About

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 Retrofit Canada.

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.

Ben received an Architectural Technologies diploma from SAIT in 2013 and worked for several years as a building science technologist. During that time, he diagnosed and oversaw the repair of building envelope issues in dozens of single and multi-family buildings. He has also served as a building envelope consultant on multiple multi-family and commercial construction projects in Calgary and Fort McMurray. Currently, Ben is a principal investigator with SAIT’s Green Building Technologies division, overseeing building science-related research. He also supports curriculum development to help increase the adoption of green, high-performance building design, construction, and retrofit concepts.

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.

Rebecca has a passion for energy-efficiency and living sustainably. An Edmonton native, she has lived and worked around the world, learning about how people in different countries use and conserve energy. She obtained her BSc in Chemical Engineering at the University of Alberta and her MScTech in Process Engineering at Ecole des Mines de Paris. She started her career by designing heat exchangers and energy-efficient industrial processes in France, then moved back to Alberta to troubleshoot tailings ponds in the oil sands near Fort McMurray. She made the transition to low-energy buildings in 2016, working as a consultant in the sustainable buildings industry in Calgary. She then obtained her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Carleton University, specializing in Sustainable Building Energy Systems. Her experimental research focused on underground seasonal thermal storage for residential buildings in cold climates.

Rebecca is a professional engineer, and an expert in heat transfer, thermodynamics, and building physics. She is particularly interested in energy-efficiency retrofits for existing buildings, and currently works for IES Ltd., improving software for building energy modelling.

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Matthew, Founder and CEO of Earthrise Building Services in Whitehorse, Yukon, has dedicated himself to advancing residential deep energy retrofits in northern Canada. A Professional Engineer with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto, Matthew previously managed the energy efficiency programs for the Government of Yukon. While there, he played a pivotal role in developing Yukon’s climate change mitigation strategies and orchestrated the deployment of a network of electric vehicle chargers, enabling high-speed charging along Yukon’s highways. Additionally, Matthew has contributed to the development and delivery of Yukon’s energy efficiency incentive programs and led research into the effectiveness of cold climate heat pumps in the north. His diverse background includes significant periods in manufacturing and telecommunications, focusing on lean process improvement.

With substantial experience in academia, government, and the private sector, Matthew aims to integrate the unique strengths of these sectors to revolutionize how residential retrofits are planned and executed. Along with his team, he is exploring modern tools and techniques to streamline the retrofit process for northern homeowners, to ultimately replace anxiety and confusion with peace of mind.

Tim Wilson is a leader with 16 years of experience leading teams in nonprofit, corporate, and government organizations. He and his partner Amy live in Edmonton’s Alberta Avenue neighbourhood, raising two kids, a mutt, and a flock of backyard chickens.