On Febr. 20, M.S. in Sustainability Management alum Julia Ragragio-Ruiz (’12) joined fellow urban planning professionals Albert Wei of Kohn Pederson Fox, and Lance Jay Brown, of Lance Jay Brown Architecture and Urban Design, at GreenHomeNYC’s monthly Greenbuilding forum. The event, entitled “Building in Flood Zones” discussed Sandy relief efforts and the work being done now in order to improve the city’s ability to withstand another similar weather event.
Julia, who has over 10 years of experience in the architecture industry, has always been passionate about the sustainable built environment. Prior to joining the sustainability management program, Julia worked as a project architect on LEED Certified buildings in New York City for SLCE Architects. As a student in the program, Julia designed her own research project, entitled “Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Living Machine in NYC,” which covered sustainable wastewater technology and its feasibility in the city. Julia presented the project at the Earth Institute Research Showcase and at an American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers-sponsored building conference. At this month’s forum, Julia presented her group’s capstone workshop project, “Insurance, Climate Change and Flood Resilience in New York City,” for which she was the deputy manager.
“I was thankful for the opportunity to present our capstone workshop project at the GreenHomeNYC forum,” said Julia. “I think that our team’s project on flood insurance is very relevant to today, and as discussions on rebuilding in flood zones continue in the wake of Sandy, will continue to be relevant in the future.”
The M.S. in Sustainability Management, co-sponsored by the Earth Institute and Columbia’s School of Continuing Education, trains students to tackle complex and pressing environmental and managerial challenges. The program requires the successful completion of 36 credit points. Those credit points are divided among five comprehensive content areas: integrative sustainability management, economics and quantitative analysis, the physical dimensions of sustainability, the public policy environment of sustainability management, and general and financial management. Visit our website to learn more.
