Speakers

Dev Chandraratne is an Environmental engineer and sustainability advisor who is motivated to make a difference in addressing the issues of the climate change crisis. She was named the ‘2022 Future Green leader of the Year’ by the Green Building Council of Australia.

Dev has worked as a Sustainability Advisor on major infrastructure projects including Level Crossing Removals Project (LXRP), Major Roads Projects Victoria (MRPV) and North East Link (NEL) Tunnels package.

Dev led the As Built Green Star rating for Reservoir station (5 green stars, winner of 2021 Australasian Rail Industry Sustainability award) and Coburg station, which was the first 6 green star As Built train station in Australia (Premiers Sustainability Award winner 2022). Both stations have achieved outstanding sustainability results, including reducing energy emissions by 40%, reducing potable water use by 90% and utilising a climate resilient design with improved active transportation outcomes. Furthermore, she was a part of the team in the Bell-Moreland Level Crossing Removals Project that received an outstanding leading score of 98 by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council.

Currently, she is the Green Star lead for the North East Link project, aiming for a 5-star Green Star Buildings rating. She also coordinates the Urban Design and Landscaping design for the NEL tunnels package to drive sustainable urban realm outcomes.

Dev is also the founder and a coordinator of the industry wide ‘Emerging Sustainability Infrastructure Professionals’ (ESIP) networking group, aimed at creating a platform for early career Sustainability professionals. The ESIP group facilitates networking sessions, knowledge sharing and panel events which connect professionals from infrastructure projects in Victoria and New South Wales, facilitating further collaboration and acceleration of sustainability ideas and innovations.

While the construction industry has a substantial carbon footprint, Dev believes it presents an immense opportunity to reduce emissions at a large scale to create long term benefit to the community.   She believes that embedding net zero principles in the early stages of a project and implementing innovations in projects is key to creating sustainable infrastructure. In the future, she is excited to be a part of more projects which embeds sustainability and climate change as a key focus area.