U40 Speaker Series - Cost Cutting & Carbon Crushing: the Future of Construction Materials

Laurenz brings 30 years’ experience working as an architect, and was a Principal at Stantec Architecture Ltd where he practiced for over two decades. Notably, he was the Architect of Record for the Whistler Sliding Centre for the 2010 Olympics, lead architect for the complete refurbishment of BC Place Stadium, and from 2013 to 2017 was the Architect of Record for The Amazing Brentwood. Laurenz currently advises Shape Properties’ Development Team, and is Vice President of Architecture at Nexii. His goal is to assist in the development and evolution of Nexii’s innovative product, helping to bring the Nexii solution to market.

Rocky Sethi - Chief Operating Officer, Adera Development Corporation

Rocky Sethi has been involved in the development and construction of wood frame and concrete residential and mixed-use buildings across Western Canada for over 20 years. He has been involved in all aspects of development from acquisition and design to construction and delivery of thousands of homes and hundreds of thousands of square feet of commercial developments. Rocky offers insight into the full spectrum of residential and commercial developments and has always worked on the leading edge of the industry, with companies looking to push the envelope with their projects in order to maximize the value of the real estate and offering to the customer. As the COO of Adera, he is championing projects incorporating Cross Laminated Timber and high levels of sustainability, in order to deliver cutting edge projects while combating climate change. Adera recently completed the Virtuoso project at UBC, and has four more CLT projects in planning or construction, including over 500 mass timber homes.

Lisa Westerhoff - Principal, Integral Group (moderator) 

Lisa leads the Sustainability Policy and Planning team at Integral Group in Vancouver, where she works with local governments, universities, developers, and industry organizations to create policies and strategies for a low-carbon built environment. Lisa holds a PhD in urban sustainability from UBC, during which time she conducted an evaluation of the success of Vancouver's Olympic Village as a sustainable urban neighbourhood.

She now brings her expertise in climate change, sustainability and resilience planning in coordinating projects ranging from zero emissions buildings plans, to post-occupancy evaluations, energy and carbon disclosure policies, and city-wide climate and energy strategies. She has designed and led several stakeholder and community engagement processes in planning for climate, energy, and sustainability policy. An excellent writer and communicator, Lisa's background makes her highly proficient in integrating and communicating ideas from across diverse sectors and disciplines. Lisa is the author of several academic publications on strategies for increasing climate change resilience and energy and emissions reductions, and an EcoDistricts Accredited Professional. Lisa also holds a Master's degree in climate change resilience and adaptation, and was the winner of the Canada Green Building Council's Green Building Champion Award in 2019.