Join us for a panel discussion that will bring together academic and professional experts from various fields to explore the current state of decarbonization efforts in Canada's building sector and the challenges that must be overcome in order to meet the country's emissions reduction targets.

This panel will also examine the various solutions that have been proposed and implemented to date and discuss the opportunities that exist for further progress in this area. The discussion will be moderated by Concordia's Public Scholar Mostafa Saad and will provide a platform for attendees to engage with the panellists and ask questions. The overall aim of this discussion is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the state of decarbonization of existing buildings in Canada and to inspire action toward a sustainable future.

How can you participate? Join us in person or online by registering for the Zoom Meeting or watching live on YouTube. 

Have questions? Send them to info.4@concordia.ca  

Prof. Ursula Eicker, PhD

Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities and Communities at Concordia University Montreal & Cofounding Director, Next Generation Cities Institute

Prof. Ursula Eicker is the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities and Communities at Concordia University Montreal. She is a German physicist who received her PhD in Solid State Physics from Heriot-Watt University and her Habilitation in Renewable Energy Systems from the Berlin Technical University. Prof. Eicker has held leadership positions at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences and its Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies and has coordinated many international research projects in the fields of building energy efficiency, renewable energy systems and urban scale simulation.

Since June 2019, she has led an ambitious research program to establish transformation strategies toward zero-carbon cities. Around 50 graduate students work on pathways to zero-carbon cities in the domains of the built environment, renewable energy systems, sustainable transport and circular economy.

Afaf Azzouz, P.Eng BEMP MSc

Senior Manager, Sustainability & Climate Change practice, Deloitte

Afaf Azzouz is a Senior Manager in Deloitte’s Sustainability & Climate Change practice. She is a Professional Engineer, a LEED Accredited Professional, a Building Energy Modeling Professional (BEMP) and has a Masters’ degree in Sustainable Engineering. She has also recently won thee (3) awards acknowledging her efforts, including the Association of Energy Engineers Young Energy Engineer and CaGBC Emerging Green Leader Awards. 

Through demonstrated leadership, a passion for “Deep Greening” initiatives, client engagement, mentorship and active project management, Afaf is a subject matter expert when it comes to ESG, Net-Zero, sustainability, whole-life carbon, lifecycle costing assessments and building performance. Afaf has also provided sustainability consulting for all types of buildings across Canada, including institutional, commercial, healthcare for various types of Federal, provincial, and private sector clients.

Brett Kerrigan, P.Eng

Engineering Director, Audette

Brett Kerrigan is a Professional Engineer with over ten years of varied experience in the energy efficiency sector, including demand-side management and resource planning for utilities, energy efficiency analysis for the historic Centre Block Rehabilitation project on Parliament Hill, building energy benchmarking programs, energy modelling, and retrofit studies. In his spare time Brett enjoys canoeing, weightlifting, working on his gas-to-electric moped conversion, spending time with his wife, and chasing his two daughters.

At Audette, we’re creating a meaningful path forward to tackle the logistics, politics and financial barriers around decarbonization in the commercial real estate industry. Our mission: to create a carbon-transition plan for every building on the planet. With our proprietary technology we can expedite decarbonization at the ground level and expand our impact to scale globally.

Matt Carlson MASc, PEng

Decarbonization Lead, Arup

Decarbonizing the built environment is Matt Carlson's main focus. Matt thinks about building performance through the lens of a mechanical engineer and building scientist. With a range of experience spanning Passive House consulting, whole building energy modelling, HVAC system design, hygrothermal simulation, thermal bridging analysis, carbon-neutral retrofit feasibility studies, building condition assessments, data centre HVAC commissioning, whole-building air-leakage testing, and embodied carbon reduction, Matt views buildings holistically as a series of interconnected systems. Whether in new design, major retrofit, or capital planning, Matt strives to find solutions to reduce the lifecycle GHG emissions of buildings.