Archives: Seminar Listing for 2010 Show

William Partridge is the Executive Vice President of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Calgary, a position he has held for the past several years.

A native of Kingston, Ontario, Bill is a graduate of Queen's University at Kingston with degrees in Urban Geography and Political Science, and graduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning. His continued education commitment has earned him certifications in management, adult education and association management.

Bill is a member of the Canadian Society of Association Executives, and the American Society of Association Executives. As well, Bill has lectured on various aspects of Association Management in Canada and Internationally. He has authored articles on association management topics which have been published in international association journals.

He also teaches BOMA Floor Measurement and other subjects to industry members. He serves on the BOMA International (Washington, DC) Floor Measurement Standard Committee. He has pioneered internet-based distance learning for the commercial real estate sector in North America and has positioned BOMA as a leader in this form of adult training and professional development with. His most recent achievement is the successful introduction of Competency Certification for floor measurement professionals.

Presently, Bill is actively involved in several conservation-related organizations, and cultural societies and serves on the Boards of several not for profit organizations. When not working or volunteering, Bill enjoys many outdoor pursuits and his latest avocational challenge, the Great Highland Bagpipe.

Mike Fleming has been actively selling Multie Family Properties in Calgary since 1975. Mike Fleming has been involved in Multi Family trades of hundreds of buildings and thousands of units through out the past 35 years and experienced the market in the various fluctuations that have had occurred.

Michael Kehoe is the Broke of Fairfield Commercial Real Estate Inc. a commercial real estate brokerage specializing in retail real estate. Mr. Kehoe has thirty five years experience in the shopping centre and commercial real estate industry as a real estate broker, leasing representative, mall manager and marketing director. Mr. Kehoe has extensive senior level experience with national and regional shopping centre development firms striking out on his own in 1991 with the formation of Fairfield Commercial. Mr. Kehoe is based in Calgary, Alberta and is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centres and the Middle East Council of Shopping Centres.

Gerson Lehrman Group Councils a global network of professionals who deliver expertise and decision – making assistance to business, government and investment leaders around the world.

David Lees is an Associate with Gordon Commercial Realty, where he specializes in office leasing within the Calgary market. Since 2004, he has successfully negotiated leases for more than 300 office and land transactions for a wide range of clients. An extensive construction background, stemming from a position as senior project manager for a Calgary-based construction firm, allows David to add insight into the costs and logistics issues faced by nearly all office tenants.

Luke Stiles is a founding partner of Advent Commercial Real Estate Group. He began his commercial real estate career in 2002 as an assistant in a boutique brokerage and in this role covered all aspects of marketing and research for a wide range of commercial product categories. In the progression from assistant to a top producer Luke has worked on the sales, leasing and development of industrial buildings, industrial land and suburban office projects. While Luke’s focus is on the industrial market, he has the tools to provide his client’s with insight to the dynamics between the industrial, land and suburban office markets. A diverse list of clients involving regional to national, and start up to publically traded entities, has given him a broad expertise to provide ‘value add’ to past and current projects. To this end he has been involved in transactions representing approximately 1,000,000 square feet, 750 acres and over $100,000,000 in value.

Mogens Smed: Considered the leading voice of Modular Interior Construction in North America, Mogens Smed is taking the entire building industry even further with his company, DIRTT Environmental Solutions. The acronym stands for Doing It Right This Time. The company, started in 2005, soared to sales of nearly $100-million by 2009. Mogens is the recipient of several awards, most recently the American Society of Interior Designers Product Prize for an Individual. The top design magazine in the industry, Interior Design, awarded DIRTT “Best Architectural Product of the Year.”

Following in his cabinetmaker father’s footsteps, in the 1970s Mogens started in the office furniture business with his brother. After much success and some setbacks, he moved into the world of modular interiors with Smed Manufacturing. It became a publicly-traded company, SMED International, sold in 2000 to Haworth Inc. for $300 million.  Mogens moved to Evans Consoles as CEO in 2002 before establishing DIRTT.

Albert Bicol champions the use of sustainable solutions in his projects and initiated/leads Cobalt’s Sustainable Master Planning services. He has extensive expertise in Sustainable Master Planning (SMP), passive building design, modelling building energy usage, thermal comfort and indoor air quality conditions. 

Albert has a wide range of experience in Canada, USA, and Asia. This experience includes the SMP for several university campuses, mall/retail developments, mixed used developments in the Philippines, and 20 building (eight city blocks) sites for the Southeast False Creek 2010 Vancouver Olympic Athletes Village which includes the design of a 61-unit seniors housing complex with a Net-Zero Energy/GHG emissions goals.  Other projects include building systems modelling and design for the Montenay Burnaby Incineration Plant’s office building and a fully underground library for a private college (both with a goal of Net-Zero energy/GHG emissions).  Albert also provided the concept design for award winning Langara College Library, which has gained international recognition.  Albert is currently providing concepts for three projects targeted to meet the Living Building Challenge and several large sustainable projects in the United Arab Emirates. 

As a LEED Accredited Professional, Albert peformed reviews for the USGBC and Canadian Green Building Council on projects applying for LEED certification.  He currently sits on the City of Vancouver Council Urban Design Panel – only the second Mechanical Engineer to serve in this capacity.  Albert has been invited to deliver over 200 presentations and has been a keynote speaker on sustainable building design, SMP and the true “Net Zero” approach in Canada, the US, and Asia.  He has also volunteered to educate elementary school children on climate change. Albert was named as one of Building, Design and Construction’s 2007 ‘Top 40 Under 40’.  This annual competition acknowledges industry leaders.

Trina Larsen is a senior electrical engineer with Dialog™, a multidisciplinary architecture, engineering, interior design, and planning firm. With over 15 years of electrical engineering experience Trina’s work has focused almost exclusively on sustainable buildings and building energy conservation. Her work encompasses energy efficient renovations and low energy usage new construction projects, and she has worked on all shades of LEED from certified through to platinum.

Trina holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering Physics and a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering, both from the University of Saskatchewan. She became a LEED accredited professional in 2002. Trina is the 2010/2011 Chair of the Alberta Chapter of the Green Building Council, and is a volunteer ambassador for the International Living Building Institute.

In her spare time, Trina enjoys the outdoors. Be it mountain biking, cycle commuting, cross country skiing, hiking, canoeing or trail running, when not involved in project work — Trina can be found outside. Committed to her community, Trina volunteers as a tutor of literacy and math for recent immigrants.

Judy MacDougall is a project architect for Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Ltd (Kasian) in Calgary. Kasian is one of Western Canada’s largest integrated firms.

One of Judy’s roles with Kasian has been leading the firm’s sustainability best practices group. This group, led by Judy, oversees Kasian’s commitment to maximizing environmental stewardship on projects.

For the past two decades her body of work has focused on design excellence for institutional and civic projects. Judy has taken the lead design role on several academic institution projects including work at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal College which are two of the largest post secondary institutions in Alberta. Judy’s commitment to developing well-designed and socially focused projects has informed her holistic approach to sustainability. Beyond her holistic approach to sustainability, Judy excels at incorporating the needs of the client into innovative, appropriate design strategies.

Judy’s design work covers both institutional and urban environments. Select projects from Judy’s career include a performing arts centre, educational buildings, and mixed-use projects. One recent example of a mixed-use project Judy has worked on is the Child Development Centre at the University of Calgary - one of Canada’s largest LEED® Platinum certified buildings.

Judy is a LEED® accredited professional and is currently working on the Edmonton Federal Building as the LEED® coordinator.

Brian Oakley is an architect, and the director of planning and architecture in the Department of Infrastructure. He is a fellow of the RAIC, and a past president of the AAA. He studied at the University of Manitoba receiving a Bachelor of Environmental Studies and Masters of Architecture. Brian is elected to the board of the CaGBC Alberta Chapter.

Two years with the GoA are bringing an Integrated Project Delivery approach, many LEED Silver and Gold projects, Universal Design, Design Excellence, and Urban Design best practices. Current projects include: The Royal Alberta Museum, The Edmonton North Remand Centre, Legislature master-plan, Edmonton Federal Building - Centennial Plaza, hospitals and P3 schools.

Fifteen years as City Architect with the City of Edmonton achieved a fascinating range of projects including: an Elephant Habitat, DNA lab, Indoor Soccer, Police training/firing range, a new ballpark and a new Churchill Square. Previous to this, with Barry Johns Architects for seven years, he worked on Grant MacEwan College, The Mayfield Inn and the Advanced Technology Centre.

Brian has been very active with the AAA throughout his career; serving as president and on most committees. For industry and community he is found serving on several planning and building committees.

Current challenges include: urban and suburban planning, design policy, innovative practices like P3 for schools and public design-build, “IPD, LEED, Lean, and BIM” and always seeking high quality and sustainable design.

Initiating the terms and managing standards for public projects in these times offers challenges (opportunities!) to up the standards of practice and for spirited design.

Upon receiving a degree in Architecture from the University of Arizona, Brett gained his architectural working experience while employed at firms in California and Arizona. Brett later studied with leading architectural photographers in New York and Chicago to refine his abilities in photography. In 1994 he combined his two fields of knowledge to begin Brett Drury Architectural Photography, Inc.

Brett works directly with architects, contractors, interior designers, product designers and manufacturers, ad agencies, and others in the fields of building and design. He is typically hired to photograph for his clients’ marketing needs, which include advertising, editorial, portfolio and website, design competitions, award programs, and trade show displays. Brett’s clients have won numerous international, national, regional, and local design awards utilizing his photography, and his images routinely appear in design publications and books throughout North America.

Brett consistently travels throughout North America, and suggests contacting him at least one month in advance when scheduling photography. Often, his clients are able to save on expenses by planning their project photography to occur during a shoot that Brett has previously scheduled in the same area.

A member of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), Brett is also a long-time member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and is honored at being a continuing education provider for these and many other national organizations.

Doug is also the Western Canadian Program Director of the Masters Certificate in Project Management, through the Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto and a member of the faculty.

As a “people builder” first and a business builder second, Doug’s wealth of experience is enthusiastically and effectively shared with a variety of audiences throughout Canada and the USA. Doug is a strong proponent of the role of a disciplined project management methodology in the success of any project or organization, and uses every opportunity to share his passion with audiences in both the public and private sectors.

Doug has held senior management positions in both public and corporate environments, as well as being owner / operator of his own businesses.

He has effectively managed many construction projects as well as large community development projects in a cross-cultural environment. He has also led a number of business development projects, all of which enables him to relate the theory of Project Management skills, and the importance of good communications, to everyday work situations in a variety of settings.

Combining his business experience with his training skills, he has helped many individuals reach new levels of excellence. A natural facilitator, Doug likes to “coach” and mentor his students and does so in a very entertaining and stimulating way.

Graham Halsall has a diverse background which has guided him towards BUILDEX. From farming trees to parkade restoration, Graham has a vested interest in transforming communities into low-impact ones, through proactive planning, intelligent built form and community engagement. Graham has experience in restoration projects, new and existing green building projects, community-wide planning and the design and construction of solar energy systems for residential and commercial applications. Graham has worked as the Sustainability Coordinator for a medium-sized municipality and helped design the award-winning Integrated Community Sustainability Plan for the region. As one of Halsall’s green team members, Graham is the sustainability resource on many of Halsall’s major projects, both LEED-focused and otherwise.

Christa Wilcock joined Halsall in 2005 after graduating from Queen’s University. As a Project Manager in our Calgary and Vancouver offices, she specializes in Cladding Engineering projects, helping Architects and Owners design effective building envelope systems and restoring building facades and glazing systems. Christa’s favorite aspect of her job is interacting with project teams, whether it be fellow engineers or clients, such as residential Strata’s, Property Managers and commercial property Owners.

Graeme Scott has been providing consulting services to building owners, asset managers and designers for over 22 years.  Graeme returned to Halsall to join their Western team in 2008 and currently leads their Western Canada Green Business team, and acts as an Advisor and Technical Director for cladding design and renewal for Halsall’s project teams across Canada.  Graeme, as a Project Principal in Halsall’s Green Team, is an avid promoter of “doing the right” and is helping to raise the bar for sustainability in Engineering as a member of APEGBC’s Sustainability Committee. Graeme originally worked for Halsall in Toronto from 1996–2002 as the Building Science Business Unit Manager.  In 2002 he became the Corporate Service Director of a multi-discipline Engineering firm with offices across Canada and the central US, where he developed and lead eight practice areas including Facility Assessment, Capital Planning, Cladding Engineering, Roof Consulting, Concrete Restoration, Code Compliance, Building Systems Engineering (commissioning), and Sustainable Building Solutions (waste management and LEED NC services).  Graeme is licensed in 4 provinces, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Usha Joshi has management experience in several Federal departments.

She has successfully contracted with private sector suppliers to support delivery of services to Canadians, particularly with professionals providing organizational development services and services for the design and construction of federal facilities.

In her current role she develops, through a number of stakeholders, the outreach program to help small and medium-sized businesses understand the federal procurement process and to navigate the system.

Rod Yeoh is a Principal with Omicron, a 180-person integrated design and construction firm. Omicron’s head office is in Vancouver, BC, Canada, but also has offices in Calgary, AB, and Victoria, BC.

Rod is responsible for leading Omicron’s Mechanical Engineering discipline and focuses on HVAC, plumbing systems and fire protection design, design management and coordination for commercial, light industrial, institutional and retail projects. As Director the Virtual Construction, Rod is also responsible for the development and implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) within Omicron’s integrated design and construction practice.

As a LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional, Rod also brings to the design process a keen interest in the field of high-performance buildings and sustainable design practices. Rod was one of the key team members involved with the design and construction of the award winning LEED® Gold certified City of Vancouver National Works Yard project.

Rod graduated from the University of British Columbia in with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering, and has over 20 years of experience in the Building Construction Industry. Rod has given presentations on various topics to numerous organizations throughout North America. Some of these include: the Building Owners and Managers Association, the United States Green Building Council (Greenbuild 2005), BC Hydro, Terasen, Light House Sustainable Building Centre, ASHRAE, APEGBC, and Buildex Vancouver.

Feedback on Rod’s presentations has included: “Finally a workshop that had some content and not broad generalizations”, “Mr. Yeoh’s presentation was very good, he presented many great strategies”, “Great speaker, awesome graphics and visual presentation. He knows how to present and speak to designers about the topic at hand”.

Emmanuelle Linard is a partner and the executive director of Edelkoort Inc. Emmanuelle created the company with Li Edelkoort in 1999. With a creative background in design, patternmaking and trend forecasting, she spent ten years with the European office of Trend Union as the director of production before she moved to New York. Over the last years Emmanuelle has been lecturing for Trend union and Edelkoort Inc in the United States, Canada, Europe and South America.

Trend Union and Edelkoort Inc have a twenty-five year experience of partnership with major American and international companies in the industries of apparel, design, interior, beauty, well-being, media, automotive and more.
Identifying and decoding future consumer attitudes, consumer’s attitudes, lifestyles and design trends are the company’s focus.

The Edelkoort Group has developed a solid reputation in the forecasting arena based on the accuracy of its trend messages as well as on the creative, inspiring, and aesthetic quality of its publications and audiovisuals.

Don Dear, a partner in McLennan Ross in the firm’s Calgary office, is a member of the Insurance, Construction, Commercial Litigation and Insurance practice groups. Don is also a member of the firm’s Professional Liability Practice Group.

In Don’s Insurance practice, he represents several leading national and international insurers in providing coverage opinions, claims and monitoring counsel. Don’s insurance defence experience includes coverage opinions, bodily injury losses, examinations under oath, directors and officers, construction loss and fire loss.

In the practice of Construction Litigation, he has acted for general contractors, sub-contractors and owners in relation to construction claims over a wide variety of areas including delay claims, negligent construction, leaky condo construction, post-tensioning claims, excavation issues, welding claims and builders’ lien actions.

Don has appeared at all levels of court in Alberta, in the Federal Court of Canada and in leave applications before the Supreme Court of Canada. He has also participated in over 25 Court of Queen’s bench trials.

Don is a frequent lecturer on the topic of insurance law and has presented seminars to such organizations as the Legal Education Society of Alberta.

Don completed his undergraduate work at Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Quebec, and at the University of Alberta. He earned his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta in 1988. Don articled with McLennan Ross, was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1989 and to the Yukon Bar in 1992.

Stephani Carter is a LEED® Accredited Professional and a passionate Sustainable Building Materials Specialist. She is trained as an interior designer and from working in the industry recognized a need for a new support system around transitioning the current market to a more sustainable one. In 2006 she started her own consulting firm, EcoAmmo. EcoAmmo offers a diverse set of key services geared toward making sustainability easy, understandable, accessible and fun! One of these services is called Green Alberta. It is an online database of evaluated sustainable building products. Stephani and her team work with local manufacturers to help them understand what it means to be ‘green’ and how to integrate sustainable practices into their processes. Stephani was actively involved with creating the Alberta Chapter of the Canada Green Building Council in 2003 and remained on the board for six years. Stephani is a self proclaimed "volunteer-aholic" and also volunteers for the Clean Air Strategic Alliance - Indoor Air Quality Team, Alberta Federation of Labour to promote green jobs, and Greater Edmonton Alliance - Sustainable Works to grow home energy auditing and retrofitting services and consumer awareness among others.

Rod Yeoh is a Principal with Omicron, a 180-person integrated design and construction firm. Omicron’s head office is in Vancouver, BC, Canada, but also has offices in Calgary, AB, and Victoria, BC.

Rod is responsible for leading Omicron’s Mechanical Engineering discipline and focuses on HVAC, plumbing systems and fire protection design, design management and coordination for commercial, light industrial, institutional and retail projects. As Director the Virtual Construction, Rod is also responsible for the development and implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) within Omicron’s integrated design and construction practice.

As a LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional, Rod also brings to the design process a keen interest in the field of high-performance buildings and sustainable design practices. Rod was one of the key team members involved with the design and construction of the award winning LEED® Gold certified City of Vancouver National Works Yard project.

Rod graduated from the University of British Columbia in with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering, and has over 20 years of experience in the Building Construction Industry. Rod has given presentations on various topics to numerous organizations throughout North America. Some of these include: the Building Owners and Managers Association, the United States Green Building Council (Greenbuild 2005), BC Hydro, Terasen, Light House Sustainable Building Centre, ASHRAE, APEGBC, and Buildex Vancouver.

Feedback on Rod’s presentations has included: “Finally a workshop that had some content and not broad generalizations”, “Mr. Yeoh’s presentation was very good, he presented many great strategies”, “Great speaker, awesome graphics and visual presentation. He knows how to present and speak to designers about the topic at hand”.

Emmanuelle Linard is a partner and the executive director of Edelkoort Inc. Emmanuelle created the company with Li Edelkoort in 1999. With a creative background in design, patternmaking and trend forecasting, she spent ten years with the European office of Trend Union as the director of production before she moved to New York. Over the last years Emmanuelle has been lecturing for Trend union and Edelkoort Inc in the United States, Canada, Europe and South America.

Trend Union and Edelkoort Inc have a twenty-five year experience of partnership with major American and international companies in the industries of apparel, design, interior, beauty, well-being, media, automotive and more.
Identifying and decoding future consumer attitudes, consumer’s attitudes, lifestyles and design trends are the company’s focus.

The Edelkoort Group has developed a solid reputation in the forecasting arena based on the accuracy of its trend messages as well as on the creative, inspiring, and aesthetic quality of its publications and audiovisuals.

Doug is also the Western Canadian Program Director of the Masters Certificate in Project Management, through the Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto and a member of the faculty.

As a “people builder” first and a business builder second, Doug’s wealth of experience is enthusiastically and effectively shared with a variety of audiences throughout Canada and the USA. Doug is a strong proponent of the role of a disciplined project management methodology in the success of any project or organization, and uses every opportunity to share his passion with audiences in both the public and private sectors.

Doug has held senior management positions in both public and corporate environments, as well as being owner / operator of his own businesses.

He has effectively managed many construction projects as well as large community development projects in a cross-cultural environment. He has also led a number of business development projects, all of which enables him to relate the theory of Project Management skills, and the importance of good communications, to everyday work situations in a variety of settings.

Combining his business experience with his training skills, he has helped many individuals reach new levels of excellence. A natural facilitator, Doug likes to “coach” and mentor his students and does so in a very entertaining and stimulating way.

Marsha Gentile, SBA, LEED AP, BD+C, is the Construction Sustainability Specialist at Ledcor Construction Limited.  She was the LEED Coordinator for UBC’s Life Sciences Centre, the largest LEED gold laboratory in North America, and has a decade of experience with LEED projects across the country.  She recently graduated from the Sustainable Building Advisor (SBA) program at SFU where she also taught the Sustainability in Construction module!

Marsha develops management systems and procedures for sustainable construction and is presently involved in two Living Building Challenge projects in the Greater Vancouver area.  Earlier this year Marsha presented “The New Complexities of LEED” at the ASQ’s World Conference on Quality and Improvement in St. Louis.

Working for Alberta Municipal Affairs out of Calgary with the Safety Services Branch of the Ministry, Geoff Brownlie is a Building Safety Codes Officer more commonly known as a Building Inspector. For the last 10 years he has worked with Codes and Standards and is certified in the Building, and Mechanical disciplines. With over 20 years of combined experience in the construction industry, and as a Journeyman Carpenter in the private sector he has numerous construction projects to his credit and has built everything from Single Family Dwellings to Low Rise Commercial.

Geoff has facilitated various Building Code courses for the Safety Codes Council and has a unique understanding of the intimate relationship of fire and safety within buildings due to previous firefighting experience.

Christopher Hirst is the leader of Alexander Hoburn Beaudin and Lang LLP's Construction & Engineering Practice and chairs his firm’s client service program. He is also a member of the firm’s environmental and insurance teams.

His client centered practice is focused on assisting construction industry clients in the management of procurement issues, the negotiation and drafting of contracts, and the resolution of builders liens and other construction based litigation. Chris also provides environmental advice to clients including a major Canadian oil and gas company as well as defending professionals in a broad range of error and omission claims.

Chris is a frequent speaker and writer on legal issues of interest to the construction and business communities. He is the co-author of the Annotated Builders Lien Act, 2007 – 2008 published by the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia (CLEBC) and a contributing author to the Builders Lien Practice Manual also published by the CLEBC.

Norm Streu is the Chief Operating Officer of the LMS Reinforcing Steel Group, the leading fabricator and installer of reinforcing steel in Western Canada. Prior to joining LMS, Norm enjoyed a successful career leading the Construction & Engineering law department at the firm of Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP. Norm is a Past Chair of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association,  Past Director of the BC Construction Association, and a frequent lecturer and writer on construction industry matters.

Jeff Mowatt is an authority on the fine points of human interaction. His Influence with Ease® column has been syndicated and featured in over 200 business publications. He is the author of the best-selling business book, “Becoming a Service Icon in 90 Minutes a Month.” Clive Beddoe, Chairman, President & CEO of WestJet Airlines said, “If you are serious about creating a customer focused team, this book is a must.” Jeff also recently released his second book, “Influence with Ease.”

A dynamic student of his experience, Jeff has “exercised influence” himself as a marketing director, business owner, and black belt martial artist. An award-winning international speaker and trainer, Jeff brings over 25 years of successful influence experience to his programs and clients. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Marketing and has served as National President of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. The International Federation of Professional Speakers awarded Jeff with the highest earned speaking designation in the industry; the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP).  Of the over 5,000 professional speakers in the worldwide federation, less than 7% achieve this degree of distinction.

In addition to speaking for corporations and associations, Jeff provides his clients with a full compliment of consulting services and training tools including: executive retreats/planning sessions, service assessments, and multimedia training kits. Jeff’s goal is to create substantial measurable results for his clients. Murray Gottselig, Manager of Corp Customer Service for SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance), reports… “Within six months of Jeff working with us… employee morale improved significantly, productivity increased by 34% and the amount of public complaints decreased by 400%.”

Every encounter with another human being is an opportunity to add to, or subtract from, our sense of community and cooperation. Why settle for cynicism, detachment, and mediocre results - in our market place, in our workplace, in our connections with others? Why try to communicate through resistance and barriers? Success almost always requires that we convince someone of something. Exercise influence… with ease…for results.

Andrée Iffrig LEED AP is a writer and award-winning graduate architect. Her interest in sustainable design goes back 30 years and is readily evident in her writing, speaking and volunteer work. She loves celebrating outstanding examples of sustainability and facilitating conversations about principles that have stood the test of time. A published author, Andrée has written dozens of articles on sustainable design of products, buildings and urban environments.

Andrée hangs her hat at DIRTT Environmental Solutions, a manufacturer of agile architectural solutions for building interiors. Her experience with design for four generations at work includes facilitating integrated design seminars on the topic and working in an open office setting at DIRTT. She is convinced agile office planning makes for more sustainable offices – socially, environmentally and economically.

Robyn Baxter has 25 years of experience in helping clients develop effective workplace design and strategy. Over the past 12 years, she has developed of the Applied Research & Consulting practice in Canada, and has worked with a variety of clients locally and internationally. In her role, Robyn connects the impacts of the workplace on employee and organizational effectiveness, bringing Steelcase’s knowledge and research to organizations that are redefining their work environments.   In collaboration with the client’s design team, her team establishes a plan for the organization’s work environment that links issues of organizational culture, social networks, demographics, technology integration and evolving work processes, to measurably improve business results. The focus is to effectively leverage the workplace and bridge the gap between organizations’ business goals, user needs, and workplace strategies.

Patricia Evans: As one of the founding principals of the largest solely Interior Design firm in Western Canada, Patricia Evans, of award winning Sizeland Evans Interior Design Inc., has the experience and expertise that only comes from over thirty years of practice in the Interior Design industry. The complexity of clients undergoing partnership changes and mergers and acquisitions has given Patricia unique experience achieving high quality solutions and managing projects while companies are in continual state of change. From this experience comes her expertise at accommodating all work styles and corporate cultures into today’s work environments.

Recognizing the importance of their involvement in the design process, Patricia Evans is focused on advising clients with the most recent information regarding workplace design, trends, and new technology in the work environment and for sustainable approaches to office development.

Sizeland Evans is proud to be celebrating twenty years serving its wonderful Clients!

Kay Sargent, CID, LEED AP, IIDA, a Principal with IA Interior Architects, has a design degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and has studied environmental design at Parsons School of Design in New York. She has been a practicing design professional for 25 years and specializes in working with government agencies and corporations. In the past 10 years she has broadened her specialization to portfolio optimization and workplace strategies. She has participated in developed real estate and specie strategies for multiple national and global companies. She offers insight into how her approach to design has evolved and also how she has seen the industry as a whole, respond to the challenges facing organizations and their workplaces today. As a professional member of IIDA she has served on the International Boards of IIDA, NCQLP and NCIDQ. She has also taught courses at the University level and has given many lectures and classes to other design professionals. She has authored several articles pertaining to the design field.

Marc Boutin was born in Ottawa and studied environmental design (BES. 1985), architecture (B. Arch.,1990), and architectural history (MA. 2000) at the University of Manitoba, the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Calgary. He complimented these studies with sculpture studios at the Ontario College of Art and the Emily Carr College of Art and Design. During 1994-96, he continued his studies and professional work in Barcelona, investigating issues related to public space and working with Arriola and Fiol Arquitectes, where he was project architect in numerous urban and landscape projects. After post-graduate work in Architectural History centered on paradigm shifts in modern architecture, he joined the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, teaching architecture and urban design studios in the graduate architecture program. His teaching there has been recognized by university teaching and research awards (2001, 2002, 2007), and he is currently the Associate Dean (Architecture).

His design firm, The Marc Boutin Architectural Colaborative Inc., is a research-based critical practice, informed by the application of intense design methodologies to diverse conceptual and physical contexts. The work in the studio is characterised by an inter-disciplinary approach to design, seeking value that can only be achieved through the synthesis of art, architecture, urban design, and landscape architecture. The Calgary-based studio explores an architecture of direct experience, pursuing the active participation of the user, the engagement of the social landscape, and appealing to all five senses through the orchestration of those elements that are central to architecture’s presence: light, structure, material and technique. Recent work includes the Varscona Theatre, Edmonton, Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts, Calgary, Eau Claire Public Space, Calgary, The Calgary Public Building, a LEED Gold project for the City of Calgary, Poppy Plaza, Calgary, and the Calgary Centre for Global Community. The work of the firm has been recognised by national and international awards, competition wins, exhibitions, and publications.

Robert Drew is a leader in collaborative processes and has contributed his leadership ability and passion for sustainable design in a number of key institutional, commercial and residential projects.

Since joining Busby Perkins+Will in 1999, Robert has leveraged his leadership and experience in the integrated design process in the five ground breaking LEED Platinum projects: The Vento in Calgary, The Currents in Ottawa and three projects at Dockside Green in Victoria. Most recently, Robert successfully applied the integrated design process to two additional projects: The Calgary Public Building retrofit, and the Samuel Brighouse Elementary School replacement school project. Applying the principals of collaborative design to both these projects resulted in quickly developing innovative solutions to complex situations.

The depth of Robert’s experience extends from new construction and renovation projects to building assessment reports including award-winning projects such as the Telus/William Farrell building revitalization in downtown Vancouver and the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology in Merritt, BC. Robert was also Design Principal of the Fire Hall #12 Renovation project in Calgary and the Quayside Marina accessory building, a floating marina office in Vancouver. Robert has managed the production of several reports including Sustainability Assessment Reports for the City of Vancouver and the City of Calgary. Robert has been involved with The University of Calgary as a sessional instructor of sustainable design studio and recently sat on the Board of Directors as Vice Chair of the Alberta Chapter of Canada Green Building Council.

Robert also manages the Quality Program at Busby Perkins+Will. As the firm’s Technical Director, he works with project teams to ensure that projects comply with our clients’ expectations of quality in all matters relating to program, technical performance, risk management, life safety, constructability and schedule.

Russ Golightly graduated as a Civil Engineer from the University of Calgary and has worked in several areas of consulting before landing into municipal projects. He has worked in construction as well as oil & gas for Colt Engineering. It was his work at Reid Crowther that opened the door to working at The City of Calgary. Russ has been working with The City of Calgary since 1999.
Russ is the project manager responsible for the municipality’s first LEED-Gold rated office structure – the Water Centre.

Russ has contributed his knowledge and experience working on the Water Centre to the University of Calgary’s Environmental Design Courses and contributed to the implementation of the City of Calgary’s Sustainable Building Policy. He has also helped develop and deliver courses with the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) on creating and maintaining a sustainable building policy as well as serving as a director on the national council of the CaGBC from 2007 - 2008. He is currently a technical advisor for the LEED rating system for Sustainable Sites & Water categories.

Along with the Talisman Centre Roof Replacement, Russ is also currently managing the renovation of the Calgary Public Building – applying his green skills to create an energy-efficient heritage building.

Branko Kolarevic is a Professor and Associate Dean (Academic-Architecture) at the University of Calgary Faculty of Environmental Design (www.ucalgary.ca/evds). He also holds the Chair in Integrated Design and co-directs the Laboratory for Integrative Design (LID). Prior to his appointment at the University of Calgary, he was the Irving Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ball State University in Indiana. He has taught architecture at several universities in North America, most recently at the University of Pennsylvania, and in Asia, in Hong Kong. He has lectured worldwide on the use of digital technologies in design and production and has authored, edited or co-edited several books, including the recently published “Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture” (with Kevin Klinger), “Performative Architecture: Beyond Instrumentality” (with Ali Malkawi) and “Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing.” He is the past president of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) and is the recipient of the ACADIA 2007 Award for Innovative Research. He holds doctoral and master's degrees in design from Harvard University and a diploma engineer in architecture degree from the University of Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia.

Jane Pendergast’s 25 years of experience in the profession have had her involved in several different types of practice. She has worked for small and large firms in Ontario and Alberta, represented large institutions as the client and is pleased to now be running Pendergast Nyhoff Collaborative Architecture with fellow architect Kevin Nyhoff. Jane was president of the Alberta Association of Architects six years ago and continues to be involved in the development of a Canadian Registration Exam for Architects. PNCA is a design-focused practice located in downtown Calgary. PNCA’s work includes higher education, public, residential and cultural work that may take the form of renovations or new buildings — depending on the situation. PNCA is fortunate to be able to collaborate with some great people over the course of their work.

Jeff Anderle, LEED Green Associate, is the founder of the consulting organization, Sustainable Rhythm. With 20 years in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction Industry, Jeff has developed strategic marketing solutions within the Commercial, Office, Residential, Senior Living and green-space markets. Beyond a communications firm, Sustainable Rhythm is focused on providing in-depth market knowledge and identifying opportunities for its product and professional service clients in the sustainable building industry. Sustainable Rhythm’s is currently working on an examination of the Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton green building markets through the Opening the Door to Green Building Study in cooperation with the Alberta Chapter of the Canada Green Building Council.

His past research on the green building market been featured in the Journal of Commerce, Canada Green Building Council’s website, CBS News Money Watch, the USGBC national chapter newsletter and Eco-Homes magazine. The organization’s bi-weekly e-newsletter, THE RHYTHM REPORT focusing on the market trends, economic factors and legislation influencing the business of green building is distributed throughout North America.

Asnake is a Professional Engineer with over 17 years of experience in the building industry. He has worked as a Building Technical Advisor with Municipal Affairs for over four years. Asnake contributes to the development of the Alberta Building Code on an ongoing basis.

Mike has been with GE since 1994. He started in sales and became the Ballast Manager for 12 years. He was then the LED Champions before becoming the Lighting Training Specialist. Before GE, Mike spent 14 years with GM as a Facilities Engineer. He provided new building designs & retrofitting of existing electrical & lighting systems. He is on the University of Dayton Advisory Board for Engineering & Adams Wealth Group board. He is a part time teacher at Sinclair College. Mike has presented to the Pacific Coast Electrical Association (PCEA) & the Hawaiian Energy Expo since 2003. He presents at the IEEE Industrial Energy Efficiency Workshop, World Energy Engineering Congress, IES, and at Distributor’s National Sales meetings. He is an instructor at GE Institute at NELA Park, Cleveland, providing training on lighting, EPAct & Electrical at Distributor’s National Sales meeting. He has a good knowledge of the industry to share with you.

Dan Bilodeau has more than 12 years experience in Fire, Security and Emergency Communication systems. As the Western Regional Specialist for Siemens Canada Ltd. on Network Centric - Web & Premise Based Mass and Emergency Notification Systems, Mr. Bilodeau is involved in the development and deployment of the largest Emergency & Mass notification systems in Canada.

As a subject matter expert, Mr. Bilodeau has performed multiple, advanced hostile risk assessments for commercial, defence, health care and critical infrastructure applications. Most recently in and around the new Athletic and Ice complex at Canada Olympic Park which will be the home to 20 National and Provincial programs.

Dan has certifications in Fire Alarm Notification Systems, Security Systems, Network Systems as well as the Emergency Management Certification from the Justice Institute of BC. He is an active member of the Alberta Fire Association and the American Society for Industrial Security.

Murray Guy is a high performance building design professional that specializes in delivering practical, cost effective, high performance building projects and optimizing the performance of existing buildings. His company Integrated Designs has developed the expertise to achieve LEED Gold levels of performance for very little if any additional capital cost and are currently pioneering the implementation of the Integrated Project Delivery process to achieve much higher levels of building performance.

As a Business Owner, Murray is committed to developing a successful high performance Role Model company. IDI is well on the way to achieving this goal by developing “best practice” project delivery systems and by creating a high involvement collaborative learning organization that attracts and retains the best talent.

Murray is also a firm believer that high performance only comes from people that take the time to enjoy life and keep healthy. IDI places a high priority on personal adventure and family time. Murray needs to lead by example and so takes the time to spend with his wife of thirty years and three kids traveling, camping, practicing yoga, mountain biking, snow boarding and windsurfing.

Philip Jago is the Director of the Buildings Division of the Office of Energy Efficiency of Natural Resources Canada. He has been with NRCan since 1980, and has experience in energy efficiency programming involving the residential, commercial/institutional and industrial sectors. As Director of the Buildings Division, he is responsible for the design, development and delivery of energy efficiency programs in the municipal, institutional and commercial building sectors in Canada. Prior to joining NRCan, he worked for several years in building construction and the restoration of heritage buildings.

Art Skow joined Bentall LP in July 2005 and is currently responsible for a portfolio of 3.9 million square feet of office and medical facilities in Calgary. He has over 27 years of experience in managing all types of commercial real estate. Key accomplishments have been the commissioning of a number of new properties in the past 5 years including Livingston Place and Jamieson Place, two “AAA” class office properties in downtown Calgary.

Prior to working at Bentall, Art worked for Oxford Properties for over 22 years in Calgary and Halifax providing property management services to internal and external clients.

Art has his Real Property Administrator designation, is a licensed Real Estate Associate and has just completed his Diploma in Urban Land Economics through UBC.

Jeff Mowatt is an authority on the fine points of human interaction. His Influence with Ease® column has been syndicated and featured in over 200 business publications. He is the author of the best-selling business book, “Becoming a Service Icon in 90 Minutes a Month.” Clive Beddoe, Chairman, President & CEO of WestJet Airlines said, “If you are serious about creating a customer focused team, this book is a must.” Jeff also recently released his second book, “Influence with Ease.”

A dynamic student of his experience, Jeff has “exercised influence” himself as a marketing director, business owner, and black belt martial artist. An award-winning international speaker and trainer, Jeff brings over 25 years of successful influence experience to his programs and clients. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Marketing and has served as National President of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. The International Federation of Professional Speakers awarded Jeff with the highest earned speaking designation in the industry; the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP).  Of the over 5,000 professional speakers in the worldwide federation, less than 7% achieve this degree of distinction.

In addition to speaking for corporations and associations, Jeff provides his clients with a full compliment of consulting services and training tools including: executive retreats/planning sessions, service assessments, and multimedia training kits. Jeff’s goal is to create substantial measurable results for his clients. Murray Gottselig, Manager of Corp Customer Service for SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance), reports… “Within six months of Jeff working with us… employee morale improved significantly, productivity increased by 34% and the amount of public complaints decreased by 400%.”

Every encounter with another human being is an opportunity to add to, or subtract from, our sense of community and cooperation. Why settle for cynicism, detachment, and mediocre results - in our market place, in our workplace, in our connections with others? Why try to communicate through resistance and barriers? Success almost always requires that we convince someone of something. Exercise influence… with ease…for results.

Al is a certified master kitchen and bath designer with over 38 years’ experience in the kitchen and bath industry. He started his career at merit kitchens in 1972, working on the cabinet production line.  Al was assembly supervisor prior to leaving Merit at the end of 1979.  On January 1, 1980 he started his design career at Kitchen Korner, and is currently Sales and Renovation Manager.

He has served on national and local chapter boards for the National Kitchen and Bath Association since 1988, was instrumental in the formation of the Western Canada Chapter, and was named NKBA’s Dealer Member of the Year in 1990. He is a member of the Ambassador’s Club, and served as National President of NKBA in 2006. Mr. Pattison is an NKBA teaching professional and Adjunct Professor for the NKBA-supported program at Vancouver Community College.

Al lives in Abbotsford, B.C. with his wife of 31 years, Diane. They have 2 grown children and 4 grandchildren.

Ben Chapman: While finishing his Bachelor of Construction Management, Ben completed work experience for Multiplex Constructions and was offered a position as Mechanical & Electrical Coordinator on a number of hospital projects ranging in value from $25 to $110 million.

In 2003 he accepted a position with Bovis Lend Lease as Project Engineer (Mechanical & Electrical) and was promoted to Mechanical & Electrical Project Manager (Delivery) later that year. Whilst at Bovis Lend Lease, Ben was involved in converting world class designs into reality including the Millennium Arts Project incorporating the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) and the Terminal & Concourse Expansion project for the Brisbane International Airport.

He later joined Thiess/Hochtief as the Senior Project Engineer (Mechanical & Electrical) to work on the prominent Office Tower project 400 George Street located in the CBD. Sustainable development figured prominently in this project and he managed the application of ESD principles to result in the project’s “5 Star Green Star” rating.

Ben is now a member of the team at Ledcor that is delivering The BOW and is responsible for the delivery of the Mechanical & Electrical systems for the Tenant Improvement scope and integrating these into the existing Base Building Systems.

Brian Palmquist was educated at the McGill University School of Architecture, graduating cum laude in 1974. During more than 30 years as a Canadian registered architect, half as Principal of his own small architectural practice, he has been involved in the design and construction of virtually every building type and scale. He is British Columbia’s first accredited Building Envelope Professional, a building code expert and a LEED Accredited Professional. As Adjunct Professor, he taught architectural technology for eight years at the University of BC’s School of Architecture. Starting in 2001, he began development of a web-based quality management system for architects and contractors, called Quality-Works.net (QW). Based on a demonstration of QW in 2007, Ledcor Construction Limited, Canada’s second largest builder with offices in Canada, the USA and the Bahamas, recruited Brian as its Director of Quality Assurance. Brian continues to develop and implement a comprehensive ISO 9001 compliant quality management system for Ledcor, which has become an investor in QW. He lives in Vancouver, Ledcor’s headquarters city.

Jade Kanevski is the project manager responsible for construction management of the building envelope and elevator systems at The Bow project in Calgary, Alberta. Before joining Ledcor in 2007 Jade was part of the Matthews Development team that managed The Bow project’s early design process. Jade earned a Master’s degree in Architecture from Texas Tech University in 1999 and then worked as an architect in Dallas, Texas before moving to Calgary in 2006.

Rob Harris joined ENMAX in January 2010 as Director, Smart Grid Partnerships in the Smart Grid Technologies group. Rob is leading the development and commercialization of Smart Grid products and services. Rob is also the Project Director for the Electric Vehicle Pilot Program at ENMAX.

Prior to joining ENMAX, Rob worked at Arc Innovations as Project Director for the deployment of 100,000 smart meters in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Rob has spent over twenty years in the telecommunication industry with leadership roles at TELUS Communications and Telesat Canada textand has extensive experience in successfully managing multi-million dollar projects.

Kim Pfeifer has over thirty years experience in the electrical engineering, power generation, electronics and systems controls industries.

Mr. Pfeifer joined ENMAX in April 2007 as Vice President, District Energy in the Business Development group where he is responsible for the development, construction and operation of a multi-million dollar District Energy project in downtown Calgary and the recently announced Bonnybrook Energy Centre – a Combined Heat and Power facility in SE Calgary that will be thermally interconnected to the downtown District Energy system.

Prior to joining ENMAX, Mr. Pfeifer worked for Siemens as Director, Power Generation Sales for Western Canada. Prior positions with Siemens included Regional Manager Oil Sands Development, District Manager Calgary, and Western Regional Manager.

Mr. Pfeifer spent twenty years in the commercial building controls business with Johnson Controls, TransAlta Energy Systems, and Honeywell.

Doug Sullivan is a graduate of the University of Calgary and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He began his career as a generation planner with TransAlta Utilities in Calgary and worked on some of the earliest power exports between Canada and the Pacific North Western United States. He began working closely with large industrial power consumers in 1998 with Encore Energy and later co-founded Valeo Power Corporation to prepare large industrials for deregulation in Alberta. Mr. Sullivan currently leads the distributed generation group at ENMAX Energy, focused on delivering renewable and alternative energy solutions to homes and businesses across Alberta.