For the latest episode of the Design the Future podcast, Lindsay Baker and I spoke with Kritika Kharbanda; her story is fascinating and her passion is infectious.
As the Head of Sustainability for Henning Larsen, Kritika spearheads the global sustainability team's initiatives, goals, and growth. She serves on the ULI New York Climate and Sustainability Council and is the co-chair for AIA New York's Building Science Committee.
We talked about her journey from India to Japan, Denmark, and the U.S. We discussed storytelling and negotiations and evidence-based design; her role with Pathways AI, a climate-tech startup using AI to automate Environmental Product Declarations; her Substack; and more.
We asked her about whether she feels like she's a part of an industry or a movement (a question that feels more important now than it has since we began asking it in our first episodes in early 2020).
"If I were just part of an industry," she says, "I'd probably be doing my nine-to-six designing buildings and calling it a day. But in my head and heart, I feel called to join with others in learning and collaboration and advocacy. We are building relationships and working together toward tangible outcomes. This is a movement. I am part of it, and I think everyone should be a part of it, because just being part of the industry is not enough anymore."
Listen at https://www.designthefuturepodcast.com/episodes/kritika-kharbanda or on your favorite podcast platform. (Please consider leaving a review on Apple or Spotify; it helps people find us!)
Kritika's Substack: https://kritikasclimatecurrents.substack.com/
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Kira Gould Hon. AIA
Kira Gould CONNECT
Mission Hills KS
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