Fresh Air And Daylight: The Importance of Building Wellness

Karen R. Gill is the Vice President of Global Workplace Strategy and The Change Management Program Manager for Fidelity Investment’s, headquartered in Boston, Ma. Karen embraces an entrepreneurial spirit and focuses on understanding the business, empowering teams and creating new ways to engage employeesin purposeful experiences while in the workplace. Her goal always includes demonstrating value through innovation and considers both the physical and virtual world. Karen has adiverse background. Previously, Karen led the worldwide strategy and change program for Hewlett Packard/HPE and other global organizations. She also managed agile launch teams for technology and furniture product lines, bringing products to market 25% faster. And having been an educator for K-University students, she proudly boasts that ‘all she really needs to know, she learned in kindergarten’! Having also lived and worked for over 10 years in Asia Pacific, she enjoys harnessing the unique cultures of an organization to bring about transformational change. She likes listening to various points of view, participating in candid debate, and understanding the “why” for the workplace. Karen likes to make work fun! “You’ll hit some home runs and strike out a bunch too, which is the nature of entrepreneurial innovation”.

Jason Vollen is High Performance Buildings Practice Leader for the Americas and the State + Local + Cities Market Sector Leader for the New York Metro Region at AECOM. Prior to joining AECOM Jason was a tenured professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he served as the associate director for the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology, an industrial/academic alliance between Rensselaer and SOM. Jason’s work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and the American Institute of Architects. He has won numerous awards for next generation building systems design and has multiple building system patents under review. Jason received his B.Arch from The Cooper Union, His M.Arch II from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and is currently a doctoral candidate his at T.U.Delft.

Lauren M. Wallace is a Principal and the Director of Certifications and Consulting at Epsten Group, Inc. (EGI), where she has helped facilitate sustainability and wellness measures for thousands of projects around the globe. Ms. Wallace is a LEED Fellow, Living Future Accredited, and a WELL Accredited Professional. She is also a WELL Performance Testing Agent, LEED Project Reviewer, LBC Auditor, BREEAM Assessor, Parksmart Advisor, and TRUE Zero Waste Advisor. At EGI, she leads a team of experts in multiple rating systems who flexed their skills by taking the EGI headquarter office in downtown Atlanta through five different certifications: Fitwel v2.1, Living Building Challenge v4.0 Petal Certification, LEED ID+C v4.1, WELL v2.0, and RESET Air. More recently, Ms. Wallace has published multiple articles regarding health and wellness in a post-pandemic world to help walk building owners and facilitators through preparing for the new-normal in the built environment.

Ms. Peck has the corporate title of Vice President and is the head of AEW’s Architecture & Engineering group. She manages the small group of architects and engineers who oversee all physical, environmental and sustainability assessments for real assets during due diligence, disposition, the set hold period and new developments. Her group performs property inspections on potential investments for all commercial property types. Ms. Peck’s team is responsible for the review and analysis of energy audits and LEED gap analysis with respect to acquisitions and oversee the scope and results of third-party due diligence reports on property acquisitions. Her team is responsible for overseeing the construction of new development projects from AEW’s initial involvement through closeout and warranty completion as well as assisting asset managers with large capital improvement projects and physical problems at properties. Independently, Ms. Peck provides leadership for AEW’s Sustainability initiatives by co-chairing their “E” (Environmental) Committee and providing guidance and assistance with most sustainability initiatives with the objective of reducing energy and water consumption, improving the health and wellness of our indoor spaces, increasing the resilience of AEW’s assets, and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. She sits on the GRESB Real Estate Benchmark Committee in North America and is an active member of USGBC. Ms. Peck holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and M.S. in Civil Engineering, is a licensed Massachusetts Construction Supervisor with LEED AP Certification, and passed the FE exam toward a mechanical engineer/registered professional engineering license.

Blake Jackson, AIA is the US Northeast Sustainability Design Leader for Stantec. His work focuses on the nexus between sustainability, wellness, and resiliency, serving as a company-wide resource for projects, particularly those seeking third-party certification/s. He has 17+ years’ experience in planning, retail, hospitality, labs, healthcare, commercial, higher-education, workplace and multifamily projects. He earned his Bachelor of Architecture from Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, GA and his Master of Architecture in Sustainable Environmental Design from the AA Graduate School in London, UK. Blake is a prolific author, speaker and educator, and he recently served as the Vice President for Advocacy (2016-2018) with the Boston Society of Architects (BSA). In 2015, he was named a national “40 Under 40” built environment professional by Building Design + Construction Magazine. In his spare time, he enjoys distance running, travel, cooking, and spending time with his dog, Trudy.

Dailey Tipton has spent many years in senior positions of management where he is recognized for his expertise in energy and sustainability. He has a long history of growing companies, from start-up to Fortune 500 in size. As the leader for revenue generation for Evolution Energy Partners, Dailey focuses on creating opportunities for customers to drive impact to their bottom line through energy management projects while increasing their sustainable footprint. Prior to EEP, Dailey worked at CPower as a General Manager, SAP as the leader for Energy Management and Sustainable Applications Center of Excellence, DATUM as part of the management team and created, launched and managed a highly successful SAP sustainability practice for ERM. Dailey started his career as a Naval Flight Officer and is a Veteran of Foreign War with multiple recognitions including two Navy Achievement Medals. He holds two degrees in Engineering: MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas and BS in Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University. In his off time, Dailey is a competitive runner, cyclist, long distance open water swimmer and sails boats competitively. Dailey is on the Board of Directors for US Patriot Sailing, a wounded warrior program that provides support to the “Silently Wounded” warriors. Married 34 years to Jessica, who he met at Auburn, with two children Nate 30 and Leah 27.