Changing of the Guard on CAGBC’s Technical Advisory Groups
Green Building Team on February 2, 2024
- Rating System/Standard
- LEED
- Zero Carbon Building
- Theme
- Green Building
CAGBC has long relied on amazing volunteers to support our rating system development and implementation. These members have donated countless hours to CAGBC providing guidance on adapting LEED for use in Canada, ruling on LEED Credit Interpretation Requests (CIRs), drafting Alternative Compliance Paths, guiding complex certification issues, advising on market implementation of the rating systems, and so much more.
While the Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) have existed for almost two decades, CAGBC has grouped the technical volunteers into three TAGs since 2011: Sites & Water, Materials, and a third TAG for Energy and Engineering.
However, as the green building market grows and matures, and the rating systems evolve, what’s needed has changed. The world and CAGBC are focused on carbon – both operational carbon and embodied carbon. Therefore, the focus of the TAGs has changed: moving away from questions on location selection, rainwater management, waste management, etc., to a more focused approach on carbon. A new Embodied Carbon TAG was launched in November 2023, joining the longstanding Energy and Engineering (E&E) TAG that continues to support operational energy and carbon reductions. (See the current membership list).
The Embodied Carbon TAG and the E&E TAG are currently discussing ways to innovate the next version of CAGBC’s Zero Carbon Building (ZCB)-Design standard, ensuring it aligns with industry expectations and drives sustainable practices, while adhering to its guiding principles of simplicity and accessibility. The new version of ZCB-Design, version 4, is expected to be unveiled at CAGBC’s Building Lasting Change conference in Toronto, June 2024.
These TAGs will also focus on reviewing upcoming drafts of LEED v5 and suggesting edits and alternative paths on behalf of CAGBC, where warranted. They will be joined in this endeavour by the LEED v5 Accelerators (BD+C and O+M). The members of these Accelerators, as outlined on CAGBC’s ‘Join a Committee’ site, will review and discuss the LEED v5 drafts when drafts are made available, to inform and support CAGBC’s feedback to USGBC.
We thank all outgoing committee members for their commitment, and welcome new members to the TAGS.
Incoming members
Embodied Carbon TAG:
| Name | Role / Company |
|---|---|
| Guillaume Martel (Chair) | Representative on CAGBC LEED Advisory Committee – Provencher Roy |
| Ben Amor | National Research Council Canada |
| Caroline Butchart | Aspect Engineers |
| Chantal Lavigne | Vertima |
| Iain MacFayden | Representative from Zero Carbon Steering Committee – ZGF Architects |
| Jeremy Field | Introba |
| Kalum Galle | Morrison Hershfield |
| Kathleen Tiede | Crosier Kilgour |
| Leland Dadson | MJMA Architecture and Design |
| Michael Hiebert | Number TEN Architectural Group |
| Michelle Christopherson | WSP |
| Navisa Jain – | EllisDon |
| Ryan Zizzo | Mantle Developments |
| Ryley Picken | Treasury Board Secretariat |
| Stephanie Fargas | Dialog |
| Yury Kulikov | Fast+Epp |
| Zachary Zandona | City of Toronto |
| Zahra Teshnizi | City of Vancouver |
Energy and Engineering TAG:
| Name | Role / Company |
|---|---|
| Lindsay Austrom (Chair) | Williams Engineering Canada |
| Alex Blue (Temp Chair) | Representative on CAGBC LEED Advisory Committee – Evoke Buildings |
| Andrew Morrison | Caneta Research Inc. |
| Craig McIntyre | EQ Building Performance Inc. |
| Curt Hepting | Enersys Analytics Ltd. |
| Geneviève Lachance | Société québécoise des infrastructures |
| Ivan Tang | Inform Energy Solutions |
| Kevin Henry | HDR |
| Lori Hipwell | Pure Industrial |
| Mark Terpstra | Alberta Infrastructure |
| Martin Roy | Martin Roy et Associés Inc. |
| Mike Hassaballa | H.H. Angus & Associates Limited Consulting Engineers |
| Steve Kemp | RDH Building Science Inc. |
| Wendy Macdonald | RJC Engineers |
| Yichao Chen | Cadillac Fairview |
Outgoing members
With the closure of the Sites & Water TAG and the Materials TAG, it is now time to express our gratitude to their membership; these TAGs have processed almost 400 CIRs between them, among much other work. CAGBC extends a sincere thank you to the recent members and those who have served in years past. 2023 members are as follows:
Sites & Water TAG
| Name | Role / Company |
|---|---|
| Adam Stoker (Chair) | City of Calgary |
| Christine Chow | Footprint |
| Graham Twyford-Miles | University of Calgary |
| Joe Stano | Kane Consulting |
| Jonathan Waltr | RE3 Solutions |
| Kathleen Tiede | Crosier Kilgour |
| Melanie Pitre | Aedifica |
| Mercedes Byers | Pratus Group Inc. |
| Priscilla Chew | Purpose Building |
| Rebecca Holt | HCMA Architecture + Design |
| Susan Kapetanovic-Marr | JLL |
| Steve VanHaren (Stormwater specialist) | WSP |
Materials TAG
| Name | Role / Company |
|---|---|
| Guillaume Martel (Chair) | Provencher Roy Associés Architectes Inc. |
| Alan Murphy | Green Reason |
| Carolyn Risley | Dillon Consulting Limited |
| Chris Yates | Morrison Hershfield |
| Jessica Schlosser (Cushing) | Footprint |
| Joël Courchesne | City of Montreal |
| Jonathan Waltr | RE3 Solutions |
| Marsha Gentile | Ledcor |
| Megan Leslie | Stantec |
| Navisa Jain | EllisDon |
| Pam Barteaux | Province of New Brunswick |
| Janelle Harper | City of Winnipeg |
CAGBC would also like to thank the outgoing members of the Energy & Engineering TAG:
| Name | Role / Company |
|---|---|
| Andrej Simjanov | Remedy Engineering |
| Eric Van Benschoten | Van-Fort Inc. |
| Ian McRobie | H.H. Angus & Associates Limited Consulting Engineers |
| Jason Manikel | Brightly |
Thank you to all the volunteers throughout the long history of TAG.
Volunteer opportunities for green building leaders
CAGBC members can contribute to the green building industry through CAGBC committees, advisory boards, and groups. Share your expertise, knowledge, and insights to increase the development of green buildings and spaces at regional and national levels. Network with peers and explore opportunities with CAGBC.
There is still time to join an Accelerator, including the new Zero Carbon Transition Planning Accelerator, which has yet to be launched. See the ‘Join a Committee’ site for more details on how to put your name forward for a CAGBC committee.