Published on January 31, 2019
In 2006, Stephani Carter turned her private war on waste and toxins into her profession, taking on the challenge of greening the construction industry by founding EcoAmmo Sustainable Consulting in Edmonton.
Despite that artillery allusion, Carter’s only weapon is eco-knowledge. To her pleasant surprise, industry colleagues have willingly joined the campaign.
“Our society is demonstrating a strong social desire for more sustainable living; that’s now influencing the building industry,” says Carter.
She traces her path back to her first interior design position, where she realized she was more concerned with paints that weren’t poisonous rather than the perfect shade. So she partnered with the provincial government and Climate Change Central to create Green Alberta, an online database of green building materials.
Since then, her progress has been, well, organic, with one project seeding another.
Along the way she became an accredited Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) professional and helped start Alberta’s LEED chapter. As her expertise and experience have grown, she’s blossomed from “that green girl” to a professional whose insight is sought after at conferences and by industry members keen to go green.
EcoAmmo, in the meantime, has grown to three partners and consulted on everything from net zero housing to commercial projects for clients, including Walmart Canada and Second Cup, as well as international firms.
Regardless of the frontiers the company will conquer next, Carter hasn’t forgotten her roots, and gives back by guest lecturing on sustainable building products and materials to NAIT design and architecture students, and by serving on its interior design advisory committee.
— Lisa Ricciotti