Kris was a Community Coordinator at the University of Waterloo Housing and Residences prior to joining the Real Property Association of Canada (REALPAC) where he has spent six years as sustainability professional specializing in commercial real estate.
In his current role as the Manager of Research & Sustainability at REALPAC, he advises over 130 Canadian commercial real estate companies on ESG best practices.
His work focuses on net-zero carbon, climate risk, energy, water, waste, green leasing, ESG reporting, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Kris also works with all levels of Canadian government to shape policy that is productive for the environment and the real estate sector.
He received a Corporate Knights Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leader Award in November 2021.
Q and A with Kris Kolenc, Bachelor of Environmental Studies 2016
How do you feel about the award and recognition?
I am very thankful for the Corporate Knights Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leader award. It shows that I have made a significant contribution to sustainability in Canada through my work.
It also demonstrates the importance of young professionals pushing and innovating sustainability in the real world. I am lucky to be amongst such an esteemed cohort of young sustainability leaders.
Since I am a green building professional, my recognition also emphasizes the importance of buildings as an important element to Canada’s sustainable future.
In all, it indicates that there is lots more work to be done to mitigate the climate crisis. This award is a milestone in my career and sustainability journey, but there is still a lot more I, and we as a collective, need to accomplish to ensure Canada’s sustainable future.
How did your experience at Waterloo influence your career path and development?
I started my undergraduate degree in 2011, the same year Waterloo’s Environment3 (EV3) building opened. Learning and working in the campus’s first LEED-platinum building really boosted my interest and passion for green buildings. I subsequently focused many of my course research projects on green buildings to learn more about the topic.
Waterloo gave me so many opportunities to get involved and develop my interpersonal and leadership skills. I was quite involved in Residence Life throughout my undergrad, including as an Environment Living Learning Community Peer Leader at St. Paul’s University College, and later as a Don and Community Coordinator at University of Waterloo Place (UWP). I was also the Communications Director for the Environment Students Society (ESS).
Waterloo was also the first time I got to be amongst so many like-minded peers who were also passionate about sustainability and the environment. It was great learning from and alongside so many like-minded people and developing great friendships. It is funny how today, many of my friends and former classmates also work in sustainability so we can bounce ideas off each other and go to each other for project and career advice. Back at school, I used to joke with my friends that today we are classmates in university, but later in life we will be colleagues around a boardroom table making executive decisions on sustainability. That is starting to play out [laughs].
The Environment & Business program was fantastic! It was ahead of its time distilling the business case for sustainability and how you operationalize it within organizations. I particularly enjoyed my Environmental Management Systems and Industrial Ecology courses. My fourth-year capstone project with Oxford Properties focused on engaging shopping centre tenants in sustainability, which later helped me secure a job at REALPAC focusing on commercial real estate sustainability. While I was in university, the sustainability field was still very new and not as well recognized as other professions, but today, there is an insatiable demand for ESG professionals and fantastic opportunity in the field.
Are you working any project(s) now and what’s the impact on the community?
Buildings make up about 40 per cent of global emissions. My major focus right now at REALPAC is on net-zero carbon and how we decarbonize Canada’s building stock. Lots will have to be done to achieve net zero carbon emissions in buildings by 2050 or sooner including greater investment in renewable energy and building electrification, cleaning our electricity grids across the country, stronger accounting of Scope 3 emissions including tenant emissions and embodied cardon, and determining commercially viable implementation pathways.
I am conducting net zero carbon research and convening industry roundtables through REALPAC to start tackling this complex issue.
DEI needs to be improved in much of corporate Canada, and commercial real estate is no exception. At REALPAC we have several initiatives to help improve DEI in the commercial real estate sector. For example, we have created a Panel Pledge to encourage diverse representation of speakers at industry events, we conduct industry surveys to benchmark DEI metrics within the sector, and we host educational webinars and events to inform the industry on various DEI topics such as accessibility.
REALPAC released an updated version of our Green Lease Standard in December 2021. This updated document provides expanded guidance on how commercial office landlords and tenants can embed sustainability clauses in their lease agreements to collectively improve the sustainability performance of their building. Updates to the standard include leasing language around net-zero carbon, resiliency, health & wellness, and pandemic preparedness.