Pro
Dr. Adam Rysanek
Dr. Adam Rysanek is an Associate Professor at the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and co-directs the UBC Master’s of Engineering Leadership in High-Performance Buildings. Dr. Rysanek’s research centers on strategies for climate mitigation and adaptation. He has guided low-carbon demonstration projects in the UK, Singapore and Canada, most recently the Third Space at UBC.
Graham Brewster
Graham is Senior Director of Development at Wesgroup Properties. He leads Wesgroup’s mass timber exploration and execution with an eye to build better buildings faster while also understanding and sharing the complexities of innovation in development. This has led to the founding of the Western Mass Timber Alliance: industry sharing the challenges of mass timber with a “tree-to-key” understanding.
Con
Shawn Keyes
Shawn is the Executive Director of WoodWorks BC and a structural engineer with deep expertise in mass timber. Before joining WoodWorks, he spent nearly a decade in consulting at a leading design firm. Shawn holds masters degrees in both engineering and business, and serves on several mass timber advisory committees.
Jana Foit
Jana is a Principal and Higher Education Practice Lead for the Vancouver studio of Perkins&Will. She has over two decades of experience and has led several mass timber projects that include the Earth Science Building and Gateway Building at UBC, as well as the under construction BCIT Tall Timber Student Housing project.
Moderator
Frances Bula
Frances is an award winning journalist specializing in urban issues and city politics in the Vancouver region, which she has covered since 1994. She writes for the Globe and Mail’s B.C. section and Report on Business. She has written for the Vancouver Sun, BCBusiness, Canadian Architect, Canadian Business, Georgia Straight, and countless more publications.
Urbanarium-SALA City Debates are Oxford-style debates on timely issues facing Metro Vancouver. Each night two teams face off to argue for and against controversial positions. The pair that successfully changes the most minds wins!