Kicking off a new series, CE Daily profiles Lauren Haas of Brookfield Multiplex.

Job title?

Australasia sustainability manager for construction company Brookfield Multiplex.

What does your job involve?

Clients might come to us to a build a building and it's my role to say 'how can this building be a tool to unlock greater strategic value?' – whether that's a greater commitment to environmental targets, or social targets, or even financial targets.

If they are willing, you go on that journey with them and say 'we get it, we've done it before' and work out how you squeeze the value out of the project, how do you do it so that in the future it is adaptive and its energy use, water use and waste is considered and minimised.

[But the role is larger than that]

It's also about having that broader conversation around value and triple bottom line value within our organisation.

I link with industry leaders and universities on a regular basis, and I've done everything from up-cycling construction waste and creating high-performance site offices, to creating do-it-yourself plant plans that improve office workers' health.

Best thing about your job?

Working with amazing people who have purpose and passion in what they do.

Another interesting thing about sustainability is that I connect with sustainability leaders in other industries and inter-industry in other companies.

We share stories and wins because ultimately our biggest win is a sustainable industry and future.

So we break down barriers that potentially other roles might have. And instead of keeping things close to heart it's more about sharing and growing and innovating.

Most challenging thing about your job?

It's sometimes hard to be the change agent or the one that comes at a problem differently.

It's sometimes easier to be a part of the pack and go along with status quo, but I find it more fun and rewarding to think outside the box.

[And there is always a balance to be found] between keeping your eye on the horizon and being able to identify changing markets and macro risks, and looking at how you embed sustainability within the organisation so that somebody on a site can actually talk to it.

Sustainability is this big complex thing. You have to be able to distill it down very clearly so that other people can pick it up and talk to it as well.

Biggest achievement to date?

[A landmark study quantifying the social value benefits of the six-star 1 Shelley St building in Sydney, tenanted by about 3,000 Macquarie Bank staff – an approach Brookfield Multiplex is now applying to the even larger NAB Bourke St project in Melbourne]

We were able to work with the University of Technology Sydney and UNSW and do an independent study that actually proved that not only was it more efficient in terms of spatial usage, which was really good for the bank's bottom line, but people wanted to be in there.

People perceived it as making them 15% more productive.

That perception across 3,000 people that were sampled started a new conversation in industry and since then social value has really been on the agenda.

[Improving temporary site work sheds for staff, by paying more attention to lighting, materials, ventilation and developing 'do-it-yourself plant plans']

We unlock value for our clients and I really wanted to make sure that we were unlocking that value for our people.

Eighty percent of our people work in site sheds that are temporary for the term of the building but they go from building onto the next.

We did a working bee with Urban Horticulture Australia and vision 202020 and the University of Western Sydney and we created a DIY plant plan.

You can do it anywhere, it's all done with up-cycled construction materials and we built plant trolleys and planter boxes.

And then we tested the team using it and on average they said they would give previous site offices probably a four or five and they said 'we actually love this site office, we'd give it an eight to a nine, maybe a 10!'

I see that as a way of trying to translate what you are trying to do to a human scale. You have to think big and then you have to think from the ground up.

Its hard for me to translate what triple bottom line value is to clients and then to our guys, when they are working out of spaces that are less than high-performance.

So if I can help change their site shed to a high-performance site office that helps them collaborate and helps them feel better when they are in there and also has environmental initiatives embedded in it, it becomes a living laboratory, so they understand what high performance means.

And ultimately it helps me do my job – less talking and more showing.

We've done a couple for our sites and now more sites are doing it, which is exciting.

We are also now having some really interesting conversations with the Green Building Council and we designed an innovation credit called 'high performance site offices'.

What tools and strategies do you most rely on to achieve your work goals and make a difference?

I find looking at sustainability through a business lens and talking about risk and opportunity or value, versus 'should or shouldn't' - that more emotional debate, has been really helpful.

My degree in business and my CPA allows me to speak that language of business.

Who or what has most influenced your thinking about sustainability and what it means for business?

[Brookfield Multiplex sustainability manager and CRC for Low Carbon Living board member] Dennis Else, [Green Building Council of Australia chief executive] Romilly Madew, [Centre for Sustainability Leadership chief executive] Kate Harris, [sustainability adviser and board director] Sam Mostyn, [founding board member of the US Green Building Council] Bill Browning, [Westpac head of sustainability] Siobhan Toohill …. there are so many people in the industry that I admire … they are all leaders of heart, strong character vision and intelligence.

What role does business have in moving society to a sustainable footing?

There is a huge role for business, and the 'business for purpose' and the B Corp movements are really positive.

I think a business that is there for a purpose that solves environmental and social issues is ultimately a stronger business.

They say a billion-person problem is a billion-dollar solution. And I think business has a way to deliver economies of scale that potentially governments or not-for-profits can't.

It can also connect supply chains and people.

So while I think there is a really strong role for governments and not-for-profits, I think businesses – when they can start thinking broader – can be a catalyst for great change.

And I guess that's what makes me excited. You can make money and you can do good. And those two things shouldn't be polar opposites.

What advice would you give to those just starting out?

Follow your passion. Listen to your guts. Spend your time and energy on what you feel makes a difference.

And I guess I have two quotes that I live by:

From Jim Holland 'Good to great: Why some companies make the leap … and others don't: When what you are deeply passionate about and what you can be best in the world at and what drives your economic engine come together, not only does your work move towards greatness, so does your life.

For in the end it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps then you might gain that rare tranquillity that comes from knowing that you have had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution.

Indeed you might gain that deepest of all satisfactions. Knowing that your time here on this Earth has been well-spent and has mattered.

From author Henry David Thoreau: The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.

If you would like to suggest an early- to mid-career carbon or environmental professional to profile for our 'rising stars' series, contact murray@footprintnews.com.au.