Building a career through Innovation, Impact and Leadership

Sripragash Nadaraja’s career journey to Sustainability Design & Climate Adaptation Director for APAC reflects the evolution of sustainability design in Singapore and the wider region. He began his career around 15 years ago as an Environmental Engineer in Singapore, at a time when sustainability consulting was still a niche discipline.

"From the outset, I have always been passionate about defining the value of sustainable design in the built environment. I am glad to be part of Ramboll where the company’s sustainability focus aligns with my passion.” said Pragash. Fast forward to the present day when the role of sustainability consultants has become increasingly important and integral to every project in Singapore. “It’s a very different context to a decade ago when the industry and market was mainly driven by green certification.”

Despite this, Pragash always pushed the boundaries beyond compliance, developing innovative solutions and working closely with architects and engineers at the earliest design stages, using computational modelling and simulation to shape design decisions and improve building performance.

This early commitment to evidence-based design became a defining feature of his work. Pragas turns complex challenges into practical and scalable climate solutions with his expertise delivering both sustainability benefits and capital cost savings for the client.

"Among the projects that stand out most in my career is a theatre redevelopment in Singapore, where I introduced a fabric-duct air distribution approach to improve thermal comfort and ensure uniform air distribution. It was very innovative at the time and the first time the method had been used in Singapore. I was extremely proud of the high client and occupier satisfaction that was achieved through this project."

Another defining career moment for Pragash was his input into a major 52-storey mixed-use project in Malaysia. Using energy-modelling and taking an innovative approach enabled the optimisation of design. This resulted in a five-star energy rated building and a highly sustainable project featuring greywater recycling and waste-heat reuse.

After achieving a Master’s degree in water and environmental engineering, Pragash drew on his experience of water efficiency gained from working as part of an environmental sustainability design team to broaden his career path.

"After completing my Masters in the UK, I moved to Singapore and embraced the ABC approach to water – Active, Beautiful and Clean. I have always had an interest in water efficiency, and I am extremely passionate about helping clients to ensure the sustainable management of storm water, preventing flooding and improving water quality and control discharge into the public drain."

His first major project was the Paya Lebar Quarter, where Pragash worked with the project team to rethink the conventional stormwater management approach. The development in Singapore is the first by a private developer to receive the ABC Waters certification from the Public Utilities Board.

"This was an exemplar project and also provided me with the platform to share best practices in sustainable storm water management."

What began as water efficiency and sustainable stormwater management within Pragash’s sustainability design work has now expanded significantly through his leadership of the Water team, while continuing to lead the Sustainability Design team. This has given him the opportunity to work on larger and more complex water challenges at district and city scales, including flood modelling, hydraulic modelling, coastal protection, blue-green infrastructure, and integrated climate-adaptation strategies.

His current leadership role brings together two of the most pressing climate-adaptation challenges in the urban environment – heat and water. By connecting expertise in sustainable building design, thermal comfort, urban heat mitigation, flood resilience and water management, Pragash and his teams are increasingly addressing these challenges in an integrated way, developing solutions that improve the resilience, performance and liveability of cities.

As his career progressed, participating in Ramboll’s Horizon programme shifted Pragash's focus from his own individual success to developing a successful team – marking an important transition from being an individual contributor to a leader responsible for both the Sustainability Design and Water teams.

"Taking part in the programme prepared me to lead, inspire and grow others. This, combined with the extensive project experience instils confidence in clients to take the most innovative and sustainable approaches to development, elevating my team’s performance and approach to problems."

His message to aspirant engineers at the start of their career:

It is this approach that has seen Pragash being commended for his contribution to the industry. In 2025 he was the Future Leader Award winner at the Global Sustainability Awards, which recognises individuals who drive impactful change across industries. More recently he achieved a prestigious Professional Leadership in Sustainability Award from the Singapore Green Building Council – a coveted award in a highly competitive forum.

With the Singapore Green Plan 2030 cementing the country’s movement to advance the country’s agenda on sustainable development – the next chapter of Pragash’ career promises to see him continuing to pioneer sustainability and climate adaptation across the built environment in Singapore and beyond. “I am excited by the opportunity at Ramboll to bring together sustainable design, urban heat resilience and water management at building, district and city scales, to develop integrated solutions to address the impacts of a changing climate.”