Rashmi Baliga is a Project Manager in JLL’s Sustainability Consulting practice. She uses state-of-the-art simulation, data management, and visualization tools to craft pathways and strategies to meet building and campus sustainability goals. Rashmi is passionate about driving positive change in the built environment through big-picture thinking and identifying relationships across different facets of sustainability.
How long have you been a member of IBPSA-USA?
I have been a member of IBPSA-USA since 2021.
Why did you join IBPSA-USA?
I joined IBPSA-USA to connect with professionals in the building performance and simulation field. I had heard of the organization when I was in grad school, and joined through an organizational membership once I joined the workforce. I have since continued to be an active part of IBPSA-USA through volunteering and participation in committee activities.
What’s your favorite part of being a member of IBPSA-USA?
I may say this more than once in my responses, but IBPSA-USA is a very welcoming, collaborative, and supportive group of professionals. It is one of its kind due to its focus on building performance and simulation, which is a relatively niche industry. The organization puts our great research and technical resources for the field, in addition to providing a networking platform to connect with industry peers. I have met so many impressive and accomplished professionals through my involvement with IBPSA-USA whom I would not have had a chance to meet otherwise.
Can you describe the volunteer work you do with IBPSA-USA?
I am the vice-chair of the Emerging Professionals and Students of IBPSA committee, where our goal is to provide a platform and resources for students and young professionals in our community. We host career advancement webinars and panel discussions, support the development of educational content, and host virtual career events. As I write this, we are coming up on our third annual career event, called "Career Connections". It has been very rewarding organizing this event to connect professionals across the country. Building performance is a niche industry that is often not well represented in campus career fairs. Varying job descriptions and titles in our industry make it challenging to identify relevant opportunities. We started this virtual career event to address this issue by inviting organizations and candidates in the industry to come together for a day. It makes the organizing committee's day when we hear of candidates who found employment through past events, or organizations that recognize the value of coming together on a virtual platform. This year, we added a networking focus by offering speed networking, where participants are matched to other participating attendees for a quick call.
How did you get involved with this volunteer work?
My friend and colleague Jayati Chhabra introduced me to the idea of volunteering for IBPSA-USA, and I first started getting involved when EPSI was formed.
To someone who is interested in participating in IBPSA-USA, do you have any words of encouragement?
Always ask to be involved if you would like to! IBPSA-USA is a very collaborative group of professionals, where there is no question too silly to ask, and where knowledge is shared freely.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to enter the field of building performance simulation?
The field of building performance simulation has lots of different applications and scales. Try to connect with as many industry professionals as you can in diverse lines of work to understand what interests you the most. I have found that this is a very welcoming industry, and my colleagues and peers are always happy to share their knowledge!
Fun fact that people probably don’t know about you!
I am very enthusiastic about music and food! Always interested in discovering new genres, artists, and cuisines.
