Green Building Slam

Yasmin Abraham, MBA, is co-founder of the Kambo Energy Group and visionary behind Empower Me. A thought leader in Canada in designing and delivering energy efficiency programs equitably, her passion has led Kambo to work with governments, utilities, and municipalities across the country. Under Yasmin’s leadership Kambo has delivered energy efficiency upgrades in 6,500 homes of multi-barriered Canadians. In 2018, Yasmin testified at the House of Commons special committee on energy efficiency to share the impactful work she and her team has accomplished. Yasmin is a member of the BC Step Code Special Committee, an expert contributor for Efficiency Canada, a fellow with the Energy Futures Lab, a member of the Edmonton Climate Innovation Fund Executive Advisory Committee, a Director for the non-profit Create Climate Equity, and a member of the Green Municipal Fund Peer Review Committee with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. 

Scott Blunk is the corporate Strategic Planner of Electrification and Energy Efficiency at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) where he creates enterprise wide electrification strategies for the utility.  He is an Adjunct Professor of Building Science at Cosumnes River College where he has taught courses on the energy codes and mechanical codes, energy auditing and energy modeling.   

Scott received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 1992 and MBA from Marquette University in 2000.  Scott has worked in the energy efficiency field for 15 years as a contractor, energy consultant, new construction residential program administrator, existing multifamily program administrator, mechanical engineer, rater, trainer, and real estate broker.   

He began his career developing cars for Ford Motor Company, spent 3 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon, lived on a boat (in Milwaukee) for 2 years, moved to California to obtain his Ph.D. but dropped out to start the first exclusively green general contracting and consulting firm in Sacramento in 2003 which launched his career in the energy field.

Dr. Mark Fretz is a Research Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Knowledge Exchange at the University of Oregon’s Institute for Health in the Built Environment. He directs the Institute’s industry research consortium, Build Health, which leverages design thinking and transdisciplinary science collaboration to develop and apply design solutions for low-carbon buildings that simultaneously promote healthier individuals, communities and planet. Prior to practicing architecture, Mark was an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and as a designer, Mark has worked on projects ranging from product design to healthcare, multi-family housing, embassy, commercial buildings and district scale master planning. His research and teaching focus on exploring the unseen experiential design elements in the built environment that affect human health across multiple scales ranging from microbes and molecules to energy and carbon.

Jonny Kocher is an associate at Rocky Mountain Institute, where he supports city and state efforts to promote building electrification in the Western U.S.  
 
Jonny began his career as an Environmental Engineer for the City & County of San Francisco (CCSF) working to test wastewater effluent to ensure NPDES permit compliance at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). While working at SFO, he helped launch their energy efficiency program with a focus on zero net energy buildings. He also co-chaired the Zero Energy and Resilient Outcomes (ZERO) committee, which reviewed and selected $100 million worth of energy efficiency measures for SFO’s $7.3 billion dollar Ascent Program. He also helped lead in the certification of the CCSF’s first zero net energy building. 

Mark Lakeman is the founder of the City Repair Project, as well as the founder and Design Director at communitecture, architecture & planning. Both organizations are Portland, Oregon-based world-changing initiatives that transform social, political, and physical infrastructure in order to embed permanent transformative effects. He has also been lead instructor for the Planet Repair Institute’s Urban Permaculture Design Course for a decade. Mark’s work has been published by El Mundo, Dwell, Architecture Magazine, New Village Journal, Sotokoto, The Utne Reader, Permaculture Activist and many more. With City Repair, in 2003 Mark was awarded the National Lewis Mumford Award, and his collaborative work has been featured at the Global Venice Biennale Exhibition. Additionally, in 2017, Mark’s work in City Repair was awarded “Social Design Circle” global recognition by the Curry Stone Design Prize.

A founding partner of Sundberg Kennedy Ly-Au Young Architects, Gladys Ly-Au Young is driven by a social purpose to design earth-friendly, community-based places that function well, create belonging, and promote health, well-being, and sustainability. Climate change is real, and Gladys believes our job is to work towards an equitable future for people and the environment.  Her firm’s mission is to design buildings that give back more than they take, creating climate change solutions rather than obstacles. 

Gladys held both an MS in Sustainable Design from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Washington State University.  She has been applying a deep understanding of sustainable design, sensitivity to context and place, and thoughtful design integrity to projects for over 25 years.  She is currently pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Social Justice at Harvard Extension School, working to change business as usual practices to address the root causes of systemic inequity.

Stacy has a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of Washington, and over 15 years in the architecture and construction professions. Her resume includes the first LEED for Homes Platinum certified project in Washington State as well as the first project in the world to be certified under Living Building Version 2.0 standards. At Skanska, Stacy leads sustainable initiatives, and is considered a subject matter expert in LEED, Living Building Challenge and carbon emissions associated with buildings and construction. In her role at the newly established nonprofit, Building Transparency, Stacy leads the continued management and development of the free, open-access Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3) tool and works to educate and engage the building industry on actionably reducing embodied carbon emissions of building materials. Stacy has served in various advisory and leadership roles, including: Co-Chair of the Washington Businesses for Climate Action; Advisory Board Member for the University of Washington Carbon leadership Forum; Construction Taskforce Chair for the Embodied Carbon Network; Advisory Group Member for AIA Materials Working Group; and Emerging Professional Regional Chair for USGBC. She is a 2020 Grist 50 Fixer, a 2019 ENR Top 25 Newsmaker, and a Living Building Challenge Hero.