September 2022 Breakfast Session - Circular Economy Mindset and Opportunities for Construction

Interest in Circular Economy is growing. According to the-future-of-commerce.com, Circular Economy is the single biggest driver for business transformation. By 2025 the City of Vancouver will require that all zoning applications provide a plan for designing for deconstruction, while the City of Richmond along with the Vancouver Economic Commission were selected to participate in the Canadian Circular Cities & Regions Initiative which provides knowledge and tools to accelerate circular economy solutions. The interest in circularity is set up to change the construction mindset from one of linearity to circularity. 

On September 22, the BC Construction Roundtable will host a compelling panel discussion on the impacts of embracing circularity – from municipal mandates to design initiatives to construction processes. Please join us!

Panelists include:

Marcos Alejandro Badra, Waste Management Analyst, City of Richmond. Sustainability, circular economy, economic growth, and social development are Marcos' passions. With over 15 years of experience working in a circular economy, he has experience with material flow, life cycle assessment, zero waste programs, environmental risk assessment, environmental management system, human development, and community engagement. Throughout his career, he has worked in and with numerous industries (chemistry, pharmaceuticals, automotive, energy, food and beverage, pulp and paper, and mining) and policymakers in Latin America and Europe. In addition to circular economy and sustainability, he is also experienced in partnership building, stakeholder engagement, and human development. He has been a member of several international non-profit organizations’ committees focused on sustainability, circular economy developments, community development, and social justice. To learn more about Marcos, please visit his LinkedIn profile.

Sara Turner, Sustainability Analyst, Nexii Building Solutions. At Nexii, Sara is leading the Zero Waste certification of the Squamish plant, the annual carbon accounting of the company’s operations, and has been working to implement embodied carbon analysis into product development. She has been contributing to the green building industry since 2017, through previous roles that include building science engineering, energy modeling, and renewable technology analysis. Sara is passionate about decarbonization, sustainable development, and the circular economy, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Waterloo. To learn more about Sara, please visit her LinkedIn profile.

Rosemary Cooper, Managing Director, Circular Innovation, Light House. For 25 years, Rosemary has been advancing sustainable solutions that make economic and business sense. In 2013, she pivoted her career to focus on catalyzing the transition to a circular economy, emphasizing upstream innovations that design out waste and foster lasting and shared prosperity. Rosemary is the Managing Director at Light House, an organization catalyzing a circular and regenerative built environment. She has taught the Circular Economy at BCIT’s School of Business since 2014 and provided consulting services on circular innovation, strategy and marketing. Rosemary started her career as a planner working at the intersection of sustainability and economic development. She holds a Master's Degree in Planning (York University), B.Sc. (Biology, McGill University) and an Urban Design Certificate (Simon Fraser University).