Speakers

Kendall Claus, LFA, LEED AP BD+C, is a Regenerative Design Advisor and Architectural Designer with Perkins&Will / Introba. Her work focuses on regenerative, place-based strategies that integrate embodied carbon reduction, material health, and ecosystem health, connecting climate commitments to measurable performance across diverse project types. As a firmwide materials specialist, Kendall advances holistic design and specification strategies that elevate low-carbon, circular, bio-based, and health-positive materials within real-world design practice. She co-leads the practice's ongoing Bio-Based & Natural Materials research, and recently published an open-source report on the topic. She led a two-year firmwide embodied carbon benchmarking initiative establishing internal building- and material-level thresholds, and has developed practical tools including the Switch List - banning chemicals of concern from specifications, materials library protocols, and specification guidance tools.

Kendall is currently working with the Living Futures Institute to reshape the Living Building Challenge Materials Petal requirements, and is partnering with Harvard University, having supported their LBC Materials Petal certification journey for the newly completed Treehouse Conference Center, and now helping revamp their Sustainable Materials Program - part of a broader practice supporting institutional, healthcare, and commercial clients in developing their internal materials standards. Kendall also serves as 2026 Deputy Chair of Australian Architects Declare, co-leading its Materials Working Group and contributing to the industry education and advocacy efforts driving systemic change toward a more regenerative built environment. She helped author the AAD Sustainable Materials Guide and is actively working to champion an Australian Materials Pledge. Deeply committed to fostering the next generation of sustainability leaders, she also tutors and lectures at the University of Sydney's School of Architecture.