Ilijana Soldan Promoted to Sustainability Manager and Sustainability Action Team Lead
We are pleased to announce the promotion of Ilijana Soldan, AIA, LEED AP, EcoDistricts, NCARB, to Sustainability Manager. Soldan is a research-based designer and project architect with a diverse background in education, commercial, office, retail, recreation, campus planning, mixed-use, residential, and senior living. Soldan currently leads the firm-wide Sustainability Action Team and has continued to demonstrate exceptional leadership executing projects from the early concept phase to completion.
“I am thrilled to dive into my new role as Sustainability Manager and continue to grow the culture of a green-conscious mindset firm-wide,” said Soldan. “As a research-based designer, I have a passion for translating data into something visual and creating spaces that heal and support people in all phases of their life. As the Sustainability Manager, I will continue to design spaces that connect with nature and people in a holistic way.”
In her new position, Soldan will play a key role in the development and execution of the firm’s sustainability goals. Rooted in a belief that the built environment heavily impacts our surroundings, Hord Coplan Macht is committed to progressing towards going carbon neutral in operations, offsetting its carbon impact, and making certain that the business side continues to find ways to reduce its carbon footprint in each of the firm’s markets. As part of this effort, Soldan will be responsible for analyzing each market sector’s sustainability performance through data collection and setting attainable goals to ensure the firm leads by example in sustainable design.
Under Soldan’s leadership, the Sustainability Action Team will remain critical in spearheading the firm’s ongoing initiatives. Leveraging the performance data captured, the team will remain focused on what each market sector needs for continual improvement and connecting in-house sustainability research and training to on-going projects. This allows the firm to have an increasingly open dialogue with clients and inspire them to strive for better when approaching conversations about energy reduction.
“We are continuing and further extending our efforts on taking more accountability on the impacts of the building and construction industry on the planet.” said Tim Barnhill, CEO of Hord Coplan Macht. “By being more transparent with our efforts and tracking our path to energy reduction, we hope to foster a culture of sustainability that becomes integral in our design culture.”
In her new role, Soldan pledges to bridge the gap between the desire to implement green practices and the practical application in building design. Moving toward the future, the firm will continue to grow the sustainability team and further establish themselves as a firm that designs better buildings for the planet and the people who occupy them.
Ilijana Soldan has a diverse background including Pk-12 education, commercial office, retail, recreation, campus planning, higher-ed, mixed-use residential, and senior living. She is a research-based designer and credits her varied experience as the core driver of her passion to find synergies between a project’s program, site, stakeholder goals, and end-user experience. She leads the firm-wide Sustainability Action Team, connecting in-house sustainability research and training to on-going projects in all market sectors, while simultaneously engaging firm leadership to ensure HCM leads by example in sustainable design and firm operations.
