, and technical research. Andrew provides Passive House and sustainability consultancy, certification, and training services to the building sector. He is one of only a handful of Canadian-based Passive House certifiers accredited by the German Passivhaus Institut. ×

Leslie Peer

A specialist in evaluating and predicting the durability of steel, concrete and timber structures, Leslie has worked for over 20 years on construction and renovation projects, and is a recognized authority in his field. Leslie is a technical specialist for RJC Vancouver’s Restoration and Building Science practice. His involvement spans a broad range, including project management, technical review and education in materials engineering, building enclosure and façade engineering, as well as stress analysis and instrumentation. Leslie’s projects have required specifications for durability and service life, investigation and quantification of damage to structures, and specifications for the rehabilitation of structures. Additionally, Leslie has taught courses and delivered seminars in both educational and professional settings. ×

Bryan Purcell

Bryan Purcell is the Vice President of Policy and Programs at The Atmospheric Fund (TAF), an award-winning public agency dedicated to addressing climate change in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Bryan’s work focuses on accelerating decarbonization through development of innovative policies, programs, and business solutions. Bryan has been instrumental in designing and implementing a range of climate solutions, including key roles in the development of the Toronto’s TransformTO Climate Plan and the Toronto Green Standards for new construction. Bryan oversees TAF’s Retrofit Accelerator team, which partners with housing providers to scale-up deep energy retrofits that enhance indoor environmental quality and create green jobs.  ×

Michael Roche

As RDH’s Manager of Construction Services, Michael Roche is committed to delivering high quality project management services through the RDH Construction Project Management (CPM) division. His work includes overseeing building enclosure renewal projects on existing, occupied buildings for residential, commercial, and institutional buildings. Michael’s education, work, and project management experience has contributed to his comprehensive understanding of all project lifecycle stages. Michael’s goal is to act with the stakeholders’ best interests at heart, regardless of project size and complexity. ×

Marine Sanchez

Being part of Canada’s highly experienced Passive House professionals circle, Marine leads RDH’s Passive House consulting services on the East coast. She is one of the few Building Certifiers in North-America and joined RDH’s specialist team to focus on large-scale mixed-use projects. Her current efforts are on student residences, leading the University of Toronto and Victoria student housing and dining projects through an integrated and front-loaded design process. She also concentrates on the site delivery of high-performance buildings, having led repeatedly site teams unfamiliar with Passive House towards certification. The rest of her time is split between supporting Toronto implement their Zero-Emissions Buildings Framework and teaching in the PH community since 2013. ×

Ya’el Santopinto

Ya’el is a registered Architect, Associate and practice lead at ERA who specializes in affordable housing retrofit and the adaptive reuse of existing buildings. Ya’el is ERA’s lead Tower Renewal Architect, overseeing a team of specialists to execute complex, holistic and resilient energy retrofits on post-war apartment towers across the region. She has been Project Architect on the retrofit of more than 1,000 social housing units, with specialized expertise in retrofit with residents in place, integrated design delivery, and phasing complex projects for maximum investment and carbon-reduction impact. Ya’el is also the Director of Research and Partnerships with the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal. Through the Tower Renewal Partnership initiative, she leads research on best-in-class practices in energy retrofit, green financing, and social and health outcomes of renewal, working with the federal government and other partners. Ya’el holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Toronto and is a Member of the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada. ×

Noah Slater

Noah Slater is the Director of Capital Planning, Design & Engineering for Toronto Community Housing. He oversees the ongoing renewal of over 50 million square feet of residential space; a public asset portfolio worth over $10B. As an architect with nearly 20 years of senior experience, he has led the delivery of a wide variety of complex mixed-use, residential, commercial, and institutional projects. Since he has joined TCHC 4 years ago, he has led the delivery of hundreds of capital projects for TCHC worth over $1B in construction. Noah’s work is focused on implementing a transformative capital action plan for TCHC; a multi-year investment plan focused on renewal, accessibility, and energy performance. ×

Graeme Stewart

Graeme Stewart is a registered architect and planner and is a Principal at ERA Architects. Graeme has been involved in numerous urban design, cultural planning, conservation and architecture projects with particular focus on neighbourhood design and regional sustainability. Graeme was a key initiator of the Tower Renewal Partnership. This initiative in low-carbon retrofit and community reinvestment examines the future of Canada’s remarkable stock of modern tower neighbourhoods in collaboration with CMHC, the United Way, City of Toronto, Province of Ontario, University of Toronto, and other partners. Graeme is a founding director of the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal (CUG+R), an interdisciplinary urban research organization, working with NGOs, academic, government and community partners. CUG+R supports policy and action toward more equitable and resilient urban regions. Graeme is a member of the Toronto Community Housing Design Review Panel and a regular lecturer in Universities in Ontario and abroad. Graeme is also the co-editor of Concrete Toronto: A Guidebook to Concrete Architecture from the Fifties to the Seventies, and in 2014 was recipient of the Jane Jacobs Prize for his ongoing work related to Tower Renewal. Graeme has studied architecture in Canada and Germany and received his Master of Architecture from the University of Toronto. ×

Devon Stopps

Devon is a Senior Engineer with City of Toronto's Environment and Energy Division, focused on moving all buildings within Toronto toward net zero emissions. Devon's expertise extends beyond building systems and energy efficiency into finance, data analysis, and strategy. Devon has an extremely strong and diverse technical background with over a decade of experience providing technical guidance, operating entrepreneurial businesses, developing and implementing policies and strategies, building teams, and integrating big data into decision making processes. ×

Jonathan Rodrigues

Jonathan Rodrigues is a LEED AP BC+C and LEED Green accredited project manager with over 11 years of experience in the construction industry. In that time, Jonathan has developed an expertise in rapid construction with non-negotiable deadlines. He has successfully led or been involved in the completion and management of aggressive fast-track construction schedules, while upholding his reputation as a collaborative, knowledgeable, hard-driving and disciplined construction professional. Both a problem solver and a leader, Jonathan understands how to effectively manage cost control on complicated construction projects such as the Ken Soble Tower Passive House Retrofit, Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, Humber River Hospital, Palisades on the Glen Retirement Home and the Luna, Montage and Neo Condominiums at CityPlace. ×

Duncan Rowe

Duncan has been involved with RJCs building envelope consulting since 2007 and has spoken at several past conferences and industry seminars throughout his career. He is focused on improving our existing buildings and findings ways to delivery durable and functional solutions. ×

Andrew Van Der Straeten

Superintendent Andrew Van Der Straeten, has devoted over 19 years to the construction industry, providing him with well-rounded construction experience from foundations, structure and envelopes through to finishes, commissioning, turnover, and closeout. Andrew’s attention to detail and drive to succeed at planning, scheduling, and coordinating has allowed him to be involved in many challenging and successful projects. Andrew is known for his innovative solutions for clients’ unique needs on various projects, such as tower renewals including the Passive House retrofit of the Ken Soble Tower, hospital redevelopments, community landmarks, and resorts. ×