Kate Bren: Kate collaborates with clients to identify and model potential energy, cost, and carbon saving measures throughout a project’s lifespan. She is a Professional Engineer, Living Future Accredited Professional, and a new IBPSA-USA Board Member.
Yifan Li: Yifan Li is a Senior Sustainability Consultant at Newcomb & Boyd. Before joining Newcomb & Boyd, Yifan worked with a variety of architecture design and consulting firms, where she specialized in sustainability design, building performance simulation, and benchmarking certifications. Yifan’s educational background in both architectural design and high-performance building has given her a unique perspective on the relationship between building design and its environmental impact. She has honed the ability to act as a bridge between architects and architectural engineers, using her expertise to create solutions that enhance both comfort and environmental sustainability in architectural projects.
How long have you been a member of IBPSA-USA?
KB: I’ve been a member since 2022.
YL: Starting from 2018.
Why did you join IBPSA-USA?
KB: I joined IBPSA-USA because it has provided essential guidance to me early in my career in the form of networking, presenting at conferences, and engaging in competitions like project StaSIO and the SimBuild hackathon. IBPSA-USA is already doing a lot of incredible work and I want to facilitate it and further its impact.
YL: I got recommended by my professor from Georgia Tech.
What’s your favorite part of being a member of IBPSA-USA?
KB: Membership enables me to stay up to date on all upcoming events and connect with my peers living all over the country.
YL: I’m grateful for the opportunity to connect with others working toward a better living environment, even though it’s often a small group across different firms.
Can you describe the volunteer work you do with IBPSA-USA?
KB: I regularly promote IBPSA-USA’s events that I’m excited about to my linked in network. I organized a webinar on coding this past August and served as a juror for project StaSIO's annual competition last year.
YL: I'm very appreciative of this volunteering chance! I just started my service this year, so I will share more as it moves forward.
How did you get involved with this volunteer work?
KB: Project StaSIO catapulted me into the IBPSA-USA volunteering world. When I won their annual completion in 2023, they invited me to give a webinar and then be a jury member the following year. At SimBuild in 2024, I came up with the idea to host a webinar focused on coding and got support from the education committee to make that happen!
YL: I attended several IBPSA-USA organized conferences, SimBuild. I got to know that the organization is looking for volunteers.
To someone who is interested in participating in IBPSA-USA, do you have any words of encouragement?
KB: I encourage you to ideate on your passions and see how IBPSA-USA can help make your dreams happen. I would love to help!
YL: This is a community that can help you find more people with the same goals and passion. Join the community and make connections!
What advice would you give to someone who wants to enter the field of building performance simulation?
KB: Build relationships with your professors so that they can help you navigate this industry. You have to start somewhere.
Fun fact that people probably don’t know about you!
YL: I have been to over 25 countries and love traveling.
