Sustainable design expert wins coveted award

RMIT’s Stella Matulessya has been chosen by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) as its 2020 Future Green Leader.

As the subject-matter-expert on sustainable design, environmental management and engineering at RMIT, Matulessya works in the Sustainability Team in Property Services team and her role drives sustainability improvements across all functions, including as part of the technical stakeholders group on all capital projects within RMIT.

2020 Future Green Leader Stella Matulessya

Since joining RMIT in 2019, Matulessya has worked on a range of projects including the Ngarara Willim Centre fitout, Study@RMIT fitout, Building 8 level 9 fitout, and the new OurPlace@QV.

Matulessya said winning the award was particularly special and a good chance to reflect on her journey.

“I am not an overly reflective person, but to think back only eight years ago I was a mechanical engineering student wanting to pursue a career in sustainability, but not really knowing what that would look like” she said.

“Now to be recognised by the Green Building Council of Australia as a future green leader is pretty special.”

The GBCA judging panel cited Matulessya’s determination to influence change as one of the key reasons she was chosen as the eventual winner.

She said her biggest driver to influence change was her desire to create a better future.

“Tackling these challenges across scales and in a collaborative, integrated fashion is what drives my passion for my career in sustainability,” she said.

“Hopefully we will be the generation that will change history and limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees – because we have to be.”

A key pillar of Matulessya’s sustainable practice is implementing ‘circular economy principles’, the idea of maintaining the value of resources and assets for as long as possible, ultimately avoiding waste.

Through Property Services’ work on capital projects at RMIT, all materials have been selected from sustainable sources.

Energy efficient heating, cooling, and lighting that goes beyond building code requirements have also been selected.

The group has also prioritised reusing materials to reduce environmental impact and avoid unnecessary waste.

Matulessya studied mechanical engineering at university but admitted feeling ‘pretty miserable’ learning about combustion engines.

During this time, she found a course on sustainability in the built environment that became a light-bulb moment, and hasn’t looked back since.

Matulessya encouraged anyone considering a career in sustainability to jump in with both feet.

“Don’t think twice, and just do it! Find out what it is in sustainability that you’re interested in, do the research, meet people in that industry, and go from there,” she said.

“You don’t necessarily need to be pursuing a career in sustainability to embed sustainable practice in your career. As long as you are passionate, you could apply sustainability to any path that you are in!”

Story: Caleb Scanlon

Society and Environment

29 April 2020

Society and Environment

29 April 2020

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Sustainable design expert wins coveted award