What advice would you offer to women getting into the CRE industry? While I did not personally experience or observe discrimination while in engineering school, upon graduation I found that casual objectification and stereotyping of women was still prevalent in the “old boys’ club” workforce. Look for a workplace with women and other underrepresented minorities in technical leadership positions. Support your colleagues and don’t tolerate bullying or disrespectful comments. Get your PE license and speak up if you have a great idea or disagree with a colleague’s approach. Communicate your career goals to your supervisors and work hard to achieve them.

What trends will dominate your industry in the coming months? The building design industry in N.E. is rapidly changing due to stringent new codes and standards meant to cut carbon emissions and mitigate severe climate disruption. In parallel to ambitious electric grid decarbonization plans, both new and existing building project teams are eliminating on-site fossil fuels and successfully implementing all-electric designs, primarily through heat pump technology. At the same time, significant improvements to envelope thermal performance are critical to reducing all-electric heating system loads and costs.

What has been your biggest challenge and how have you faced it? My biggest challenge has been honesty with myself and others about what I want to do with my life and career, even though it’s uncommon and surprising to most people: combining my strong motivation to help the environment with my lifelong passion for performing arts. Thanks to the support of my colleagues, friends, and family I can make a meaningful contribution to the green building field in parallel to my professional classical singing career. In fact, my stage experience and comedy skills make me an engaging speaker on green building topics. My biggest challenge now is an ongoing effort to improve time management!