Join OPPI Western Lake Ontario District Leadership Team for a session on planning for low-carbon, resilient communities.
Planning decisions lock in long-term outcomes for construction cost, carbon performance, and climate resilience, often before a single detail is designed. This session explores how planners can shape lower-carbon, more resilient growth through the levers they control, including:
- Land use and density
- Retrofit and renewal
- Infrastructure and servicing
- Rules that influence form, materials, and delivery models
Drawing on Half Climate Design’s applied research and municipal collaborations, the presentation provides a practical framework for connecting policy choices to real project outcomes and supporting more integrated, forward-looking approaches to growth and development.
Speakers:
Kelly Alvarez Doran – Father, architect, educator, and co-founder of Ha/f Climate Design. Kelly’s work advances regenerative design and whole-life carbon reduction through public-sector policy, applied research, and project implementation. He previously led MASS Design Group’s East Africa portfolio, including the award-winning Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture, and now focuses on scaling low-carbon, bio-based, and systems-driven approaches that bridge planning, design, and delivery.
Ryan Bruer – Architect and artist whose work connects material circularity, communal storytelling, and city-building to advance low-carbon design. As co-founder of Ha/f Climate Design, Ryan leads research on embodied carbon and circular design strategies and supports their integration into practice and policy. He teaches at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture and is based in Hamilton.