Get to know F&S: Kevin Leong

As a project manager with the Sustainability Office, Kevin Leong combines his passion for sustainability and background in environmental science to create positive change using data as his guide.

One initiative Leong supports is Project Leap, an ambitious project aimed at cutting the University of Toronto St. George campus’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent before 2030.

“Sustainability has always been close to my heart,” says Leong, a U of T alumnus.

Hiking with his father as a child got Leong interested in sustainability.

“I’ve always loved that time spent out in the wilderness, smelling the fresh air, and having that connection with nature,” he says. “I think that was probably the first spark.”

This passion inspired him to learn more about how he could preserve the environment.

Leong first joined the Facilities & Services utilities and operations team more than 20 years ago as a utilities planning and budget analyst. In this role, he interpreted building energy metrics and supported the university’s deferred maintenance program.

Last year, he joined the Sustainability Office as a project manager, bringing all his knowledge on energy and building operations to help inform and support energy reduction projects on campus.

“It’s a privilege to work at U of T and engage with a diverse community of stakeholders, operational and academic staff, and students,” says Leong. “The constant inflow of new talent makes it possible for us to explore out-of-the-box thinking to advance sustainability.”

Project Leap is one such example of this creative thinking.

It will accelerate the university’s plans to achieve a climate positive campus through deep energy retrofit projects—such as converting gas boilers to electric boilers and installing energy storage solutions—to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“I’m excited about U of T’s future from a sustainability perspective,” says Leong. “The university has ambitious goals that I’m confident we will achieve, especially given the great and diverse talent pool we have not only in the office but across the university as well.”