Let\u2019s start at the beginning of my journey to becoming a climate action champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My interest began with an early exposure to the possibilities of renewable power at an elementary school science fair. One of my classmates had set up a small solar panel and light bulb, the idea of this light bulb operating without being plugged into an electrical socket kickstarted my passion for renewable and sustainable energy sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I entered the world of sustainability as a building automation controls electrician where I learned to install monitoring and control equipment, began to learn about control strategies to optimize building performance, and even began designing the control systems. After a decade in this industry, I decided it was time to expand my exposure to more theory behind sustainable building operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To better educate myself I entered into the Sustainable Energy Management Advanced Certificate (SEMAC) and Building Controls and Energy Management (BCEM) program offered through the British Columbia Institute for Technology (BCIT). These were both wonderful programs that expanded my knowledge of both quantitative and qualitative sustainability initiatives. My passion remained in emission mitigation as it almost feels like a game to me, where similar to golf, the lower your score the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this point, I took a career change and left the world of advising facilities managers on how to better operate their building to become a facilities manager. I made this transition as I felt it was where I could make greater changes from the inside. Over the past three years, I led a team that lowered our operational emissions by 20%. This value has been normalized to account for gains and losses seen due to weather helping eliminate false efficiencies. This accomplishment led to our facility being honoured with the Association of Energy Engineers Institutional Energy Management Award for the Region of Canada in 2023. Accepting this award and watching Al Gore present to a room of climate champions was one of the most humbling and inspirational moments of my career in the climate action industry. This event highlighted an important fact for me, at times it may seem like we are trying to push change ourselves, but this is far from the truth. There are wonderful climate action leaders around the globe putting forth similar efforts to create a more sustainable future for everyone. Ones I strive to become like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While I reminisce on my journey, I can not help but think of what the future has in store. The Master\u2019s of Arts in Climate Action Leadership has opened my eyes beyond the world of mitigation to one of adaptation as well. Where one can not focus simply on efficiency gains to create a sustainable future. Systematic issues that disparately affect vulnerable demographics need to be considered as well because a sustainable future for those of privilege may be an unsustainable future for those who are underprivileged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While this is a little about where I came from, please join the journey of my thoughts through my posts to witness who I become on this journey. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let\u2019s start at the beginning of my journey to becoming a climate action champion. My interest began with an early<\/p>\n