04 - Christina Cuellar-Nelson

Featuring Christina Cuellar Nelson from CxAlloy.  

Join us as we chat about all things commissioning, conferences, and smart buildings! 

Terms mentioned: 

• Base load
• Islanding

Resources mentioned:

1. Kiss the Ground - movie
2. Start with Why by Simon Sinek - book 
3. Last Energy's Small Modular Reactors 
4. Data Center Dynamics - newsletter
5. Uptime Institute - newsletter

Transcript

[00:00:00]

Aparna: Hello to our friends of the pod. Today, we are joined by Christina Cuellar-Nelson, a longtime friend of mine from our days at the University of Texas at Austin. Hook'em. She's a solutions consultant with a passion for sustainability and modernization of the built environment, currently specializing in mission critical infrastructure process management through commissioning. Christina has a background in mechanical engineering and an overt passion for the outdoors. And it's this intersection of technology, environment, and community that drives her to do the work she does. She loves bringing people together to find innovative solutions to issues and spends her free time going on very long hikes and very long runs. Christina, we're so excited you're here. Thank you for joining us today!

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: Aw, well, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to talk with you all about sustainability and green collar jobs.

Aparna: Good to hear! So to kick us off, I think we'd all like to hear your journey to sustainability and more about your current role and feel free to highlight all the steps along the [00:01:00] way. So starting as far back as you want to go talking internships and full time roles.

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: I think right now I'll talk about what I'm currently doing. I'm currently working for a well established but relatively small software for commissioning, which is a specific process of construction within the built environment, where you're validating that everything was built to plans and specifications or plans and spec. It's a pretty fun experience for me because it is such a lean team, but I got here because a few years ago I chose to do mechanical engineering and have slowly but surely become more niche as I have gone forward. originally I, found an interest in environmental science when I was in high school. After that, I found myself going into mechanical engineering at University of Texas, like you said Aparna, where we met. But it was there where I was able to have a few internships with a company in the realm of HVAC and lighting [00:02:00] started to learn about how buildings were being designed and how there's lots of room for optimization. Then I actually took a LEED certification class when I was in college. So, LEED, for those of you that may not know is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and it is a way of essentially knowing that a building was built to a certain standard. and specification. So that then exposed me to the world of buildings. And as mentioned, I've just gotten more and more niche as we've gone.

Kiersten: That's awesome niches. Part of what inspired this, right? There are so many little niches that no one knows about. So we want to shine some light on them. And with that in mind, could you walk us through a day in the life? What kind of tasks are you doing? Are you at a desk? Are you on your feet? what does it look like to be a critical infrastructure process commissioner?

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: So nowadays I actually focus on business development, which is outside of engineering, but still pretty related. I personally like it a lot because I get to work with [00:03:00] our product development team. I get to work with our marketing team and sales. But essentially my day to day is a lot of external customer relationship management, a lot of going to events. I travel to many conferences. Aparna knows I was just out there visiting her in DC and that was for a data center conference. But I really love that sort of diversity in day. Today I started it at a coffee shop, came into my office in the afternoon. That is something that I've found really works for my personality because I personally find joy in meeting others and kind of bridging the gap the technology space.

Aparna: On the same line of you meeting people wanting to get involved with their lives, their industries, you are enabling sustainability to happen through the work you're doing, right? You are going out, you're winning new work. You are helping that green transition that we're all, so excited to see unfold before [00:04:00] us.

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: Yeah, so actually, one of my experiences when I was in remote energy engineering at Siemens was understanding that a really big component of optimization and energy efficiency getting out into the real world really came down to whether people could communicate the expectations and communicate the results in a good way. And so that did lead me again, more into a soft skill side, but it's very necessary because there's a lot of folks out there that may just hear sustainability as something that is a requirement, but it doesn't have to be like that. Sustainability is something that improves the longevity of equipment and it's a really cool thing once you wrap your head around it, but it just needs to be communicated effectively.

Kiersten: All right. So Christina, if someone's listening and they think that they also want to maybe do a lot of traveling, work in business development, but while enabling sustainability, do you have any recommendations for specific skills or certifications that would make them successful in a [00:05:00] role like yours?

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: I would recommend to start building your network. I have found a lot of value in attending conferences where you can meet different types of vendors. You can meet different types of people in your industry. For me, I'm in a very specific sector of the built environment. But I know that there's plenty of conferences related to the aerospace industry.

It's even oil and gas and improving that space to be more optimal, but I would recommend to seek out a conference start asking questions, even if you're like, sitting in on a session, sometimes. They will really open up the floor for people in the audience to have full conversations. And I think that's a really great way to just start public speaking if you don't have any public speaking experience. But I also have just done different types of like volunteering in my youth that included a lot of public speaking. [00:06:00] Is a lot of value and having version of public speaking experience.

Aparna: Yeah, I feel like. I don't know anyone who is born one day and says, I am a public speaker. It's a fully a skill that you have to work on, have to get more comfortable with. And that only comes through putting yourself in those uncomfortable situations and growing. So big fan of that recommendation. I'm curious on the topic of conferences that you've been to, are there any that maybe shown you emerging trends, innovation in the space that you work in that are exciting?

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: Absolutely. So within the data center space right now, there is just too much growth. I would say it's a lot of innovation. It's a lot of change, but one of the emerging trends that I am personally really excited about seeing what happens over the next decade are small modular reactors. Aparna and I were actually walking around in DC a few weeks ago and saw a mock one of these in your neighborhood. you can. plug the name of that, But those are really [00:07:00] cool applications that offer a lot in terms of removing us from dependency on traditional fossil fuels. They have, like, a 24 hour baseline power. There's 0 greenhouse gas emissions during operation, and I think they are just going to be really cool to see what happens in the future. Some data centers that are out there trying to incorporate them so that they can act as islands a little bit more and be a bit more off grid. that's just cool to see.

Kiersten: That's an excellent example.

So it seems like conferences have been. Incredibly valuable for you, both for your role as a business development professional, and then as someone who's trying to expand their own skills, you mentioned the public speaking. I'm curious if you recommend any specific conferences.

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: Personally, within the past few years, I've gotten a lot of value out of CX Energy. This is an abbreviation for commissioning. CX is commissioning. But, It has brought together a lot of people in the built environment [00:08:00] that are very much on the cutting edge of consulting in the space of optimization, creating technology understanding the data that comes out of a building and that for everyone's insights into optimization, et cetera. But that conference has probably been my favorite.

Aparna: commissioning is something that we talk about a lot in our daily jobs. So Christina, are there any misconceptions about sustainability in the industries that you found yourself in? Whether that be, know, energy efficiency at your time at Siemens and JCI or in the data center space and the commissioning space that you find yourself in now?

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: I think I was in college, I saw sustainability with rose colored goggles or rose colored glasses and I assumed that that space was going to be all full of people that are the latest and greatest thinkers and forward thinking and at the end of the day, sustainability still is a space that [00:09:00] you can work in. But it is work. There is still negotiation that happens. There are still various personalities, and in order for us to make sustainable progress in this world, it does come with difficulties and regular day to day nine to five sort of strife. And that's okay, but I do think that's something that if I was talking to someone in college that is about to start finding jobs, I really recommend speaking to the people that you're interviewing with, understand the team that you're going to join and just really lean on the fact that they're real people and you can find really wonderful people out there, but you still have to sift through them. I wouldn't say that you should enter this space of sustainability and assume that all the folks out there are going to be like minded.

Kiersten: That's a great point. Especially. It's still work. When you said that, it really resonated with me. Sometimes it's a little hard to recall that not everybody is as enthusiastic as we are about sustainability, and [00:10:00] you still have to interact with all types of people with all different opinions. So I'm curious if you've had any mentors or potentially a great manager that has helped you sort of learn those skills and how to deal with those cases.

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: I've been lucky to have a few really great managers during my stint as a real adult with a real job. I've been working now for six years and you know, I've had some, not so great managers, but I've had some that really have taught me to hone into the details, take a step back when problem solving gets a little overwhelming, but to also trust yourself. I think the best managers are people that encourage you to the solution to a problem by yourself, but they're always there for you to lean on for advice and expertise. [00:11:00]

Kiersten: That’s excellent. I think if you’re a listener out there and you hear that and you maybe aren’t a manager yet, I also encourage people to take on that same mindset. I mean, what you said Christina isn’t exclusive to people who are people managers. Have conversation like these with people who are interested, it’s a great thing that literally anybody can do. There’s always someone that has a little less experience than you that can learn from you. And you can always learn from others. So I think it's a great way to kind of spread the sustainability ideals.

Aparna: And speaking of spreading sustainability ideals, imagine Kiersten and I have all the power in the world and we are saying, you, Christina, you are going to be sustainability celestial being for a day who can make a single change. It could be a major policy change. It could be something on a micro level, community level. Is there something that you feel very passionately about? That you would implement with this power we've given you.

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: I I love this question because yes, if I had a magic wand, every building would have a building automation system. Unfortunately, a building automation system is really reserved for commercial industrial buildings. Probably something that's a bit more complex like healthcare, universities, [00:12:00] high rises. imagine we had a true building automation system for All of the grocery stores that are out there for all of the retail stores, of course, you wouldn't get like the most interesting data.

And I'm sure some people that are listening may not even know what a building automation system is. So, I'll briefly say that it's sort of just like a brains of a building that can show you the heating and cooling, the security, the lighting, it's essentially a really great window into understanding how a building is truly performing and unfortunately, there's just a lot of buildings out there operating blindly. There's even new buildings going up that are big high rises that I've heard about in places like Mexico City or even here in Texas where I'm based out of that are being built without a building automation system in the basis of design. And to me, that is insane. Cause again, that's just setting yourself up to have wasted energy, to have broken sensors, and that's just a lot of insight this world. And so that is definitely [00:13:00] my strong opinion Aparna. I think everything, if we could have a building automation system would be improved.

Kiersten: Okay, so I have one potential answer for my next question, which is what actionable steps can individuals and corporations take to move towards more sustainable future. I'm going to assume one of your recommendations would be if you're in the position of power, like a facilities manager or building owner, the decision to have a building automation system, but besides that suggestion, are there any actionable steps that you would recommend to folks?

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: I think that individuals and corporations can really start trusting the younger generation a little bit more. I think that if I was in a position of power within a large corporation, I would go to the high schools, I would go to the middle schools and do my best to explain what they do in their day to day job.

I think there's a really big disconnect between what we're out here experiencing in the field and what you hear about as a young [00:14:00] kid. And I really think that the space of buildings in general is unfortunately just not talked about as kids. And there's so much fun problem solving. It's a really cool type of programming. And. A construction site. Incredible. I love it to death. And I do think it may not inherently feel sustainable to do that, but you're going to create a more sustainable workforce if you're encouraging kids to enter this space. You're going to bring in more problem solvers if you are creating roles for more people to fill the gap.

Sometimes we hear about the people leaving the workplace, but I do think that if I could have another magic wand, I would say, we need to probably start a little bit younger and encouraging people to know what options are out there.

Kiersten: 100 percent a part of why we're doing this podcast, but also reminded me of the first time I got to go on site and see a geothermal drill. On the back of a truck rigged up to be this drill and I felt like I was five again, seeing a fire truck going down and being like fire truck, [00:15:00] fire truck, because it was just so neat to see this mechanism in action, and then also to fully understand that was going to enable the building to be net zero and have really, really low energy use. So it was just cool all the way around. And I think, everybody could benefit from something like that, the hands on experience.

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: I remember the time I saw my first enthalpy wheel. It was actually a site in Austin. It's the Omni Barton Creek. I remember I was there during construction and I saw an enthalpy wheel, and it's a really cool device used for heat transfer. For those of you that may not know about this, it's essentially taking hot air, taking cold air, exchanging that, and just saving energy with that sort of technology. But that was really fun.

Aparna: Definitely know what the Omni Barton Creek is. So next time I go, it's going to be with a two new eyes. So our next question for you is bringing it back to yourself. We're curious how you practice sustainability in your everyday life.

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: Well, Aparna knows I'm pretty granola. I go to a lot of farmer's market [00:16:00] type things. For me, the farmer's market's very crucial because I personally, lean on local if possible. So I try to get as much veggies and protein for my week from local sustainable sources from farmers that I can shake hands with. I also use a lot of like plastic free cleaning products through a company called blue land. And man, it's hard. No one's perfect and I'm not perfect. I'm very much susceptible to the marketing that we all see on social media that encourages you to buy new outfits. But I do try to go to goodwill and to resell places if possible or simply will just steal clothes from my sisters.

Aparna: The most sustainable form of getting new clothes, siblings. Do agree. So if our listeners wanted to support your work and get involved in your world, what would you say to them?

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: For one thing, they could easily just reach out. I am on LinkedIn for too much of my day because of the way that my job works, doing a lot of research [00:17:00] on who's talking about what, but I would recommend to reach out and I can try to provide one on one guidance, but if they aren't wanting to reach out, I would really recommend starting to subscribe to newsletters. again.

I personally start my workday with opening up my email and going through some newsletters on what's happening in the industry. So for me in the data center space, I follow one called data center dynamics. I call another, one called uptime Institute. Both of those really supply fun news on the daily basis of what's happening, at least in the data center world. Again, just to specifically say, there's just a lot of problem solving happening in that world. So I can't recommend it enough.

Kiersten: Those are great. Thanks for recommending some specific newsletters. So listeners, if you're interested, you know what to subscribe to. We love a free resource, right? Speaking of free resources, books, documentaries, um, especially if friendly, do you have any recommendations for [00:18:00] those?

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: My favorite documentary that is in this sort of world was Kiss the Ground. It talks about no till farming and that's just one of my favorite ones, slightly unrelated to buildings, but love that. For someone entering this space, I 100 percent recommend the book start with why by Simon Sinek. I think a lot of us nowadays want to work for something.

We don't just want to work in something or for money. So this book really encourages you to sit down with yourself and almost create like a mission statement or a personal focus about what's going to help you get up every day and go to work. What's going to make you happy with where you're at as a baseline. And I've personally gotten a lot out of that book. So start with why.

Aparna: Fantastic. Thank you. You are our second person to recommend Kiss the Ground. So I think it's on the watch list for me and Kiersten. So what kind of legacy are you hoping to leave through your [00:19:00] work?

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: For me, authenticity is really important and if I can leave some sort of air of authenticity with those I've worked with with my friends that I've had friendships with that would be amazing. I personally want to drive sustainability and create a better world. So if I can do anything small in that space, that's a win for me.

Kiersten: That's an excellent legacy. We're going to end with one last question. And that is what advice would you give someone starting out in this space or someone who is sustainability curious?

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: I would say trust the process. You still need to start somewhere and it may not be the dream job right out the bat. You just have to get your foot in the door, get a job, start learning, and be open to all the experiences that come your way. I really cannot emphasize enough that you may have to change jobs and you may have to get out there and network, but it's worth it. If you can find somewhere that fits your personal mission statement.

Aparna: Just start swimming, right? Like [00:20:00] you'll find the direction. Well, thank you, Christina, so much for your time here. That brings us to the end of our conversation, but I've learned a lot. I hope our listeners have as well. And we are so thankful for your time, your insight, and all the experience and resources that you shared with us today.

Christina Cuellar-Nelson: Well, it's really cool to see y'all doing something like this. It's really important for the space and I will just become a liker and subscriber and support you for as long as I can.

Aparna: Love to hear it. Well, we can't wait to follow up with you again in the future. Thanks again.