Sustainability by Any Other Name

Sustainability and resilience are integral to the way we practice architecture today. As practitioners, we understand the critical imperative to mitigate the built environment's contribution to climate change, focusing our efforts on energy and emissions reduction; health, wellness, and equitable outcomes; and resilience to disruptions caused by extreme heat, increased flooding, sea level rise, and other climate hazards. This powerful momentum has felt curtailed since January 2025, when by executive order, the federal government began quickly stripping energy and climate initiatives from both its public-facing language and actual operations (including design and construction). Subsequently, firms who work with the federal government have had to pivot and rethink how to integrate these measures into their work, and this reframing has had a larger impact to our industry at large.

Join us to to hear candid perspectives about the impact of this quieting of climate action at the federal level to our work at the national and local scale. As design practitioners, how have we adapted? How do we continue to do this work, recognizing the cost of doing nothing? And how do we talk about our work in a way that resonates at the local, state, and national level, regardless of fluctuating political climate? Following the panel discussion, attendees and panelists will join breakout groups to share their experiences, provide feedback on how we can continue to progress, and report insights out to the larger group.

Speakers:
Grayson Jordan, AIA, CPHC, Principal, Castrucci Architects
David Polk, AIA, NCARB, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Commissioner for Real Estate Services, NYC DCAS
Shefali Sanghvi, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, ENV SP, Fitwel Amb., WEDG, Director of Sustainability, Associate Principal, Dattner Architects
Meghan Timmons, ENV SP, Senior Sustainability Specialist, STV

About the Speakers: 
Grayson Jordan is a Principal and Partner at Paul A. Castrucci Architects, a registered architect, and a Certified Passive House Consultant specializing in high-performance, affordable housing. He has led the design of award-winning projects, including New York City's first building to achieve both Passive House and Net Zero certification and the city's first Passive House modular building. Jordan is a frequent speaker on Passive House and sustainable design, presenting at universities and industry conferences including NESEA, the International Passive House Conference, Urban Green Council, and BE-EX. His work has received numerous awards and has been featured in leading architecture and sustainability publications. 

David Polk currently serves as the Senior Advisor to the Deputy Commissioner for Real Estate Services at NYC DCAS where he oversees design and construction strategies. He’s a licensed architect that has built a career advocating for and delivering on Design Excellence particularly, in the public sector. Polk previously served as the GSA Chief Architect for the Northeast & Caribbean Region, providing expertise in architecture, public art, workplace, preservation, urban design, community engagement, sustainability and resilience, and real-estate strategy. Polk participated in the AIANY Civic Leadership Program in 2023 and serves on the AIA|NY Board of Directors. Recently, he was recognized as a Building Design+Construction Top 40 under 40, a NextCity Vanguard, and received the AIA NYS Excelsior Award for Design Excellence by a Public Architect.  

Shefali Sanghvi, as Dattner Architects’ Director of Sustainability, serves as a thought leader across the firm’s studios, and beyond, championing sustainability as integral to architecture. She establishes the direction of firm-wide research and leads the exploration and application of sustainability by facilitating knowledge sharing amongst project teams, firm leadership, and our professional development groups. Recent work includes deconstruction at the urban scale, expanding the firm’s knowledge base on circularity and embodied carbon, and working with project stakeholders to implement ambitious, but necessary, climate goals in large, multi-phase projects. Sanghvi has over 20 years of experience working on sustainable projects, with an emphasis on resiliency, occupant health and comfort, and energy efficiency. An expert on urban Passive House projects, she is dedicated to designing buildings that are socially, environmentally, and financially sustainable. Sanghvi holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is an active member of the AIANY Committee on the Environment (COTE), a certified Fitwel Ambassador, and an Envision Sustainability Professional.

Meghan Timmons is a Senior Sustainability Specialist in STV’s Sustainability and Resilience Advisory practice. She focuses on advancing design and construction best practices through the lens of decarbonization, climate adaptation, and spatial equity. Timmons supports clients and design teams by integrating sustainable and resilient design measures, guiding climate-related regulatory compliance, and ensuring achievement of sustainability performance targets. Her recent experience includes implementing LEED, Envision, and agency-specific requirements for various building and infrastructure projects, as well as helping clients shape innovative sustainable performance standards. She oversees STV’s AIA 2030 commitment, championing the firm’s efforts toward net-zero energy design. Timmons is passionate about effectively communicating the value of sustainable best practices to achieve stakeholder alignment, deliver design excellence, and ultimately help people & ecosystems thrive. She’s involved with the AIANY Committee on the Environment (COTE) and Carbon Leadership Forum’s NYC Policy group.