Arup appoints Ben Smith as new Director for Energy
Arup has hired former AECOM and Halliburton consultant Ben Smith as Director of Energy, Cities and Climate Change. Smith will be responsible for expanding Arup’s efforts to help cities take practical steps to address climate change and increase their resilience.
Ben Smith has been appointed as Director of Energy, Cities and Climate Change to further expand Arup’s efforts to help cities take practical steps to address climate change and increase their resilience.
Following his graduation from the University of the West of England, with a BSc Hons in Environmental Science, Smith began his consulting career with Halliburton in 2001, working as a consultant with the oil and energy giant for three years before joining civil engineering group AECOM in 2004. Over the course of Smith’s near-14 year stint at the firm, he fulfilled roles in three divisions and two countries.
On his way to becoming Director of Sustainable Development, Buildings and Places for the professional services provider’s UK&I wing, Smith fulfilled a succession of energy-related roles, including Associate Director for Sustainability, Environment, Buildings & Places, VIC in the Melbourne office of AECOM’s Australian outlet, as of May 2012. Returning to the UK in 2014, Smith took up his final role of Sustainable Development Director at the firm before seeking a new challenge at the end of 2017.
Arup is a consulting firm found at the heart of many of the world’s most prominent projects in the built environment and across industry. With over 80 offices in 35 countries, Arup has more than 13,000 planners, designers, engineers and consultants, and Smith will now play a major role supporting the firm’s work for partners. This includes projects such as the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group Programme and 100 Resilient Cities, pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation working with Arup Director Paula Kirk.
The C40 is focused on helping cities to accelerate practical action on climate change and, with support from Arup, has grown to represent over 650 million people and one quarter of the global economy. Last year, the firm shared the C40’s Deadline 2020 guidelines, setting out the steps that cities need to take to reduce their CO2 emissions to comply with the Paris Agreement. For 100 Resilient Cities, Arup is also currently helping 25 cities around the world to develop city resilience action plans, and recently completed work on an innovative ‘solar gate’ in Hull, as well as the design of a new shell for a heat and power plant in Manchester.
Joining from AECOM, where he was Director of Sustainable Development, Ben has over 15 years’ experience, gained working on projects around the world. He specialises in sustainable development, energy strategy, climate change and urban resilience.
Remarking on his new role, Smith said, “Joining Arup provides me with a great opportunity to continue working closely with cities on the practical steps towards addressing climate change and improving urban resilience, helping them cope with the challenges they are facing such as population growth, natural hazards, pollution and resource depletion. I believe we have an opportunity to play a major role in embedding effective sustainable solutions across the built environment sector.”
Paula Kirk, Director, Energy, Cities and Climate Change said of the appointment, “We’re delighted to have Ben on board, further strengthening Arup’s ability to play a major global role in bringing about practical solutions to the climate challenges faced by cities. Ben brings valuable experience in planning for and delivering low carbon energy and climate resilient solutions”.
