KEYNOTES
Indigenous Inclusion is the New Normal
The world is a quickly changing place where the new normal can mean many different things. The new normal for Indigenous Engagement and Inclusion means that professionals at all stages of design need to be thinking about Indigenous Engagement Strategies from day one and connecting with Indigenous communities, businesses and organizations is vital to the competitiveness and success of all projects. Every project is unique and thus every engagement plan is unique. Taking the time to build these plans and collaborate with Indigenous Peoples and organizations will bring you to more robust and exciting outcomes.
Kear Porttris, Owner and Founder, Portriss Consulting Group
Kear Porttris is a Métis-Chinese professional who has been walking in multiple worlds since he was born. His Father is Métis and his mother is a Chinese immigrant from Hong Kong. He grew up in Treaty Four Territory in Regina, Saskatchewan. With a civil engineering background, holding an undergraduate and Master of Applied Science Degrees in Civil Engineering. He merges education, personal, and professional experience with a solutions based lens. He has extensive experience developing partnerships between industry and Indigenous Communities. He focuses on using a collaborative approach to bolster and support Indigenization and engagement across disciplines and find unique and effective solutions for his clients. He is able to combine his professional training with his unique perspectives and network to support clients. He is involved with a number of interesting and innovative projects that are pushing the limits of Indigenization in industry. Kear sits on the board of Métis Nation of Greater Victoria, helping to represent Métis People throughout lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Territories.
Labs2Zero: Accelerating the Global Transition to Net Zero Carbon Laboratories
From floods to fires, the impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly serious and even catastrophic. To prevent even worse climate impacts, the world needs to dramatically reduce carbon emissions, particularly from buildings. Labs2Zero is a multi-element, ambitious program begun by I2SL to accelerate efforts to decarbonize the world’s laboratories. This program includes a newly internationalized Lab Benchmarking Tool (LBT), an Energy and Emissions Scorecard for labs, tools and reports to analyze, audit, and design low emissions laboratories, as well as a certification and accreditation program. Gordon will discuss the program as well as how the SLCan community can participate in these efforts to help decarbonize Canadian and the rest of the world’s laboratories.
Gordon Sharp, President, International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories
Gordon Sharp is the President of I2SL, the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories, a non-profit organization dedicated to decarbonizing and making laboratories more sustainable across the world. Gordon is also the inventor of many important, widely applied technologies that have had a significant impact on lab sustainability and energy efficiency such as sash sensing VAV fume hood and laboratory airflow controls, the electronic venturi airflow valve, and demand based control of lab ventilation. He is also the founder of two major companies in the lab sustainability field: Phoenix Controls, a well respected laboratory airflow controls company, and Aircuity, a leader in healthy and energy efficient ventilation for laboratory and commercial buildings. The many technologies invented by Gordon at Phoenix Controls and Aircuity are today saving well over $2.5 billion annually in energy use and over 7.5 million metric tons per year in carbon emissions from thousands of commercial and laboratory facilities around the world.
Gordon is an MIT graduate with over 35 patents covering energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, laboratory controls, and even airflow based kinetic artwork! Along with his efforts to decarbonize lab buildings, Gordon also founded Airflow Kinetics to create large airflow based kinetic sculptures that are both mesmerizing and educational, and will hopefully increase the public’s understanding and appreciation of airflow and building ventilation.
Zero Carbon Leadership in Labs: Building a Global Culture of Sustainability in Science
Laboratories are massively resources intensives spaces, and the global biotech and pharmaceutical industry is one of the more carbon intensive industries in the world. Join this session to gain a sneak peek on global trends in carbon emissions in life science and get a sneak peek into a report My Green Lab is releasing for COP 27 on the impact of the industry and the need for change. This presentation will also provide practical recommendations for building a culture of sustainability in your lab, leveraging My Green Lab’s marketing leading tools and programs.
James Connelly, Chief Executive Officer, My Green Labs
One of the most influential leaders in the corporate sustainability and green building movement today, James Connelly is the Chief Executive Officer of My Green Lab. James is a frequent keynote speaker on regenerative design, sustainable business, and laboratory sustainability. He is an avid writer, and his research and commentary have been featured in news outlets such as China Dialogue, CGTN TV, Engineering News Record, Building Green, Trim Tab, Sustainable Brands, and GreenBiz.
Before joining My Green Lab, James was the Vice President of Strategic Growth for the International Living Future Institute, where he led international growth strategy and became a founding board member of Living Future Institute Europe. During his time at ILFI, James created several leading-edge sustainability programs, including Declare, an innovative ingredient transparency label for non-toxic building products, Living Product Challenge, the world’s most advanced sustainability standard for building products, Just, a social equity label for organizations, and Zero Carbon Building Certification. James has won numerous scholarships and awards for his research and work; notably, he received a 2012 Fulbright Fellowship to research on green building rating systems in China, was selected as a Greenbiz 30 under 30 Sustainable Business Leader in 2016, and a Net Zero Energy Trailblazer in 2019.