‘No one-size-fits-all approach’ to sustainability – Finance & Commerce

Amy Fredregill brings ample expertise to her new function as senior director of sustainability at WSB, a Twin Cities-based supplier of engineering, planning, environmental and development providers.

Most lately, she was managing director of the Sustainable Progress Coalition, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that works with public, non-public and nonprofit shoppers on every little thing from clear air and water initiatives to sustainable landscaping.

As a go-to professional on sustainability and resiliency, Fredregill has supported the Minnesota Affiliation of Cooperatives, Midwest Renewable Vitality Monitoring System Inc., and Xcel Vitality initiatives, and has testified earlier than the Legislature on clear vitality and local weather points.

Within the following interview, Fredregill talks about her duties with WSB, her earlier work with private and non-private sector shoppers, and what communities are searching for on the sustainability entrance.

The interview has been edited for size and readability.

Q: Thanks for becoming a member of us. When was your first day on the job at WSB?

A: It was simply Monday. So that is day 5.

Q: How’s it going to date?

A: It’s going nice. It’s been such a heat welcome right here at WSB. It’s a very nice crew and an actual collegial ambiance, so I couldn’t be happier.

Q: I learn in your bio that you’ll lead the corporate’s renewables and resiliency technique. Are you able to broaden on that? What are a number of the particular belongings you’ll be engaged on?

A: Nice query. Our mission is to construct what’s subsequent in infrastructure for the locations, areas and programs that help our lives. I will likely be constructing on the years WSB has been delivering sustainable options, similar to water reuse, stormwater and flood administration, municipal resiliency and complete planning, sensible cities approaches, supplies design and renewable vitality, simply to call a couple of of our present capabilities.

Sustainability is a long-term purpose for WSB as a lot of our shoppers are prioritizing resiliency. And we all know we’ll proceed to see a requirement for sustainable approaches and initiatives sooner or later. So I’ll be working with my colleagues throughout the corporate to proceed to construct alignment and synchronize throughout service areas due to the multidisciplinary nature of sustainability.

Q: Discuss your profession journey and the way you bought to the place you’re immediately.

A: I’ve labored within the public sector, the non-public sector and in many various industries, taking a look at advanced multi-disciplinary challenges that require plenty of collaboration, creativity, and innovation. So I’ve finished plenty of stakeholder collaboration and bringing collectively various views to essentially study from one another and get to a distinct consequence that we wouldn’t have essentially gotten to if we hadn’t realized from one another and heard these completely different views.

I’ve labored in plenty of completely different areas and nationwide, right here in Minnesota, and naturally, within the Higher Midwest. I’ve finished work in coverage and authorities affairs within the public sector on the state and federal stage.

Over time, I’ve realized that there’s no one-size-fits all method that’s going to fulfill the wants of any given problem for any stakeholder, and so I’ve actually realized to broaden my very own answer set and be inventive and revolutionary … understanding that issues are linked to so many various programs and features of society.

I feel the world’s a greater place when folks simply study from one another and perceive completely different views. So I’ve form of made it some extent in my profession to do this by understanding the completely different views that stakeholders have. I hope to deliver all that to bear to learn the shoppers right here at WSB.

Q: How do you’re employed along with your shoppers to take them to that subsequent stage of sustainability? What’s the subsequent frontier?

A: If 2020 and already into 2021 has taught us something, it’s that life is unsure. The explanation I’m right here partially is as a result of we all know that many communities need to sustainable options to assist resolve their challenges.

It’s simply beginning with understanding, ‘What the objectives are of a group?’ We’ve had various shoppers the place we’ve helped conduct some fairly important water reuse on golf programs … as much as 60% water discount. And that is actually thrilling, as a result of while you scale back water, you scale back your vitality use. Scale back prices, scale back threat, scale back your footprint, and the checklist goes on and on. So it’s a win-win-win.

Issues are taking place so rapidly within the vitality trade. You’ll strive pilot tasks on smaller scale, simply to study and iterate. We have now finished small photo voltaic. We’re trying on the prime of buildings, which is sort of small, to 500 megawatts and every little thing in between.

Q: I’m curious how a lot skepticism you run into. Do folks nonetheless ask if wind energy can work when the wind isn’t blowing or photo voltaic when the solar isn’t shining?

A: That is only a actually rapidly altering subject. Nothing ever works completely. We talked about having the range of choices and never having your whole eggs in a single basket. When you’ve gotten one thing that you just’re unsure about, let’s do a pilot mission and see the way it works in sure circumstances. After which, can we apply that in a distinct area or trade? Each group or stakeholder is completely different. And so simply being able to strive some new issues … I feel it’s actually necessary.

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