Thursday, November 17, 12:00 (12 pm, online, 1 hour)
Learn BC-specific ways to understand future climate, identify risks, and mitigate them.
The Lower Mainland’s climate over the past 2 years has included heat domes; atmospheric rivers; severe droughts; and longer and drier summers leading to high numbers of wildfires.
Climate hazards have real impacts on people, buildings, and infrastructure. Risks are increasing over time without intentional mitigation for new builds, revised operational practices, and financial planning.
Learn BC-based resources for better understanding future climate data (including 1 in 1000 year events) and discuss processes for identifying and mitigating risks for new builds and existing buildings.
About your presenter
Veronica Owens
WSP Vancouver – Team Lead, Senior Advisor, and Western Canada Regional Proposal Coordinator
Veronica serves on WSP’s Climate Change, Resilience and Sustainability (CCRS) team in Vancouver, BC. She has a background in green building policy and rating systems; is a LEED NC and Fitwel Technical Lead; and has over 13 years of experience in the building sustainability sector.
She typically manages multi-disciplinary projects which combine mandates for climate adaptation; net zero carbon; and holistic sustainability (accessibility, health and wellness, environmental and zero waste). Her expertise extends to third party certification systems (Envision, Fitwel, LEED, Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification, WELL); policy research and development; consensus-building stakeholder engagement (interviews, workshops); product research; and strategic master-planning.
She regularly speaks at conferences (CHES BC, ACEC, Buildex, APTA) and has been an annual guest lecturer for the UBC High Performance Buildings Program since 2018 (501: Green Building Contemporary Practice).
Generously sponsored by:
Thursday, October 20, 11:30 (11:30 pm, in person, 2 hours)
Moderated three-person dialogue on managing the ‘business of design’ practices. Each way has strengths and opportunities.
Learn diverse perspectives on managing design consulting practices. How your firm practises design has strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. We also explore industry challenges facing managers in design practices.
Edel Naughton (DIALOG), Marie-France Venneri (AME Group), and Susan Gushe (Perkins&Will) join Andy Tashiro (WSP).
About your presenters
Edel Naughton
DIALOG Vancouver – Studio Operations Manager
A Business graduate, Edel was always drawn to understanding the inner workings of companies, cultures, and countries. She has lived and worked in Europe, Australia, and North America, and provided design and leadership expertise to Professional Services practices in various sectors. Edel is the Studio Operations Manager at DIALOG Vancouver focused on managing a sustainable business and a culture of pre-eminent design.
Marie-France Venneri
AME Group Vancouver – Principal
Marie moved rapidly from engineering sales into mechanical engineering consulting. Joining the 40-person AME team in 2010, she rose to principal and managed how the firm grew to more than 100 people in 4 offices across Western Canada. She dedicates her time to the industry through the Urban Design Institute, Engineers and Geoscientists of BC, and the Canadian Construction Women. Passionate about green building design and an industry leader in sustainable mechanical design, Marie-France and her team at AME consistently extend our understanding of what is possible with mechanical design; delivering for the client, end user, and environment.
Susan Gushe
Perkins&Will – Managing Director, Principal
Susan’s role evolved from Project Architect and Associate, through Director of Operations to Managing Director. Her strategic, executive and financial leadership contributed to the substantial growth of the Vancouver and Calgary studios, along with making Perkins&Will one of Canada’s leading design practices. Keeping studios true to their legacy of design excellence and environmental stewardship, Susan focuses on fostering a culture of applied research and innovation. Susan has seen the firm grow from 15 people in 1993 to 150 today.
Generously sponsored by:
Thursday, September 15, 11:30 (11:30 pm, in person, 2 hours)
Socializing with your professional community with a panel in the middle from the lovely people at the Port.
Get to know the Centerm Container Expansion and South Shore Access Project in downtown Vancouver and the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project next to Tsawwassen. VFPA is currently building the Centerm and South Shore project while Roberts Bank Terminal 2 is only proposed.
Learn about
- what each project entails
- what drives VFPA to pursue the projects as Owner
- what challenges VFPA faced and the lessons learned
About your presenters
Sandor Smith, Manager Terminal Delivery
Sandor is the Manager of Terminal Delivery at the Port of Vancouver and manages many commercial aspects of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 program (RBT2), including the terminal concession project that aims to procure a terminal operator to build, equip, and operate the multi-billion-dollar terminal.
For the project, he manages strategic work-streams and leads the commercial and operations advisory teams for the program. The work streams he manages include commercial communications, marketing and operations.
He also provides support to the broader VFPA team on issues related to commerce, competition, economy, and operations.
Sandor joined the port authority in 2007. He served under various roles, including working as a shipping industry analyst, before he began managing the commercial aspects of RBT2. Before joining the port authority, Sandor worked in the interior of BC as a forest development planner.
Joanna Siopis, Manager Commercial & Corporate Strategy
Joanna is the Manager, Commercial & Corporate Strategy for the Port of Vancouver and has been working primarily on the Centerm Expansion and South Shore Access Project (Centerm). She has responsibility for managing the day-to-day commercial issues on the Project, including handling claims.
Joanna joined the port authority in 2020. Before then, she was Commercial & Legal Manager at an oil and gas company (working in London, Dubai, and Malaysia).
In that previous role, she managed commercial and legal issues across the international division. She balanced business development, operations, and construction. Her work included: leading the acquisition of Exxon Mobil’s brownfield assets in Malaysia, negotiating a complex share swap with British Petroleum, and working closely with the executive team on growth and strategy. She played a key role in growing the Malaysian office from 5 people to over 200 FTEs (full-time equivalents), working with a range of stakeholders (including the Government Entity (PETRONAS)) to achieve it.
Generously sponsored by: