Between now and the Living Future Conference in April, we will introduce some of the incredible practitioners, change-makers and innovators who are speaking at Living Future 2021. This week, we are featuring Mark Chen, Senior Sustainability Engineer at Skanska, one of our event sponsors.

Mark Chen

Lily Rybarczyk: What does sustainability look like to you?

Mark Chen: This will be my fifth Living Future, and every year we talk about the dramatic improvements that need to be made in the next decade to ensure a sustainable future for our planet. That being said, sustainability has never looked like a certification or accreditation to me; it looks like a challenge to push the status quo every day, even in the face of failure.

LR: What initially drew you to a career in sustainability?

MC: Growing up in Los Angeles with asthma, air quality was always a visible and personal problem for me and had me thinking about sustainability from an early age. As I got older and learned more about the different facets of sustainability and the opportunities to improve the health of our people and planet, I knew that this was what I wanted to focus my career on.

LR: What does this year’s theme, “Unity + Inclusion,” mean to you? How does this translate to your personal or professional life?

MC: Unity + Inclusion means including all communities and stakeholders in our decision making. Marginalized communities are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change, pollution, and resource scarcity, and that concept is not a new one. In my personal and professional life I’ve found that if you look hard enough, there is always a strong tie between sustainable solutions for the environment and sustainable solutions for people. I try to always remember that.

LR: You are presenting on “Contractor Contributions to Embodied Carbon Reduction.” Why do you feel it is important to discuss this topic at Living Future? What do you hope conference attendees will take away from this session? 

MC: I think there needs to be a paradigm shift where contractors and construction companies are at the forefront of sustainability in the built environment. The work and research being done around embodied carbon has shown that contractors have a huge impact on a project’s pollution and resource footprint, which is why this presentation topic is important to me. I hope conference attendees will leave Living Future 2021 inspired and equipped with knowledge that will help them push past business as usual when they go back to work the next week.

Hear more from Mark and his co-presenters during “Contractor Contributions to Embodied Carbon Reduction,” on April 22 at Living Future 2021! 

Written By

Lily Rybarczyk

Lily is an Events Manager at the International Living Future Institute. She supports the Living Future Conference as well as the Institute's other yearly events. After a two-year stint in Pittsburgh, Lily has returned to the Pacific Northwest, where she enjoys being in the mountains, exploring new restaurants and spending as much time as possible with her nephews and niece.