Low Carbon Training for Engineering Professionals

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Addressing climate change requires collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill-building. Together with Engineers Canada, CRI developed a specialized low-carbon training for engineers and other practitioners in the building workforce. With the objective of increasing knowledge and awareness of low-carbon building concepts, this six-week online course will equip engineering professionals with collaborative decision-making, design, construction and operation skills needed to meet the growing demands to retrofit and build low-carbon buildings in Canada.

Upcoming Course Offerings

This course will be offered throughout the year. If you’d like to be notified of the next delivery sign up for our waitlist below.

Join the Waitlist Here

Course Details

The course is broken down into 5 modules, spread across 6 weeks. Each module has a 2 hour live (virtual) session, short weekly activities as well as course readings (some required, some optional). Attending live sessions is mandatory and is a crucial component of our program, as it is essential for your overall understanding and interaction with the material. The 5 modules:

  1. Module 1: Guiding Principles of Low-Carbon Development
  2. Module 2: Rethinking Low-Carbon Targets through Policy, Standards, and Indigenous Engagement
  3. Module 3A: Planning and Integrated Design Part A. Considerations​
  4. Module 3B: Planning and Integrated Design Part B. Low-Carbon Technologies and Methods​
  5. Module 4: Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Reporting
  6. Module 5: Building a Socially Just Business Case for Low-Carbon

Background

In June of 2021, the Government of Canada made a commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. To fulfill this net-zero goal, the building sector must prioritize decarbonization and instill a low-carbon culture emphasizing the construction of net-zero and climate-resilient buildings and retrofitting the existing building stock. Across the country, the building sector is the third-largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for 13% of Canada’s total. When considering the emissions from electricity generation for buildings, this figure rises to 18% with additional emissions embedded in building materials and construction supply chains. Increasing average temperatures, higher frequency and intensity of floods and wildfires, and other extreme weather events have reinforced the need to both reduce GHG emissions and shift towards climate-resilient buildings to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. 

This course is part of the Canada Green Building Council’s (CAGBC) Low Carbon Training Program, a project aimed at upskilling building professionals, including architects, engineers, contractors, and owners and operators, to accelerate the adoption of low-carbon practices, reduce emissions, and contribute to Canada’s Climate Action Plan and Just Transition.

Meet the Instructors!

Dan Dicaire P.Eng., M.A.Sc., C.E.M., C.M.V.P., WELL AP – Instructor

Dan Dicaire is a Professional Engineer, Certified Energy Manager, and WELL Building Accredited Professional, working on high-performance buildings and renewable energy implementation. Dan’s areas of expertise include large-scale utility management, GHG mitigation strategies, and ESG-focused capital planning. His projects include deep-energy retrofits, Passive House standard construction, net-zero building design, and large-scale GHG reduction, resulting in $59M of cumulative energy savings. Dan’s experience allows him to create science-based business cases and champion the implementation of leading-edge climate projects.

Catherine LeBlanc, P.Eng, J.D., B.Ed. – Instructor

Catherine LeBlanc holds degrees in civil engineering, law and education from Université de Moncton. She has worked in municipal construction as well as a lawyer in the field of construction and regulatory law. Recently, Catherine coordinated the NRCan BRACE project focused on training New Brunswick engineers in climate change adaptation. In addition to teaching, Catherine’s current research projects with Université de Moncton focus on climate change adaptation training and environmental obligations for professionals.

Tom Davis, P.Eng., LEED AP. – Instructor

Tom is the President of Green-Tech Environmental Engineering Ltd. and a Professor of Building Technology at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, with over 35 years of experience in consulting, education, research, real estate development, design, construction and project management for heavy construction projects around the world.
He is currently on sabbatical from Fanshawe College to work with the Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Local Energy Efficiency Partnerships (LEEP) Team. Tom is also a Principal Investigator in Applied Research working on Sustainable Design and Deep Energy Retrofits for existing buildings, he is responsible for all aspects of research, design and testing.

Kelsey Saunders, M.B.Sc., CPHD, LEED AP BD+C – Instructor

Kelsey Saunders is a Senior Building Science Consultant at RDH Building Science and has been in the building science field for 10 years. She holds a Bachelor of Architectural Science and a Master of Building Science degree from Toronto Metropolitan University and is a Certified Passive House Designer. Kelsey’s work is focused on early stage building enclosure consulting on new construction projects across North America with a particular specialty in low carbon buildings both in terms of operational and embodied carbon. She takes an enclosure-first approach to low carbon design and has worked on many Passive House, Net Zero Carbon, mass timber, and prefabricated panelized enclosure projects. 


Curriculum Team

CRI has brought together a diverse team to build a curriculum that explores specialized themes and subject areas including Indigenous knowledges, equity, diversity and inclusion, knowledge mobilization and capacity-building, and technical and engineering services. Click here to learn more about the curriculum developers.

Collaborators 

Together with Engineers Canada, Polytechnique, and CAGBC, CRI is proud to be collaborating with a diverse team of building, knowledge mobilization, EDI, engineering and education professionals to develop the low-carbon training course. 

To learn more about the Low-Carbon Training for Engineering Professionals course, please contact Paul Cobb, Manager of Training, at paul.cobb@climateriskinstitute.ca