Event Description
Within the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) field, carbon production is a tangled web of interconnected elements. From material selection to transportation logistics, each component influences the carbon footprint of a project. However, mapping these intricate connections poses a daunting challenge. It requires a deep understanding of the entire lifecycle of buildings and infrastructure, along with the ability to discern subtle relationships between seemingly unrelated factors. Nevertheless, unravelling these complexities is essential for informed decision-making and advancing sustainable practices in the built environment.
Speakers
Nicholas Leahy AIA, LEED AP | Co-CEO & Design Principal, Perkins Eastman
Heather Jauregui, LEED AP BD+C, O+M, CPHC, Assoc. AIA | Associate Principal & Director of Sustainability, Perkins Eastman
Silvia Vercher Pons, LEED AP BD+C | Senior Associate, Perkins Eastman
Moderator: Dr. Adam Pantelimon, FRIBA, Intl. Assoc. AIA, MRAIC, MCIP, RPP, OUQ, ARB (UK), CNOA (France), AIA Intl Spring Conference Co-Chair
CES: Estimated 1 LU/ HSW for AIA Members
Speaker Bios
A talented and visionary design leader, Nick Leahy designs, manages, and directs the projects for one of the firm’s studios. He takes a very hands-on approach, attending regular project meetings and working closely with the project team members throughout the process to ensure that the design intent is realized. He has designed across several industry sectors and has worked at virtually every scale of project from large scale urban planning to small scale exhibits. His work has been recognized with numerous awards.
Nick’s projects are distinguished by their critical balance of place, program, and craft. Key to his design methodology is to investigate each site’s relationship to its environment, history, and its intended use. His designs for civic buildings, performing arts centers, museums, and institutional facilities can be found across the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. His recent projects include: the design and construction of the TKTS Booth in Times Square; the winning international design competition entry for the Shanghai World Expo Public Events Center; the Marriott East; Lower East Side Tenement Museum; Museum of Natural History Spitzer Hall of Human Origins and Butterfly Conservatory; the Studio Museum in Harlem; and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Campus Academic Center in Beijing. Nick’s past work has included: exhibitions designed for Hasbro Inc. at the International Toy Fair in London; design and master planning for several zoos and safari parks in Europe; design of renovations to two medieval structures; and work on the reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in England with Pentagram Design.
Heather Jauregui is the Director of Sustainability on the Firmwide Sustainability Team. Combining her passion for both research and architecture, she works to propel the industry toward a more sustainable future in two main facets at Perkins Eastman. First, as a firmwide resource, she works internally to educate architects about sustainability, and to provide them with easy access to key research and tools that they need to integrate sustainability into the design process. Second, she works as an internal consultant on key projects to help guide the design process from goal setting to strategy identification to measuring results. Her expertise in passive design, building science, Indoor Environmental Quality, and pre/post-occupancy evaluations provides valuable contribution to both the projects that she is involved with, and the firm as a whole.
Silvia Vercher Pons is an architect, urban designer, and adjunct professor working at the intersection between private sector, academia, and institutions. Her designs balance context, culture, and program, with sustainability and technology at the forefront. A Senior Associate in Perkins Eastman’s New York studio, Silvia focuses primarily on large scale and cultural projects.
In addition to teaching roles at the New York Institute of Technology and Pratt Institute, Silvia is a fellow in Columbia’s Climate School Center for Sustainable Urban Development and the Consortium of Sustainable Urbanization. Her research on the future of cities has been presented at Habitat III in Quito, WUF9 in Kuala Lumpur, and the UN Business Dialogue in Nairobi. Silvia serves as the US Representative of the NYC Architecture Biennial. Silvia holds a Master of Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University in New York, as well as degrees from the University of South Australia, the Polytechnic of Valencia, and Aarhus Arkitektskolen in Denmark.
A visionary strategist and futurist, Adam Pantelimon joined the Government of Canada’s National Research Council most recently from the Government of Alberta, where he worked as a portfolio lead & director with the ministries of Health, Seniors & Housing, and Infrastructure. With Seniors & Housing, Adam held responsibility for 47,000 units valued at $7+Billions. Along with Infrastructure, he led the Capital Planning and the Facility Evaluation program of 12,000+ facilities. Currently a Technical & Policy Advisor, Adam is playing a key role in the Low Carbon Regulatory Solutions thrust of the Platform to Decarbonize the Construction Sector at Scale, and the development of the National Building Code of Canada. Moreover, Adam delivered 60+ resilient projects in commercial, mixed-use development, residential, and hotelier realms, concurrently managed nine school construction projects, led urban design, heritage, and seven Municipal Development Plans & zoning by-laws.
A Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a regulated member of seven professional organizations in five countries, he is the Past President of the Canadian chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and the Past Chair of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (YEG, AB). He taught at several European universities, and served above Arctic Circle with the Government of Nunavut.
Adam has received several honors, including the 2016 Canadian Institute of Planners President’s Award in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding contribution to professional planning. He earned a six-year BArch, a two-year Post-graduate Diploma in Heritage, Master degrees in Engineering and in Urban Design/Planning, and a PhD “Cum Laude” in History of Culture.
