Building Sustainability Advocates

Creating a net-zero-energy building to house injured animals is a challenge.

That task is one of the many John Mlade has handled as director for sustainable and healthy environments with design and delivery firm Wight & Company.

During the fall quarter, Mlade spoke about his work and philosophy on sustainability with students in Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Project Management (MPM) program.

“It was great,” Mlade said, reflecting on his second visit to speak to MPM students. “They are very interested in sustainability. We were able to paint a picture that helped students understand that there is a carbon impact and consideration along the entire lifecycle of a building.”

But first, there was the matter of the injured animals.

Mlade is wrapping up work with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County in Illinois on the development of a zero-energy wildlife center where injured animals can recover before being released back into the wild. That building will be full of wounded foxes, turtles, and birds.

All the ventilation needed to get animal odors out and fresh air in tends to use a great deal of energy, Mlade said, which made the project a challenge.

“That they are pursuing zero-energy is remarkable because it's effectively an inpatient hospital, and so, by its very nature, with all the ventilation needed, it consumes a lot of energy,” Mlade said. “We've done a good job to reduce that load and then offset it with onsite photovoltaics.”

The ability to find a solution for a built environment sector challenge like the wildlife center reflects Mlade’s philosophy on sustainability.

Sustainability is more than a job, he said. Rather, it is a way of thinking that brings together a variety of stakeholders with an interest in creating a healthier environment — whether that environment is Earth, a wildlife center, or an office building.

“Buildings are such a big piece of the sustainability puzzle, both from an energy and carbon standpoint and also from a human-health standpoint,” he said. “The impact buildings have on the occupants is profound, and it's a huge leverage point for creating positive change.”

Mlade’s work in creating that positive change can be seen around the Chicago area. For example, Wight & Company recently completed work on Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill., the first verified zero-energy building in the state.

The impact of that project goes beyond just serving as a new building for students, Mlade said.

“If we can do it in an educational environment and help students learn about sustainability, then maybe they move onto their careers and do something that is more sustainably oriented,” he said. “Then it becomes almost like a regenerative process. We're planting seeds through this project that will grow wherever students take them.”

That mindset — on sustainability requiring slow propagation over time — was a focus of Mlade’s conversation with MPM students. He told them about the need for project managers to focus on more than just reducing carbon and emissions from an operational standpoint.

“Just to build a building equates to 30 years of operational energy emissions,” Mlade said. “So there is definitely a need to think about that.”

Mlade said his goal was to help MPM students think about sustainability from the big picture over the long term.

“MPM students will certainly end up in a variety of different careers. All of them will be leaders in some capacity,” he said. “We need leadership across the board and across all market sectors to be thinking more sustainably. The better they can understand it, the more success we will see in the field.”