One significant way that I wanted to contribute to the future of engineering was through increasing sustainability efforts in the profession. An essential part of continuing the sustainability effort in engineering is through education and consistent awareness in our daily practice. Within the last year, the sustainability group at KPFF LA has held monthly meetings to discuss sustainability on both a local and global level. I joined the sustainability group shortly after starting at KPFF LA and it has been an effective way to complement my career in structural engineering. After focusing on sustainable design during graduate school, I was interested in continuing to incorporate sustainability in my daily work.
There have been conscious efforts to quantify embodied carbon for projects in the office using innovative sustainability technology. It has been rewarding to see sustainability concepts applied to structural engineering projects as an integral part of the process. I have learned a great amount through discussions with my peers about their experiences and lessons learned with sustainability. This is one process that has been helpful for further developing the methods of defining sustainability in structural engineering, especially within the LA office. Attending the monthly sustainability group meetings and assisting with the ECAP report have also been great ways to encourage a future of more sustainable design in our local office, as well as the general AEC industry.
