Over the next few weeks, we will run a Q+A series to showcase some of the incredible change-makers who are speaking at Living Future 20. This week, we are featuring Stacy Smedley, Director of Sustainability at Skanska USA.

Natalie Quek: What does sustainability look like to you?

Stacy Smedley: Sustainability is something that weaves its way through everything we do, both personally and professionally. It’s how we look at the world through the lens of being servants to the natural environment, not served by it. It’s constantly asking the question, “How does this decision or path impact the natural world around us?”

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

SS: I grew up in rural Oregon on acres of forested land that my grandpa owned. He built a house on the land that my grandparents, my mom and I shared, and from the time I could walk I had this natural outdoor playground I got to experience every single day. When I was 8, my grandpa decided to sell our land and keep the house, so every day I watched as my trees were cut down, the land was scraped away, and asphalt pavement and empty dirt lots appeared. One of those days as I was watching, I turned to my mom and told her that one day I was going to create buildings that didn’t destroy nature. Eight-year-old me couldn’t understand why someone would choose to erase our natural environment – they had just erased mine, right in front of me.

NQ: What does this year’s theme, Sustaining Hope within Crisis, mean to you? How does this translate to your personal or professional life?

SS: Hope is so vitally important, especially in the work that we do in sustainability where much of the news we hear is how big the problems are that we are trying to solve, and that we don’t have enough time to solve them. Hope is also powerful – it is what can bring people together and create collective action. And collective action is how we will solve the big problems we face.

NQ: What gives you hope?

SS: 2020 gives me hope. It already feels like the first year in a decade of real action. Collective action, specifically.

NQ: Can you give us a taste of what you’ll be talking about in your session at Living Future?

SS: Embodied carbon has finally gotten the attention it deserves, and everyone in the building industry is now working hard to account for it and reduce it. We’ll be sharing how we’ve worked on applying embodied carbon accountability to the K-12 market, and I’ll probably touch on how important it is to engage the next generation in understanding the impacts of their buildings and co-creating sustainable solutions.

NQ: What’s a must-read/watch/listen for anyone involved with the sustainability community?

SS: The Biggest Little Farm – it’s a great example of listening and responding to nature, and it’s really well made.

NQ: Can you describe what Living Future is like to someone who has never been?

SS: It is a week of inspiration and education…with like-minded people that make it feel like you’re all sitting around a fire pit making big plans and learning from each other. I always leave feeling reinvigorated and knowing I’m not alone. Living Future empowers and inspires, bottom line.

Can’t wait to hear more from Stacy? She will speak at the Living Future 20 Online Summit Series. Details to be announced!

Written By

Natalie Quek