Panel: Built for the Weather

Susanne is NYSERDA’s Senior Vice President of Clean and Resilient Buildings, leading the Authority’s work on building modernization to expand New York residents’ access to healthier, more comfortable homes and workplaces. Susanne leads NYSERDA’s programs and initiatives to retrofit buildings at scale, provide support for new clean technology innovation, develop and implement energy codes and product standards, and accelerate approaches that move beyond single-building solutions to effective deployment at the community level. Prior to joining NYSERDA, she served as Regulatory Director for Energy Policy at the New York City Mayor’s Office. She is highly regarded in the clean energy and resilience space, bringing expertise and rich experience in areas including climate policy, energy regulation, city and state partnerships, and building decarbonization. Susanne is on the faculty of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Professional Studies.

As Vice President for Energy & the Environment, Rob leads initiatives around climate mitigation and adaptation, open space conservation and park development, and water resource management. Previously, as New Jersey director, he managed the state program with a focus on sustainability planning and policy and led projects including developing an arts and revitalization plan for Paterson and a neighborhood revitalization plan for East Camden; and facilitating land use and urban design recommendations for the 13-county Together North Jersey effort. Prior to joining RPA, Rob served as a coastal management fellow at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he focused on policies for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Rob holds a master’s degree in public administration in environmental science and policy from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

John was named CEO of Urban Green Council, an environmental non-profit dedicated to decarbonizing buildings for healthy and resilient communities, in 2018. He previously spent 25 years at Fortune 45 United Technologies Corporation, where he capped his career as the company’s Chief Sustainability Officer. He’s an Adjunct Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Business and also served as a Visiting Scientist at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. John is the founding chair of the Corporate Advisory Board for the World Green Building Council and a former board chair of Urban Green. He is co-author of the book Food Foolish and has published about sustainability in Harvard Business Review.

Tarek is the Co-founder and CEO of Lamarr.AI, a climate-tech company revolutionizing building diagnostics with AI, drones, and infrared imaging. Drawing on over a decade of academic leadership, he is also an Associate Professor on extended leave from Georgia Tech, where he directed the High Performance Building Lab. Tarek earned his doctorate in Building Technology from MIT and has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications. His research focuses on building envelope diagnostics, urban energy sensing, and climate resilience, and was funded by over $7M from entities such as the U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and industry partners like Coca-Cola. Recognized with the IBPSA-USA Emerging Contributor Award and named a Regent’s Innovator by the University System of Georgia, he is advancing scalable, automated solutions to improve building performance worldwide.