Meet the speakers

Phil is an expert in operational excellence whose journey through the living sectors has lasted over two decades. He is a big thinker with a proven track record in growth.

Phil’s path began in the hotel industry where he led the management of finance, yield management, staffing, and customer service – the engine room behind every successful operation. Going on to lead the launch and growth of student accommodation leader Scape, Phil brought both management impact and efficiency to a category in need of brand differentiation. His expertise helped the brand expand throughout Australia.

With a laser focus on innovation, Phil made the pivotal transition to the Build-to-Rent sector, pioneering the opening of Melbourne’s first two BTR buildings as Head of Operations at premium lifestyle brand Home. Phil has opened, launched and overseen more than 6,000 living sector apartments in Australia, plus supported the design, acquisition and opening of an additional 10,000.

In 2023, Phil founded The Living Advisory, a consulting and management service that granted him the freedom to further innovate the Build-to-Rent, Affordable Housing, PBSA/Student Accommodation and Co-Living sectors – creating detailed local community programs, people structures and technology stacks used across a range of living environments.

Phil has been an integral part of a vast range of living sector projects, with an end asset value of over $6B. Together with the MODEL Executive Team, Phil is set to redefine the BTR offering.

Richard is an Associate at Arup and leads the Sustainability Team in Victoria. He brings extensive expertise driving the sustainability strategy and performance ratings for clients including Green Star, Living Building Challenge, WELL, PassivHaus, NatHERS and NABERS including international experience. He is passionate about technical data visualisation and analysis and his ability to succinctly and effectively communicate complex technical data is helping to lead effective decision making and review processes for designers, building owners and developers.

David is the Head of Better Buildings and a Director of Sustainability at HIP V. HYPE. As a qualified mechanical engineer, David brings a deep technical knowledge of building physics, climate and carbon to his role. With significant experience across the university, public and private sectors, he leads the delivery of environmental, social and economic sustainability outcomes at HIP V. HYPE for buildings of all scales.

David is a Green Star Accredited Professional. During his 10+ year career, he has been a keen advocate for the net zero carbon agenda across Australia’s built environment, setting commercially viable yet ambitious targets.

David works closely and collaboratively with developers, architects and key stakeholders to achieve balanced best practice sustainability outcomes.

Most recently, David is leading a post occupancy project at HIP V. HYPE’s Ferrars & York project to ensure that the building is operating as designed, to capture learnings to improve future HIP V. HYPE projects, and to share that capability with the Better Buildings team’s clients.

It all started in 2022. After reading Saul Griffith’s “The Big Switch” Sarah decided it was time to act.  With a firm belief that all actions, no matter how big or small, can make a difference - she set about getting an energy rating for her home.

“When my 115-year-old home got a dismal 2.9-Star energy rating from the Residential Efficiency Scorecard Assessor, it prompted me to begin my journey to full electrification and energy efficiency.  Within a mere 2 months, my home underwent a remarkable transformation, ultimately receiving a 10-Star energy efficiency rating.”

Now, she channels her boundless energy for sustainability with a can-do attitude to help others realise their own star-rated dream.  With an honest and trustworthy approach to environmentally friendly product and service reviews, she interacts and engages with a diverse, global audience to spread the clean energy message with practical advice.

 Sarah’s exceptional on-camera skills are a testament to her experience as a renowned voice over actor.  Professionally trained, Sarah graduated from Newcastle University and later from the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).

 Originally from the United Kingdom, Sarah arrived in Australia with her parents as a young girl. Today, she lives in Sydney, where she actively participates in the Inner West Council Local Democracy Transport Group and presides over the popular Facebook group, Electric Vehicles for Australia.

Ben is an experienced design and project architect with excellent management and design capabilities.

Prior to founding Leanhaus, Ben was Senior Design Architect at Hames Sharley, Roxby Architects and an independent property developer.

Ben was also the Design and Project Architect for the Toyota WA Head Office Project which won the 2014 AIA WA George Temple Pool Award .

In 2020 Ben was one of six Architects shortlisted nationally for the Emerging Sustainable Designer Award.

His experience spans Residential, Sports and Recreation, Commercial and Urban Development.

Stephen O’Shea is an architect of 25+ years experience whose career took a late turn towards Sustainability. He now works for Cairn as their Head of Sustainable Construction, helping to set and implement their ambitious sustainability strategies. Cairn is an Irish homebuilder committed to building high-quality, competitively priced, sustainable new homes and communities in great locations. They completed more than 2,200 units last year and own a c.15,750 unit landbank across 40 residential development sites, most of which are located in the Greater Dublin Area with excellent public transport and infrastructure links.

In 2024 Cairn commenced over 1,750 Passivhaus homes, which will increase to 2,750-3,000 by the end of 2025.

20 years of experience working across not for profits and the built environment. Alexia has built a strong reputation as an individual who is able to navigate legislative, contractual, operational and strategic issues.

Understanding and navigating the nuances of both the marketplace, and the individuals within the marketplace, she is able to speak the many languages across the Architectural, Engineering and Construction community, connecting the dots and negotiating solutions for a broad range of complex issues across the industry.

With extensive experience managing all facets of membership associations, she is able to strategically lead drawing upon the strengths of employees and members to execute day to day activities.

A passionate advocate, collaborator, mentor and strategist, who enjoys connecting industry with ideas, and for this reason she is a regular contributor and trusted advisor to industry forums. A published writer, public speaker and an experienced non-executive board member.

A previous presenter at THRIVE and PHINZ and keen Passivhaus Designer, Alex seeks to communicate how a specific design can be improved thermally and efficiently. A lot of this analysis is done through the Passivhaus Planning Package as a versatile tool.

With a keen and curious interest in numbers and Excel, Alex has completed a series of tools to help Passivhaus Designers communicate better and satisfy his own requirement for better reports. This interest stems from an early age where an interest in how stuff works (particularly buildings) sparked.

Being a NatHERS Assessor and Architect on top of being a Certified Passivhaus Designer gives Alex a well-rounded and balanced approach to building physics and architecture in the local architecture and environmental climate.

Malcolm Horne is a retired Movement Disorder Neurologist who maintains a research interest in disorders of movement. He is currently an Honorary Professor in the Department of Medicine, St Vincent’s Hospital, University of Melbourne and Professor in Residence, Bionics Institute. 

Past appointments have included Deputy Director and NHMRC Practitioner Fellow at the Florey Institute of Neurosciences and Mental Health, Founder, CSO and CEO of Global Kinetics, Professor in Department of Medicine Monash University and Director of Neurology Monash Medical Centre. 

Dominika is a registered architect with over 7 years’ experience across a wide range of projects in multi-residential and commercial sectors. Dominika finds fulfilment in working on affordable housing projects as well as having experience across independent living, education, and community projects. Dominika’s experience spans across various stages of project delivery from client briefing, sketch design, developed design, project procurement, construction documentation and administration through to project completion. Dominika is the leader of the Sustainability Action Plan Group at Deicke Richards and has a strong interest in socially and ecologically sustainable design practices. She is passionate about fostering communities through sustainable architecture and believes that a true difference can be made in the way we live through climate responsive, regenerative design, spatial configuration and architectural articulation.

Cameron Munro is an engineer with a PhD in aerospace engineering and has spent his career developing computer models to help design better transport in cities. He’s passionate about bring analytical rigour and best practice science to building healthy, comfortable and sustainable homes.

Harley has qualifications in engineering and science and is a certified Passive House consultant. He is a pioneer in the Australian Passive House movement having designed and built two early passive houses that are now 10 years old. He has worked for 25 years in a variety of fields including robotics, photonics manufacturing, software development and project management. Harley is now a director of Logikhaus, a supplier of passive house windows. The company has supplied windows to many high performance houses across the country including 25 certified passive houses.

Rachael is a business advisor to architects, advocate for good design and journalist, and she has specialised in communicating about architecture and sustainable design since 2002.

In 2003, Rachael was awarded the AV Jennings Churchill Fellowship to study Sustainable and Affordable Housing.

She founded Sounds Like Design in 2016 to promote conversations about the value of architecture, and to address the professional knowledge gap around business development and marketing.

Pablo is an architect and town planner with 18 years of professional experience in sustainability and integrated design. He is committed to assisting architects in achieving high-performing sustainable designs through integrated approaches, supported by digital tools.

Pablo is uniquely positioned to bridge architectural and engineering cultures, fostering close collaboration within the design team. His great passion is to harmoniously integrate sustainability concepts into architectural design. His goal is to create low-energy, high-comfort buildings that are optimally suited to their environment and fulfil their functional requirements through thoughtful configuration and design.

Pablo has collaborated with world-class architects, including Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid, Elemental, Dominique Perrault, Jean-Paul Viguier, and Marc Mimram, bringing global experience from emblematic architectural projects worldwide to Australia

Andy has been a director at Envirotecture since 2014. He went on to found Passivhaus Design & Construct in 2020, in order to make Passivhaus performance more accessible for people with more modest new build budgets.

Andy led the materials research for Australia’s first certified Living Building, has led master planning projects and been involved in successful architectural competitions. He is regularly invited to present at conferences and features on leading podcasts. Andy has previously served as a board member of the Australian Passivhaus Association, co-chaired the Australian Institute of Architects NSW Sustainability Committee, sat on the Property Council of Australia NSW Sustainability Committee and was part of the Green Building Council of Australia NSW Industry Group.

Tim Ross is a Principal of Architype, an award-winning New Zealand architectural practice specializing in the design of passivhaus house buildings. He is the architect of numerous certified, low-carbon stand-alone and multi-unit residential projects. Tim is passionate about creating design solutions which are technically integrated, economically accessible and visually compelling.

Kate is passionate about bringing innovation to the late majority. She believes that even the smallest shifts in the way we do things today, can generate positive change at scale when implemented with the right strategy, governance and, most importantly, the right culture.

Having worked in the property sector for over 10 years, Kate’s experience spans the design and technical advisory of a variety of development types - from single buildings to master planned communities. Kate is a registered Architect (ARBV), a certified Passive House Designer (PHI) and Green Star Accredited Professional.

Kate holds the role as Senior Sustainability Advisor at Frasers Property Australia (FPA), which involves the development of FPA's ESG strategy and overseeing its implementation across the national development portfolio. In addition to driving down carbon emissions and improving climate resilience, she is also passionate about creating a greater focus on nature and its integration into sustainable business decisions.

Kate is passionate about contributing to the industry and connecting with interdisciplinary, like-minded individuals who collectively strive to influence positive change in the property development space.

She held the voluntary role as Chairperson for 2 years at the Australian Passivhaus Association (APA) and served as an independent director between 2018 to 2023.

Currently she sit on number of committees and advisory panels across Australia, such as the GBCA Expert Reference Panel for Nature and the Victorian PCA Sustainability Committee where she is the chair to the Nature Subcommitte.

As an entrepreneur, developer, hotelier, founder and CEO, I have led multiple organisations and spearheaded the development of award-winning properties across Australia and South-East Asia.

My latest venture is MODEL - an Australian build-to-rent group designed to cultivate places where there is no compromise between taking care of ourselves, each other, and the planet. I am committed to creating meaningful impact for future generations and to deliver developments that are purpose-first, planet-conscious and people-centred.

My previous experience includes founding SoHo Partners, a company dedicated to creating carbon neutral, mid-rise residential developments. I was also the Founder and CEO of Song Saa Collective, a pioneering sustainable hotel and property development company headquartered in Hong Kong which brought to life the award-winning Song Saa Private Island - one of the Top 10 Global Luxury Hotel Developments of the Decade (2010-2020).

In 2013, I founded the Song Saa Foundation, an independent NGO dedicated to preserving Cambodia's marine environment. A highlight of the foundation includes creating the country's first ever Marine National Park in partnership with Monaco's Prince Albert. As part of the project’s success, I was awarded with the National Geographic’s Leader in Sustainable Tourism award.

I have a deep commitment to improving the ways in which the industry operates and to use my voice to influence positive change where possible. I’m proud to be a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a Global Board Member of the Young Presidents’ Organization Sports and Outdoors Network ('23-'24), a member of the Property Council of Australia’s Sustainable Development Committee ('23-'24), and to have the opportunity to speak at prominent conferences including the G20 and Davos

I am a sustainable building specialist and corporate sustainability leader. I lead the evolution of sustainable operations within a large construction company by setting and implementing strategy that sets it apart from its peers in terms of vision and outcomes.

With international experience in sustainable design and construction methods as well as in teaching, I contribute to the proliferation of sustainability throughout the built environment. I envision a world where our buildings achieve symbiosis with their environment and local ecosystem. I aim to work towards that vision in my professional and personal life, through a deep focus on decarbonisation and enabling a circular economy.

Specialties: Green Star, WELL and NABERS certification and peer review, social procurement, combating modern slavery risk in the supply chain, circular economy, net zero carbon, nature positivity, project management, environmentally sustainable design, sustainable materials selection, course curriculum development, teaching, public speaking and LEED certification.

Kieran seeks to create sustainable and regenerative environments which foster positive, meaningful experiences, interaction and connection.

His generous, collaborative, approach engages stakeholders, clients and consultants on projects spanning health and wellbeing, community, education and institutional sectors.

His recent projects include leading, the Glenroy Community Hub, the first Passivhaus certified public building in Australia.