Design the Future

Apr 10 2024 23
Design the Future Podcast artwork

Women are living, learning, and leading towards a sustainable future. Their stories can help us all accelerate toward that vision in the built environment. Design the Future is a podcast created to elevate and explore the voices of women driving sustainable practices in the built environment and related fields. Lindsay Baker, a sustainability and social impact leader, and Kira Gould, a writer and communications strategist, host these conversations.

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Janice Barnes on climate adaptation as part of design

Apr 10 2024 49 mins  
Dr. Janice Barnes is founder of Climate Adaptation Partners, a NYC-based partnership that focuses on climate adaptation. With technical training in architecture and organizational behavior, she helps clients to understand risks and evaluate adaptation pathways and link these to design and financing options. She works at the intersection of climate change, design, and public health

Paula Melton on green building knowledge and education

Mar 21 2024 48 mins  
Paula Melton is the Editorial Director at BuildingGreen, which supports the international sustainable building movement with learning resources, community building, and other services. She works with editorial teams to develop and deliver webcasts, long-form analysis, and other guidance on BuildingGreen.com and LEEDuser.com. “We have problems that are caused by people being in si

Laurie Schoeman on climate risk, resilience, and finance

Feb 22 2024 45 mins  
Laurie Schoeman is the Director of Climate for Enterprise Community Investment and has served as senior advisor at the Council on Environmental Quality in the Executive Office of the President. Her aim is to develop and implement innovative policies and solutions that enhance the climate adaptation and physical resilience of communities across the nation, especially those that are

Noorie Rajvanshi on sustainability as part of everyday work

Feb 08 2024 39 mins  
Noorie Rajvanshi is Director of Sustainability and Climate Strategy at Siemens USA, part of a multinational technology company. Noorie talked to us about her family’s sustainability roots, her mechanical engineering background, and how her fascination with quantifying environmental impact led to her role at Siemens. She is proud of her work on performance tools to support cities

Veena Singla on environmental health and justice

Dec 14 2023 41 mins  
Dr. Veena Singla is Senior Scientist with the People & Communities Program at the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). She seeks to address health disparities linked to harmful environmental exposures using an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating environmental health, exposure science, public health, and policy expertise. Her research investigates how toxic chemicals

Seema Bhangar on human health, data, and buildings

Nov 29 2023 41 mins  
Seema Bhangar is a Healthy Buildings & Communities Principal at the US Green Building Council; she focuses on research and innovation. She is also a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley’s Center for the Built Environment. If you are interested in the field of human health and buildings, Seema advises you to “collect data and be curious and discerning and honest. We have evaluate

Annie Bevan on materials and thinking about impact holistically

Nov 16 2023 44 mins  
Materials maven Annie Bevan is a facilitator, consultant, and collaborator focused on creating large-scale change and leveraging sustainability as a strategic business enabler. She’s effecting this through two roles: she is CEO of SMS Collaborative and CEO of mindful MATERIALS.The mindful MATERIALS organization began as steward of a library tool. (That tool started at HKS, which

Alejandra Menchaca on design analytics and opening windows

Oct 26 2023 44 mins  
Through her consultancy, AIRLIT studio, Alejandra Menchaca provides expertise in mechanical engineering and building science to owners and design teams. One of her current projects will be the first performing arts facility in the US with full natural ventilation. Ale holds a PhD in mechanical engineering and has taught at MIT and Harvard GSD, where she has mentored, she says, “s

Victoria Burrows on decarbonization and proving the possible

Oct 05 2023 46 mins  
Victoria Burrows is a manager of portfolio development and industry partnerships at Kompas, an early-stage venture capital firm backing innovations for decarbonizing the built environment and manufacturing. Decarbonization has been the focus of Victoria’s career to date (her prior role was leading Advancing Net Zero at the World Green Building Council), and she lives it, too. She

Ariane Laxo on the broadening impacts of design

Sep 07 2023 43 mins  
Ariane Laxo is Sustainability Director at HGA, an architecture and engineering firm of 1,000 people in 12 offices. We talked to Ariane about her work, what she draws on to lead, and how she finds strength in the purpose of sustainability. She advises others to listen to the curiosity that pulls them and cultivate an introspective mindset. In addition to stewarding projects at HGA t