Getting down to the basics, with Wendy Macdonald

With over two decades of experience in sustainable design, Wendy Macdonald has made it her mission to demystify technical concepts and make them accessible to all. Her passion about better design and helping others to understand, develop, clarify and realize their sustainability goals is what drives her leadership in green building practice. In this interview, she discusses how she channels her expertise and passion for sustainable design into the delivery of sustainable projects as a consultant.

Can you tell us about your career path?

My training is in mechanical engineering. However, my career path has been meandering with the main driver being a passion for our beloved home, planet Earth. The lingering question has been how best to help our home: Technical know-how? Psychology? Politics? Activism? The result has been a strange brew of experiences from energy modelling, HVAC design, lay-counselling, and even foot reflexology…

These tools (except foot reflexology!) found cohesion in Sustainability Consulting which has enabled me to use my engineering brain to talk technically, without needing to do much technical work myself. For many years, I enjoyed the challenge of being a LEED consultant. LEED encourages holistic thinking, and expanded my knowledge to non-mechanical areas: natural habitat, planning, rainwater management. It is fun working with a team to pull together a variety of strategies into a single cohesive sustainable project. LEED consulting also led me to establishing great connections with the CAGBC.

And what are you up to now?

At my current role at RJC, I’m enjoying the opportunity to get back to my thermodynamic, mechie roots and lean in on energy efficiency and carbon reduction. With RJC specializing in building enclosure design, structural design, and building restoration, we have an inordinate effect on energy and whole life cycle carbon of a building. “With great power comes great responsibility” – I’m enjoying supporting corporate initiatives helping our teams with advocacy, education and tools to drive down energy use and emissions in our projects.

Through this, I work closely with RJC’s building performance team of energy modellers and life cycle assessment practitioners. I’m also still doing some sustainability consulting, particularly for projects pursuing Zero Carbon Building Standards certifications.

One thing you’re known for is translating technical concepts into plain language. How important is it to make concepts more accessible to everyone? Does this help break siloed thinking?

People can feel dismissed, feel undervalued, or even angry if they feel “dumb”. That is not an environment that is conducive to collaboration. When we consultants take our tech-speak to levels of obscurity, we can inadvertently hobble the creative thinking of our own clients and fellow designers.

Everyone is an expert at something. Finding links between team members’ knowledge-base and technical concepts opens doors of possibility. When concepts are made accessible, individuals are more willing to offer opinions, collaborate, and think creatively.

So – the power of translating technical concepts into plain language is that it can unlock great passion about goals, concepts, strategies. An arms-crossed attitude – “Sounds complex and I don’t want it on my project” (translated: expensive and likely to break) – can become “Exciting! That’s the perfect solution!” The key is in providing useful, honest, practical answers, and finding the sweet spot of useful technical detail.

Social and technology are two key aspects of change. How can we bridge the knowledge gap and improve readiness to new practices, technologies and policies?

Honestly, it feels like a similar answer, just larger scale, different audience. Removing the fear factor goes a long way in improving readiness to what may need to be rapid change. I’ll add in: we need to recognize our humanity. There can be grief in change, and we need to make space for those experiencing this. I’ll confess to my own humanness and fear that without sufficient and rapid change, there’ll be a lot more to grieve.

I also want to make a pitch that it’s important to be kind to each other through this! I’m big on “no green shaming”. Some folks are great at the cutting edge; others find joy helping the masses catch up. There’s plenty for everyone to do. Figure out how you can best help. Let’s get through this huge challenge together.

As a past winner of the CAGBC Award for Volunteer Leadership and now Chair of the Zero Carbon Steering Committee, do you think volunteering provides leadership opportunities you wouldn’t find elsewhere?

Volunteering with the CAGBC has allowed me to make connections, hear perspectives across different markets and locations, and keep up to speed with what peers are thinking about and seeing with their clients and projects. (Shhh. Don’t tell anyone this, but I sometimes think I gain more than I give by volunteering with the CAGBC.)

What do you look forward to the most about attending BLC?

I look forward to Building Lasting Change^TM because I come away feeling uplifted and reinspired. It feels fantastic to gather among like-minded people, each out there using their own unique superpowers to advocate for good change in the world. It makes me think of that quote from Paul Hawken: “If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse.” Thank you CAGBC for helping sustain the beating heart of Canada’s green building industry.