Peter Amerongen is one of the fathers of Net Zero Energy construction in Canada. Peter’s 45+ year career in construction has been celebrated with awards and accolades for his many accomplishments in the high-performance building sector. Peter is an inexhaustible collaborator, sitting on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations, and presenting at conferences across the continent.

Peter designed and built Canada’s first net zero energy, affordable multi- family project and Canada’s first net zero energy church in the Edmonton neighbourhood of North Glenora. His interest in affordable housing goes back a long way. He was at the founding meeting of the Edmonton Inner City Housing Society and subsequently renovated Projects 1 and 2. He went on to serve as society president and then chair of the Project Development Committee for several years. Combining that long-neglected interest in affordable housing with his commitment to sustainable building in the North Glenora project was so deeply satisfying that he sold his shares in Habitat Studio and joined Butterwick projects to work full time on affordable housing.

As a partner in Butterwick Projects Ltd, Peter is leading the deep energy retrofit of the 59-unit Sundance Housing Co-op in Edmonton. He is also consulting on a 40-unit net zero affordable housing project for Alberta Seniors and Housing that is under construction in Morinville, Alberta. Peter is an original member of Edmonton City Council’s Energy Transition Advisory Committee and of the CHBA Net Zero Council Management Committee. He is also a Certified Passive House Consultant (PHIUS and PHI) and consults on near zero emissions solutions for other projects. As an active member of NRCan’s Panelized Energy Efficient Retrofit (PEER) Industry Working Group he is deeply embedded in a national effort to bring this technology to market.

Matthew oversees an ever growing portfolio of work relating to climate change and environmental topics, and is aware of the many obstacles and intricacies of communicating these messages to various groups within Alberta. Through his work in developing marketing and communications plans for Emissions Reduction Alberta, Energy Efficiency Alberta, the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre, among others. Matthew has formed a deep understanding of people’s perceptions and biases regarding subjects such as climate change, energy efficiency, the environment, and economics related to addressing pollution. His growing passion for this work has seen him take on the role of Vice President of the Board for Climate Action Edmonton.

Yasushi was raised in Edmonton and has called it home since completing degrees in civil engineering (University of Alberta) and architecture (University of British Columbia). For over 22 years, he has worked in the land development industry, including greenfield development, infill residential construction and project management.

Yasushi has also spent a good portion of his professional life in civil service, first in Strathcona County’s Current Planning Department, then in the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Infrastructure, and finally in the City of Edmonton’s Housing and Homelessness Section. In his most recent nonprofit role, he served as Director of Housing at Homeward Trust Edmonton, an organization focused on the homeless-serving sector.

Yasushi brings to his work a love of urban design and a keen eye for how people interact with architecture, combined with a sensitivity to the realities of building construction and maintenance. He continues his work in community development with the establishment of a trio of sustainability-oriented organizations: the Green Violin Community Development Company, the Rose Cello Affordable Housing Society, and the Prairie Sky Property Management Corporation.

Stuart is a professional mechanical engineer with a master’s degree in building science and holds certification as a Passive House Designer both internationally and in North America. He is a founder of Passive Buildings Canada, a past voting member of the ASHRAE 227 Passive Building Standard Committee, and sits on the Passive House Institute US’s technical committee. Stuart is an accomplished technical designer and an experienced contributor to inter-disciplinary groups in a global setting, having consulted on over 750 high performance building projects across Canada, including many first production examples of Net Zero Energy and Passive House typology.

Stuart is the Principal of ReNü Engineering Inc., an eight member professional engineering firm with offices in Edmonton and Yellowknife, licensed to practice in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. ReNu’s team focuses on the delivery of new buildings and retrofit of existing ones to high performance standards in cold climate North America using a technical approach that blends the disciplines of mechanical engineering and architectural science, the two disciplines responsible for most energy consumption in buildings.  ReNü believes that the success of high performance building projects lies in a truly integrated assessment and design process; the right design and construction players must communicate effectively from beginning to end. Stuart is also a managing partner with Butterwick Projects, a construction management firm focused on deep energy retrofits. Stuart acted as the Senior Sustainability Engineer, Current Planning, for the City of Edmonton from 2013-2015, helping to streamline the permitting of solar and geothermal systems in the City.

Motivated by the climate emergency, Emma has been working in Canada’s energy sector for nearly a decade, specifically in the areas of energy efficiency and deep energy retrofits. Currently, Emma works asa consultant for projects related to climate justice, and more specifically housing, low-carbon buildings, and retrofits as climate solutions. In this capacity she has been working at the Operations Director for the ReCover Initiative and the Director of Communications and Atlantic Canada Organizing for the Climate Emergency Unit.

Emma has effectively intervened in provincial utility hearings to ensure increasing ambition of demand-side management programs. She ran the Climate Jobs Roundtable, a series of events that focused on job creation and transitioning the energy economy. As the Nova Scotia lead for the international project Smarter Energy Communities in Northern and Arctic Regions of Europe, Emma facilitated knowledge transfer between communities in Canada and Europe who were seeking to reduce their carbon footprint through smarter energy use.

Emma has a certificate in Building Science and Net Zero Building Design from Yestermorrow Design/Building School in Vermont. She achieved the University Medal in Environment, Sustainability and Society(ESS), and combined honours in ESS and International Development Studies from the University of King’s College/Dalhousie University. She holds her levels 1and 2 in Co-Resolve, Deep Democracy Facilitation. Before consulting, Emma worked at QUEST, a community energy planning non-profit, and before that she worked on the Energy Team at the Ecology Action Centre, Nova Scotia's environmental watchdog.

Kevin’s interest in energy efficiency began while working as a carpenter and Advanced Housing Instructor at Algonquin College. His passion for improving our built environment and a desire to promote efficient building practices led Kevin to Carleton University where he completed his Master’s in Sustainable Energy Policy.

This combined practical and theoretical experience has helped Kevin deliver successful projects ranging from rural energy efficiency programming to national awareness campaigns advocating for greater efficiency in the electricity sector. More recently in his work as Efficiency Canada’s Buildings Lead, Kevin’s strong public policy acumen and keen understanding of stakeholder interests has helped him support advocacy, communications, and public policy campaigns for several industry and trade associations in complex environments and regulated sectors. Kevin is an active community member and volunteers his time supporting youth cycling programs. Kevin’s favourite pastimes are hiking and canoeing with his family throughout Ontario.

Lorrie Rand is co-founder of Habit Studio, a Halifax-based design practice focused on sustainable houses that nurture the senses. After twenty years experience in designing custom retrofits, Lorrie was motivated to co-found the ReCover Initiative to advance deep retrofit projects at scale across Canada.

Lorrie is a Certified Passive House Designer and has a Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies from the Dalhousie University School of Architecture. She serves on the national board of directors for Passive Buildings Canada and as an instructor with Passive House Canada. She spends her down time in her garden, the dog park and at the hockey rink.