Building a Sustainable Future: Janis Fedorowick Shares Green Building Insights at NIBS Conference

Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of global carbon emissions, much of it generated through the production of construction materials and the energy consumed for heating and cooling. As communities worldwide strive toward net-zero goals, the need for green building standards, sustainable design, and climate-resilient architecture has never been more urgent.

Recognizing her leadership in this global movement, Janis Fedorowick, Principal of Wavefront Planning and Design, was invited to speak at the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Building Innovation Conference in Washington, D.C., in May 2025. NIBS unites experts across government, academia, and industry to ensure building codes, design standards, and construction practices evolve in response to emerging challenges in sustainable design and innovation.

Janis joined a distinguished panel for the session “Anchoring Resilience with Sustainable Waterfront Design,” which examined how sustainable waterfront architecture and planning can integrate ecological systems, green infrastructure, and adaptive design strategies to mitigate flooding, sea-level rise, and other coastal hazards.

The panel also featured Tom Klein, waterfront planning and design advisor for the Waterfront Alliance, and Jay Valgora, Principal and Founder of Studio V in New York City. Together, they discussed how waterfront development can advance sustainability goals through integrated frameworks such as the Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines (WEDG). Klein highlighted Miami’s adoption of WEDG as a planning incentive for sustainable projects, while Valgora reflected on his post-Hurricane Sandy work at Coney Island—demonstrating how adaptive, resilient architecture can help coastal communities recover and thrive.

Representing Wavefront, Janis Fedorowick provided an international perspective, sharing her experience leading green building and sustainable development initiatives across the South Pacific. She spoke about the National Building Code of Samoa, which received the 2017 Award of Excellence from the Canadian Institute of Planners for its innovative climate-resilient policies, the Fiji National Building Code update (2024) introducing green building provisions that reduce energy use by 30 percent and greater, and the Tonga Green Building Assessment (2024), which evaluated sustainability in the reconstruction of two new coastal villages.

Janis emphasized that the future of sustainable architecture depends on data-driven building standards that are practical and accessible. Many building codes, she noted, rely heavily on complex engineering models that can be difficult for local builders to apply. Instead, she advocates for straightforward, performance-based green building standards that use measurable criteria—such as energy efficiency, water management, and durable, low-impact materials—to make sustainable design achievable across diverse contexts.

She cited the research conducted for the Fiji Building Code’s green building standards as an example of how empirical testing, field studies, and energy modeling can produce adaptable, science-based sustainability frameworks. This approach demonstrates that sustainable architecture can be both rigorous and practical—delivering measurable environmental benefits while remaining accessible to builders and regulators alike.

Janis’s participation at the NIBS Building Innovation Conference reinforces Wavefront Planning and Design’s leadership in sustainable architecture, green building policy, and resilient waterfront design. From small island nations to Canadian waterfront communities, Wavefront continues to help governments, planners, and designers translate policy into practice—building a future where sustainability and resilience work hand in hand.