International Women’s Day 2023 & Passivhaus leadership

Posted by admin on 11/03/2023 at 12:05 pm

We’re very proud to have 6 women from our Envirotecture team included in this celebration for #InternationalWomensDay for #Passivhaus leadership – there’s an awesome community of women leading this movement across the country! Thanks to the Australian Passivhaus Association for this – check out ALL the lovely comments of the nominations here.

Here’s the nominations for our team:

Talina Edwards, Director, ENVIROTECTURE

One of the most influential passivhaus advocates, Talina has blended her architectural work with generous contributions to the wider public debate and the promotion of healthy, comfortable, efficient homes. Talina was a big contributor to the APA board for several years and has been a conduit to the wider design community where her influence cannot be underestimated in raising the profile of passivhaus. Her award winning Owl Woods project was a powerful demonstration of the possibilities of passivhaus and elegant design when approached with skill, care and a little flair. Her mentorship to her team and others within the passivhaus community is testament to a generosity of spirit that is needed, yet often lacking, in wider society and speaks both to her and also the collegiate atmosphere of the passivhaus innovators.

Mia Carmen Radic, Architectural Graduate/Certified Passivhaus Designer, ENVIROTECTURE

Mia became a Certified Passivhaus Designer as a young Architectural Graduate five years ago – in one of the first rounds of training in the country. Since then she’s been the lead designer/documenter of many Passivhaus homes – starting with involvement with Owl Woods Passivhaus working with Talina Edwards Architecture (and now as the merged practice with Envirotecture) to many more homes completed, under construction and on the drawing board! She volunteered a huge amount of her time to help coordinate, collate and create the Case Studies in the “Passivhaus in Australia” book with APHA. She’s now delivering presentations to the Passivhaus community to share her knowledge and hands-on experience to a wider audience. She was integral in the delivery of our award-winning “Little Pot of Gold” research project/completion entry for understanding of how the Passivhaus Standard can deliver True-Net-Zero-Energy homes with low embodied carbon, low operational carbon and a small footprint. Mia was recognised for her leadership in this space by being shortlisted as an Emerging Architect/Designer at the Sustainability Awards last year. We’ve loved seeing Mia’s confidence grow and are grateful for her role in our practice, but also for the contribution to the broader Passivhaus movement!

Karina Rafailov, Graduate of Architecture / Certified Passivhaus Designer ENVIROTECTURE

Karina is a strong believer in beauty when it comes to Architectural Design. When we find beauty in our surroundings (whether that’s the natural or built-environment) we’re more likely to care about it and feel a sense of loving kindness – which is crucial to the sustainability of our collective future here on Earth. Passivhaus projects have beauty that is more than skin-deep… this is not about superficial-beauty on the surface. A truly beautiful building (like a beautiful human!) has beauty that radiates from within. Karina recently added a Certified Passivhaus Designer qualification to her Architecture degree, so she can continue to develop her passion for this ethos… combining building-science with aesthetics and with all the ingredients that make a building both look and FEEL good – as this is truly a sustainable approach. We’re super proud that Karina became our seventh CPHD here at Envirotecture, as she’s designing and documenting many beautiful Passivhaus projects with us – including creative direction with our winning true-net-zero-energy home “Little Pot Of Gold”. Karina regularly participates in our Passivhaus Open Days alongside our wonderful clients – to share the love of these homes with a wider audience – to advocate for what is achievable with the right team of passionate people.

Shaily Shah, Graduate of Architecture / Certified Passivhaus Designer ENVIROTECTURE

Shaily has a real passion for sustainability, and for continuous learning and improvement to create better buildings – which quickly led her to discover Passivhaus and she became a Certified Passivhaus Designer not long after graduating from her Masters of Architecture. In a few short years, she developed her expertise with the PHPP and with the design and delivery of many Passivhaus projects – including the implementation of Passivhaus integrated with the Living Building Challenge for a more holistic approach to regenerative design. She’s worked alongside industry leaders Simone Schenkel, Talina Edwards and now Andy Marlow too (Envirotecture). Shaily shares her sustainability experience with Architecture Students as an alumni-guest at Deakin University, she’s presented to Architectural Graduates about Passivhaus, and also presenting learnings to the Australian Passivhaus Community drawing on data and design-implications from numerous case-studies. Shaily’s an integral part of our team and we’re thankful for her positive attitude and passion for Passivhaus!

Heather McCabe, Architect/Certified Passivhaus Designer ENVIROTECTURE

Heather is not only a registered Architect and Certified Passivhaus Designer, but she’s also an active advocate for sustainable and regenerative design – to co-create a healthier planet for all beings. Alongside her work documenting Passivhaus projects at Envirotecture, she’s a Board Director at the Australian Passivhaus Association where she’s passionate about communicating the benefits of this standard to a broader audience to increase implementation in the wider industry. Heather has experience with many scales of projects across her career to date, and is forever exploring ways to be more ethical, more responsible and more caring with our approach to the built environment that won’t destroy our natural environment. She isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions, not settling for “Business As Usual”, when there are better options to consider. We wish there were more compassionate folk like Heather getting a seat at the table in larger practices to advocate for sustainability where the scale of their impact can make an incredible difference in our industry. We thank Heather for having this deep connection and understanding of our collective role in caring for the planet, and are proud to see her finding her voice. This caring mindset, with a focus on better outcomes can sometimes still be a rare trait in our industry and one that deserves celebrating!

Olivia Sheridan, Building Designer ENVIROTECTURE

Olivia has a passion for more healthy and equitable outcomes for everyone. She is an experienced Building Designer who has been an incredible asset to out team – designing, documenting and delivering Passivhaus homes for our lovely clients (with Talina Edwards Architecture and now with our merged entity as Envirotecture). We feel it’s important to acknowledge and celebrate women like Olivia who are hugely integral to the successful outcomes of our projects (perhaps the more “quiet achievers”) as there’s a lot of them out there who aren’t as loud about their achievements as some! Although Olivia hasn’t (yet) done the Certified Passivhaus Designer Training/Exam, she has an absolute thirst for knowledge and has been quick to understand why we’re doing what we’re doing, and how to implement this in our projects. Absorbing all the knowledge from our team, with research and CPD along the way, collaborating with builders who share our ethos – has all meant this hands-on experience has been absolutely invaluable to the delivery of Passivhaus projects. Her involvement with our “Little Pot of Gold” advocacy research project was integral to understanding the relationship between embodied- and operational-carbon with Passivhaus homes. We need to celebrate more of our team members – as these pursuits are rarely a solo-endeavour, and rely on the strength of each individual to reach the desired goal – more healthy, comfortable, sustainable, energy-efficient, resilient and beautiful buildings!