Board of Directors

Stephen Smith (Chair)

Manulife Real Estate
Seat: At Large

Steve has more than 25 years' experience in the commercial real estate industry. He's held a diverse set of roles including; leasing, marketing and asset management. Currently, Steve is responsible for oversight of all activities within Manulife Real Estate's western portfolio. Prior to that, Steve held a progression of senior roles within Oxford Properties. Among his more unique endeavours, Steve has developed an industry leading national call centre and a world class sustainability initiative.

Steve is a graduate of the University of Toronto and a happy transplant to beautiful British Columbia.

Andrew McAllan, MBA (Immediate Past Chair)

Oxford Properties
Seat: Real Estate Owners and Developers

Andrew McAllan is the Head of Real Estate Management at Oxford Properties Group. In this role, Andrew oversees all the leasing, managing and operating activities for Oxford’s Canadian real estate portfolio, consisting of approximately 50 million square feet of office, retail, multi-residential, industrial and hotel assets. Andrew has over 30 years of commercial real estate experience, and joined Oxford in 1996. Prior to Oxford he held senior positions at Shipp Corporation and Dennis Commercial Properties. Andrew serves on the Advisory Board for Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), BOMA Canada National Advisory Council, and is Chair of the Board for the Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC) and is also an active member of NAIOP and REALpac. Andrew holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

Ashley O’Neill (Vice-Chair)

CBRE
Seat: Real Estate Managers and Owners

Ashley O’Neill manages the development and implementation of CBRE’s corporate workplace strategy in Canada. She is coordinating the transformation of CBRE’s offices across the country as part of a strategic, multi-year project. As the global real estate leader, CBRE is focused on employee and client engagement, wellness and sustainability. Ashley is leading the way in creating a work environment that is truly making a difference on how the workplace of the future creates a competitive advantage.

In 2018, Ashley pioneered the application of the WELL Building Standard to new and existing office interiors in Canada - the first building standard that focuses entirely on the impact of the office design and environment on the health and wellness of the employees working within. With 4 office projects awarded WELL certification in the past 12 months, Ashley elevated CBRE to the global leader in workplace wellness with the most certified office space of any compny across the globe.

Ashley joined CBRE following a career in investment banking and has worked closely with the CBRE Canadian executive team on investment management strategies. She is currently leading corporate strategy involving change management projects across the Canadian platform.

Caroline Bordeaux

Canderel
Seat: Real Estate Owners and Developers

Ms. Bordeaux is the Director of Sustainability for Canderel. She joined in June 2016.

She acts as the company’s national expert on sustainability, overseeing corporate strategy, undertaking research on industry best practices, technology and legislation, and providing support to property management and development teams to mitigate environmental impacts associated with our activities.

Ms. Bordeaux has earned a Master’s degree in Business and Sustainability from Neoma Business School (France), as well as an Advanced Master degree in Environmental Management and Engineering from Mines ParisTech (France). She is also a LEED Accredited Professional (Operations and Maintenance) and a certified Agile Project Manager.

Conrad Schartau (Vice Chair)

Integral Group
Seat: Professional Firms

COO Conrad Schartau's open communication style and candid approach has helped propel the expansion of Integral Group while maintaining a transparent working environment. With over 25 years of experience in the building services industry, Conrad has led the strategic operations of several businesses, which has led to their increased profits and expansion. As a primary adopter of sustainable building design, Conrad introduced innovative knowledge of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat recovery technologies to the country. He constantly pursues new educational and personal development opportunities, which have enabled him to achieve his goals and arrive to the standing he embodies today.

Joanne McCallum

McCallum Sather Architects Inc.
Seat: Professional Firms

Joanne McCallum is a Director in the firm McCallum Sather Architects (MSA). Joanne holds a combined Honours Degree in Urban Geography and Psychology (Guelph), and a Master's Degree in Environmental Design, Architecture (Calgary). Joanne established her own firm in 1992 with a focus on embedding sustainable design principals in the design work of the firm. In 1996 her firm evolved into a partnership (MSA) and since that time the work of the firm has established a national reputation for promoting and advancing sustainable design principals and was an early leader in championing the integrated design process. Joanne believes the most successful buildings are ones were the integration of natural and technical systems are carefully resolved by matching the building typology with appropriately scaled systems. Joanne was a founding member of the Ontario Association of Architects Committee on The Environment and served on the OAA Council for six years, two as VP External Relations.

Joanne Perdue (Secretary)

University of Calgary
Seat: Academia & Research

Joanne Perdue is the Chief Sustainability Officer for the University of Calgary. In this role she is responsible for defining strategic direction and facilitating organizational change to enable the university to meet its goal of becoming a North American leader of sustainability in higher education. Under her guidance, the University of Calgary has attained a Gold rating under the Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment &smp; Rating System™, a North American framework for evaluation of sustainability in higher education. She is a recognized leader in both Canada and the US in the fields of sustainable building and community design, as well as organizational change for sustainability.

Joanne is an architect, a LEED Fellow, and a member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals. During her 20 years of practice she has been devoted to advancing green buildings and sustainable community design; as well as a key contributor to a number of award winning projects.

John Pontarollo (Treasurer)

CRH Canada Group Inc.
Seat: Product Manufacturers, Suppliers and Retail

John Pontarollo, Senior Vice President at CRH Canada Group Inc., oversees the Ontario & Western Canada regions of one of the country's largest vertically integrated building materials and construction companies, as well as associated assets in the Northwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States.

John is a strong advocate of sustainable construction helping to steer the industry to adopt sustainable construction practices. He fosters the principles of the triple bottom line ensuring a balance between stable economic growth, continual social progress and preservation of the environment. John’s support and leadership to sustainable construction practices includes the Cornerstone Standards Council driving sustainable aggregate procurement and operations.

John is a passionate advocate of developing young talent, supporting the company’s programs for young Engineers and co-teaching civil engineering at the University of Toronto. He holds a B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Michael Brennan

Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
Seat: Not-for-Profit and Industry Associations

Mike Brennan brings 26 years of executive leadership and a proven track record of operational success in the not-for-profit sector as well as turnarounds in for-profit companies in North America. He holds a Masters of Business from Carleton University in Ottawa and possesses a strong business acumen encompassing strategic planning, collaborative change management, and business process improvement. Throughout his career, he has focused on reducing operating costs and diversifying revenue streams while increasing performance and productivity.

In addition to a solid business foundation, including in banking and manufacturing, Mike has an understanding of and commitment to the not-for-profit sector. His expertise takes in governance, fundraising, volunteers, advocacy, grant writing, stakeholder engagement and program implementation. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists.

Michele Walkau (Vice Chair)

BA, M.Sc.
GWL Realty Advisors
Seat: Real Estate Managers & Tenants

Michele Walkau is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Services for GWL Realty Advisors. Michele is responsible for bringing together human resources, communications, marketing and sustainability to align the company's direction and priorities. Michele chairs the global corporate social responsibility committee for parent company, Great-West Lifeco. Prior to joining GWL Realty Advisors, Michele held various positions at Brookfield Properties Corporation. Michele has a Master of Science degree (Education) from Niagara University, Niagara Falls, NY and an Honours Bachelor degree (English Language & Literature) from the University of Western Ontario. Michele is on the Board of the Royal Canadian Military Institute and is the co-founder of the Historic Murray Canal District - a non-profit group focused on improving the quality of life in the area of the Murray Canal in Northumberland, Quinte West and Prince Edward Counties.

Rob Otway

PCL Construction Management Inc.
Seat: Constructors, Builders, Home Builders, Trade Contractors

As Vice President and District Manager, Rob is responsible for all PCL buildings, civil and special project operations within southern Alberta. He has held this position since 2008.

Rob is chair of the Calgary Construction Association and a director of the Alberta Construction Association and is a past chair of the Saskatchewan Construction Association, a past member of Calgary's United way Campaign Cabinet Committee, and a past director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Regina.

Rob has a bachelor of applied science degree in civil engineering from the University of Waterloo. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) and a Gold Seal certified project manager.

Veronica Silva

Public Services and Procurement Canada
Seat: Government and Policy

Veronica has worked in a variety of areas in the field of design, construction and project management. She has extensive experience in managing both significant financial resources and budgets for project and programs of work ranging up to $360 million annually and conducted diverse integrated projects teams as well as interdisciplinary human resource teams reporting under her direction as large as 320 people. Her experience in the Federal Government of Canada has spanned 25 years and includes the delivery of national programs in fit-up, accommodation, interior design, architecture, national accessibility for the disabled programs, extensive work in our Parliamentary Precinct locations and international work in Germany, Japan and China, as the Federal Government’s Technical Authority for the design and construction of Canada’s Pavilions at the World’s International Expos events.

As a senior management executive, she has led transformational exercises to achieve efficiencies, clarify roles and responsibilities, and align the parts of the organization that she became responsible for to effectively meet the broader business objectives and strategic directions of the branch and the department.

She is currently responsible for the National Functional Direction to all of the department’s regional delivery arms for Architecture & Engineering Services ( including Heritage Conservation) all areas of expertise), Environmental and Health & Safety Services, , and Geomatics Services. She is also responsible for the operational project delivery and program delivery support for all the Technical areas. She is also accountable for all Compliance to Health & Safety and code requirements for the departments role as custodian for all of our assets (buildings, sites/lands, engineering assets (bridges and dams), and to develop the oversight framework and ensure continuous improvement processes for the work done by a service providers.