Profile: Barbara Mullally Pauly

Working for a greener future for all Canadians

Committed environmentalist

Now the Senior Chief of Housing Programs for the Office of Energy Efficiency at Natural Resources Canada, Barbara has long been a model of conservation herself. For 10 years she lived on a farm, with only a windmill providing energy. “We used power very selectively,” she recalls, “only running appliances and using lighting when we really needed them.”

Originally trained as an artist and a jeweler, and with a résumé that also lists social work and truck driving, Barbara constantly expands her horizons. “I’ve never set boundaries on what I can do. If I had, I never would have made my way to Natural Resources Canada,” she says.

Bringing energy efficiency to Canadians

Barbara has worked hard to introduce new energy-efficiency strategies to the Canadian public, confident that even small actions can accomplish great things. “I’ve always believed in what I call the lowest common denominators of social change. There are always small actions that lead to larger actions,” she says.

Barbara worked with one of the government’s first energy conservation programs, EnerAction, handling communications with the Canadian public. From 1982 to 1992, Barbara took on lead roles in several important energy efficiency efforts.

EnerGuide for Houses a point of pride

Barbara is most proud of her part in developing EnerGuide for Houses and its successor, ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes, to encourage Canadian homeowners to be energy-efficient in their home renovations. ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes provides evaluations by certified energy advisors to help homeowners learn what home energy improvements will offer the best savings. ecoENERGY offers grants based on the work done and the energy saved as a result of retrofits. “It has been very rewarding to be involved in designing a program where I could apply lessons learned from less successful projects to create something that works really well,” she says.

Even with all her personal triumphs, Barbara says she couldn’t have done it without her team. “The one thing I’ve learned is that you never do anything yourself. One person cannot push a boulder uphill, but 100 people will,” says Barbara.

Work that has meaning

Barbara enjoys her job because of the impact she can make on the lives of so many Canadians. “I have always wanted to do things that have meaning for society,” she says.

“I want my granddaughter to live in a decent environment. I want to pass on a world that she and her peers can live in and enjoy.”

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