Drawing on green building leaders
CAGBC’s volunteer Board of Directors draws on members from across industries and regions. Through their knowledge and experience, our directors actively support CAGBC’s mission to speed up the switch to efficient, healthy green buildings across Canada.
Thomas Mueller
CAGBC President and CEO
(Ex-officio)
Biography
Thomas Mueller is a founding director of the Canada Green Building Council and became president and CEO in 2005. As Chief Executive, he leads the council’s national green building strategy, programs, standards, and advocacy initiatives.
Thomas is a past board member of the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), the World Green Building Council (WGBC), and a current board member of the Cornerstone Standards Council (CSC) and Building Energy Innovators Council (BEIC). He is an internationally recognized green building authority active in the WorldGBC Global CEO Network and the Advisory Committee of Energy Efficiency in BC’s Built Environment Research Project at the University of British Columbia.
Thomas has an Undergraduate Degree in Geography, Planning, and Applied Ecology from the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, Germany. He holds a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning & Resource Development from the University of Waterloo, Ontario.
Jody Becker (Chair)
EllisDon
Seat: Construction
Biography
As Chief Strategy Officer, Jody oversees strategic planning for EllisDon. She works in collaboration with EllisDon’s CEO, senior management, and Board of Directors to forecast areas of growth and to develop execution plans. Jody guides the development of EllisDon’s annual strategic planning report and works with all operational divisions to monitor progress with respect to short- and long-term objectives.
As Chief Operating Officer, EVP Infrastructure Services & Technology, Jody is responsible for EllisDon’s Services divisions including Facilities Services, Energy & Digital Services, Project Advisory & Management, Furniture Equipment & Design and Sustainable Building Solutions. Jody’s teams are responsible for delivering EllisDon’s “Cradle to Grave” strategy, providing solutions to EllisDon’s clients at all stages of a project’s lifecycle and complementing our core construction business.
Jody joined EllisDon in 2007 and was subsequently promoted to the role of Senior Vice President and General Counsel, responsible for all the legal aspects of EllisDon’s business, particularly projects in the Alternative Financing and Procurement/Public-Private Partnerships (“AFP/P3”) market. She has been a key member of the EllisDon AFP/P3 team and has been instrumental in achieving commercial and financial close on numerous successful projects valued at over $9 billion.
Stéphan Déry (Vice-Chair/Treasurer)
Canada Lands Company
Seat: Government & Policy
Biography
Lillian is currently the Vice President, Office Operations at Cadillac Fairview. She has overall responsibility for over 5.5 million sq. ft of space in Vancouver and Calgary. She has been in property management for over 26 years – with over 23 of those years at Cadillac Fairview – working in various roles, beginning in accounting, moving on to leasing and General Manager roles at CF Pacific Centre Retail/Office complex and Waterfront Properties, before moving into a regional role.
Born and raised in Vancouver (and speaks conversational Cantonese), Lillian holds a B.A. (Psychology) from the University of British Columbia and a Managing Brokerage license.
In addition to serving as Past Chair on the BOMA BC board, Lillian currently serves on the Museum of Vancouver (MOV) board as Chair and loves to volunteer in mentorship capacities with Ascend Canada, Minerva, and YWCA.
While not working, Lillian enjoys volunteering with the Pets and Friends therapy dog program with her beloved dog Daisy and spending time in the beautiful BC wilderness with her family.
Lillian Tummonds (Vice-chair)
Cadillac Fairview
Seat: Real Estate Owners and Developers
Biography
Lillian is currently the Vice President, Office Operations at Cadillac Fairview. She has overall responsibility for over 5.5 million sq. ft of space in Vancouver and Calgary. She has been in property management for over 26 years – with over 23 of those years at Cadillac Fairview – working in various roles, beginning in accounting, moving on to leasing and General Manager roles at CF Pacific Centre Retail/Office complex and Waterfront Properties, before moving into a regional role.
Born and raised in Vancouver (and speaks conversational Cantonese), Lillian holds a B.A. (Psychology) from the University of British Columbia and a Managing Brokerage license.
In addition to serving as Past Chair on the BOMA BC board, Lillian currently serves on the Museum of Vancouver (MOV) board as Chair and loves to volunteer in mentorship capacities with Ascend Canada, Minerva, and YWCA.
While not working, Lillian enjoys volunteering with the Pets and Friends therapy dog program with her beloved dog Daisy and spending time in the beautiful BC wilderness with her family.
Michael Brennan (Secretary)
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
Seat: Not-for-Profit and Industry Associations
Biography
Mike Brennan is currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. He brings over 30 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 Master 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 includes governance, fundraising, volunteers, advocacy, grant writing, stakeholder engagement and program implementation.
Ailey Roberts, LEED® AP
BentallGreenOak
Seat: Real Estate Managers and Tenants
Biography
As Global Head of Sustainable Investing with BentallGreenOak, Ailey leads the firm’s global ESG platform. She is responsible for developing and implementing the firm’s ESG strategy in close coordination with senior leadership and portfolio management teams to drive performance and integrate risk mitigation and value creation into investment decision-making and management. Ailey also played a key role in establishing BentallGreenOak’s net zero commitment, strategy, and execution plan.
Ailey has 10+ years of experience in ESG practice and holds a Master’s of Environment & Sustainability from Western University, Bachelor’s degree from the University of Waterloo in Environment & Business, LEED Green Associate designation, and was recognized as one of Canada’s Clean50 sustainability leaders in 2020.
Jason Manikel, P.Eng./ing., LEED®AP, CBCP
Purpose Building
Seat: Professional Firm (Design)
Biography
Jason Manikel is a long-time green-building practitioner, and is currently an Energy and Decarbonization Consultant at Purpose Building. Jason has held leadership positions at each of his last three firms and has experience with a full range of business-management topics, including strategy, planning, management, accounting and human resources. A people person, Jason thrives on building open, trusting relationships.
Jason is a graduate of the mechanical engineering program at Queen’s University and is licensed to practice engineering in British Columbia, Ontario and Québec. After ten years designing new, high-performance green buildings, the second half of his career has been focused on the operational improvement of existing ones. For more than ten years, Jason has been a member (and past chair) of the CAGBC’s Energy & Engineering Technical Advisory Group, helping CAGBC rule on technical issues related to LEED and the ZCB program. He is also a Certified Building Commissioning Professional.
Martin Nielsen, Architect AIBC, P.Eng, LEED®AP,
DIALOG
Seat: Professional Firms
Biography
A registered architect and mechanical engineer, Martin brings over two decades of experience and leadership to DIALOG’s urban design, mixed-use development, higher education, and transportation projects. He is passionate about developing sustainable design solutions that are socially, economically, and environmentally responsible, with a portfolio of work that has been recognized with awards for planning, architecture, and innovation.
Martin is currently leading the design of 2150 Keith Drive, a 10-storey mass timber office building employing an innovative braced frame structural system and the UVic Engineering Precinct Expansion, a new $63M civil engineering laboratory complex.
Prior to joining DIALOG, Martin led the design and construction of UBC’s Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), a LEED® Platinum certified and Living Building. He has taught at the UBC School of Architecture and Faculty of Engineering, served as chair of the UBC Advisory Urban Design Panel, and is currently serving on the UBC Land Use Committee and the Board of Habitat for Humanity (Greater Vancouver). He has also served as chair on the City of Vancouver Urban Design Panel.
Nisha Agrawal
QuadReal
Seat: Commercial Real Estate Owners & Developers
Biography
An advocate for ESG, Nisha Agrawal is QuadReal’s Director, Sustainability, joining the company in 2017. Her expertise includes promoting green building certifications across the Canadian portfolio and supporting development of environmental, social and governance practices at QuadReal properties internationally.
Nisha brings more than 10 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry, beginning her career in Finance at Bentall Kennedy. From there, she moved into Sustainability and for over five years has been developing programs to effectively streamline and integrate sustainability initiatives with operations.
Nisha holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of British Columbia and is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC. Nisha is inspired by the progress companies have made to improve tenant health and well-being, reduce resource depletion, and innovate to create solutions in building operations.
Tony Cupido
Mohawk College
Seat: Academia and Research
Biography
As the inaugural Research Chair, Sustainability at Mohawk College, Tony provides leading-edge research that will contribute to a low-carbon economy. He engages with students using a multi-disciplinary approach to find real-world solutions to social, economic, and environmental challenges.
A professional engineer with 38 years of experience in engineering, facilities management, and capital development, Tony has considerable institutional experience, particularly with McMaster University and Mohawk College. In his leadership capacity at Mohawk College, he was responsible for the planning, design, construction, and operation of Canada’s largest institutional, zero-carbon building – The Joyce Centre for Partnership and Innovation. This award-winning facility became the first to achieve dual certification under the CAGBC’s Zero Carbon Building program.
Tony has a doctorate degree in Civil Engineering with a focus on green buildings and policy and is a former adjunct faculty member at McMaster.
Kit Milnes
Seat: At Large
Biography
Kit is responsible for developing and executing KingSett’s Sustainability Strategy and managing the climate risks and opportunities across its existing assets, developments, lending, and internal operations. Kit leads the development of KingSett’s market-leading decarbonization strategy across its portfolio and is also responsible for its internal and external ESG reporting, third-party standards alignment, and sustainable investment and lending programs. Kit has successfully secured over $45 million in government financing to execute decarbonization projects, with a further $50 million in the pipeline, with the Canadian Infrastructure Bank. Kit has successfully converted KingSett’s Core Fund line of credit into a Sustainable Linked Loan, meeting key performance criteria annually to maintain the preferred rate offering. Prior to joining KingSett, Kit was the Senior Manager of Sustainability at Triovest Realty Advisors. While at Triovest, Kit rolled out new technologies to improve asset and portfolio ESG performance, achieved Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) Global Sector Leader standing, and helped develop and implement its Innovation Strategy. Kit’s experience covers nearly a decade and a half of business, strategy and sustainability experience across a variety of industry sectors and asset classes. Kit holds an Honours Bachelors degree in Environmental Science from Dalhousie University and is a LEED Accredited Professional.
Emma Schindler
Seat: Product Manufacturer, Suppliers and Retail
Biography
Emma Schindler is a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the construction materials industry. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto and an Executive MBA from Ivey Business School, enhancing her strategic insight and leadership capabilities. Currently serving as the Vice President of Sales & Marketing at CRH Canada since July 2021, Emma brings a wealth of expertise to the sector.
Throughout her career, Emma has excelled in various roles, demonstrating her proficiency in sales, marketing, and strategic planning. Prior to her current position, she held key roles in sales management, where she successfully drove revenue growth and expanded market presence. Her career journey also includes roles in customer service and logistics, where she developed a strong foundation in understanding customer needs and optimizing operational processes. Her multifaceted experience has equipped her with a comprehensive understanding of the industry and a track record of delivering results.
In addition to Emma’s contribution to CRH Canada, she is currently participating on the board of the Canadian Concrete Precast Pipe Association and supporting the Canadian Cement Association with industry lobbying efforts. Additionally, she is a member of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Net Zero Council, contributing her expertise to sustainability initiatives within the industry.
Emma’s leadership acumen and commitment to environmental stewardship position her as a valuable asset in promoting sustainability initiatives. Her passion for innovation and fostering collaborative partnerships underscores her ability to make a meaningful impact in advancing industry practices.
Board elections
Seats on CAGBC’s Board of Directors come up for election on a rotating basis. CAGBC’s Nominations Committee is responsible for preparing a slate of candidates for election by voting members. Nominations for the Board are now closed.