Meet our Energy Trailblazer: Afaf Azzouz
Afaf Azzouz
Senior Manager (Sustainability, Decarbonization, Energy Transition), Deloitte
Montreal, QC
Afaf Azzouz is a Senior Manager in Deloitte’s Sustainability & Climate practice, a Professional Engineer, and a Building Energy Modeling Professional (BEMP) with a master’s degree in Sustainable Engineering. Recognized as one of Efficiency Canada’s 2024 Energy Trailblazers, Afaf has also received awards from Clean50, the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), and the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) for her leadership in advancing sustainable building practices.
At Deloitte, Afaf leads the Net-Zero Implementation service, where she focuses on sustainable real estate, building technology assessments, low-carbon materials, ESG strategy, GHG inventories, and decarbonization. Her work bridges technical expertise with strategic planning, helping clients achieve their sustainability goals through net-zero solutions, lifecycle assessments, and building performance optimization.
Prior to joining Deloitte, Afaf led the Carbon Impact team at Stantec Consulting in Quebec and Ontario, contributing to the design, implementation, and performance evaluation of hundreds of buildings across Canada. With experience spanning new builds, retrofits, and heritage projects, she continues to push boundaries in sustainable construction, driving meaningful change through practical, innovative solutions.
Afaf’s Career Journey
Education
Afaf obtained a Masters Degree in Environmental Design & Engineering from the University College of London, and Professional Engineer license, P. Eng.
Certification
Afaf obtained a BEMP (ASHRAE) and LEED certification.
On-the-Job Experience
Began as an intern and progressed to a Co-Founder of Karm Solar/Karmbuild, a start-up specializing in Egypt’s net-zero solutions. Became an Associate & Senior Building Performance Engineer at Stantec, and now works at Deloitte as a Senior Sustainability & Climate Manager.
Advice on entering the energy efficiency sector
As a female and a Black female, there are always going to be obstacles. That doesn’t mean, however, that I didn’t face them head-on. I like a challenge. I welcome it, actually. It motivates me. So for any women out there who are BIPOC or women in general, we are dominating a very male-induced industry.
Where things are trending in workforce development is, upskilling the soft skills that you don’t have. We’ve recognized that it’s not just learning the technical stuff, you have to give them the management skills and the business skills and the stakeholder engagement skills.
The great thing is that with this sector, there is such a need for workers that they are offering courses to everyone. That’s really opening up for people. You don’t need to go back to school necessarily. Go do a degree or diploma. You can take like little courses at a time to upskill yourself and make yourself relevant.
