Synergizing Sustainability and Equity: A Blueprint for Exceptional Low Carbon Buildings
The world is facing complex challenges— as engineering professionals, we have a duty to the public to use sustainable and equitable practices in our work to meet society’s needs. Climate change, gender inequality, and lack of affordable housing are examples of three challenges where engineers have a unique and important role to play.
Join us on March 14 to learn about the Low-Carbon Training for Engineering Professionals course, a collaboration between the Climate Risk Institute, Canada Green Building Council, and Polytechnique Montréal, with the participation of Engineers Canada. We’ll discuss how the course draws connections between social inequality including gender inequality, the climate crisis, and affordable housing, and the role of engineers in retrofitting existing buildings and designing new low-carbon buildings across Canada.
This new course not only prepares engineers to rise to the challenge of net zero buildings, but it also presents a clear path forward to address some of the most pressing issues of our time.
Please note this event will take place in English.
When: Thursday, March 14, 2024, 12:00pm EST.
Where: Zoom (register here)
Moderator: Eileen Sowunmi (she/her), Associate, Outreach and Belonging, Engineers Canada
Panellists:
- Kim Bouffard (she/her), Manager, Belonging and Engagement, Engineers Canada
- Dan Dicaire, P.Eng. (he/him), Instructor, Climate Risk Institute, and Manager, Ottawa Community Housing
About the Moderator
Eileen Sowunmi (she/her) is Associate, Outreach and Belonging, at Engineers Canada. As a member of the Belonging and Engagement team, Eileen engages with some of Engineer’s Canada’s key interest holders including the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES), and works closely with her team on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives and outreach endeavors. Eileen is a member of the Canadian Sociological Association. She is passionate about social theory and the protection of the interests of all marginalized people and strives to engage in important work toward this goal.
About the Panellists
Kim Bouffard (she/her) is the Manager of Belonging and Engagement at Engineers Canada. She oversees Engineers Canada’s work towards gender equity and Truth and Reconciliation, and manages Engineers Canada's outreach and engagement initiatives including two national system change projects: the 30 by 30 initiative and the K-12 Collective Impact Project. She currently serves as the Interim President for the Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology (CCWESTT) and has spent over 15 years supporting organizations to make progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, leading national projects and initiatives addressing gender inequity, food insecurity, poverty, and sustainable cities.
Dan Dicaire (he/him) is a Professional Engineer and a Certified Energy Manager working in GHG reduction planning, high performance building development and sustainability. Over the past 14 years at Ottawa Community Housing, he has coordinated the installation of over a 925 kW of solar arrays and managed multi-million dollar lighting, mechanical and plumbing retrofits that have saved over $60M cumulatively. He supported the development of Ontario’s first Mixed-use Passive House at 1290 Coldrey and is currently working with OCH’s development team which has thousands of high performance, low-carbon units in planning and construction, including one of Canada’s largest Passive House building at 811 Gladstone. He leads Canada’s first Net-Zero Panelized Deep Energy Retrofit at 197 Presland and is now supporting OCH and other housing providers to implement various deep energy retrofit strategies in order to achieve net-zero GHG goals.