Year: 2022

A headshot of Elaina Present.

Residential Energy Consumption and NREL Resources

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Buildings are responsible for the majority of electricity consumption in the U.S. and are a substantial contributor to carbon emissions. Understanding how buildings use energy and how that may change in the future is important for utilities, governments, and other stakeholders. This talk will discuss energy consumption in residential buildings, NREL’s residential building stock energy modeling tool, ResStock, and the public datasets available from ResStock. Holly Samuelson, DDes, LEED and […]

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A screenshot of the ECO FOLLY exhibition.

Eco Folly Exhibition Opening Reception

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Environmental implications ground the twelve projects of this exhibit, which is the outcome of a studio and seminar jointly taught by a designer and a historian, Professors Grace La Professor of Architecture and Principal of LA DALLMAN, and Erika Naginski, the Robert P. Hubbard Professor of Architectural History. Taught in Spring 2022 and sponsored by the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities, ECO FOLLY takes a speculative approach to […]

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Professor Jonathan Grinham sits inside the window of HouseZero.

Fast Company: Harvard researchers designed a cheaper, more efficient air conditioner

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In August, researchers from Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard and Harvard’s Center for Green Buildings and Cities (CGBC) at the Graduate School of Design, tested a new, exciting proprietary technology, coldSNAP, in HouseZero, the living lab that is also headquarters for the CGBC. The testing of the novel evaporative cooling tecnology was the latest research –  including physical and data-driven control algorithms – to be performed using […]

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Xu Han receives Best Paper Award at COBEE 2022.

CGBC researchers recently received the Best Paper Award at the 5th International Conference on Building Energy & Environment (COBEE 2022)

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“Model-Free Reinforcement Learning Based Control for Radiant Floor Heating Systems”, authored by Xu Han and Ali Malkawi, received the Best Paper Award at COBEE 2022 on July 27, 2022, in Montreal, Canada. Only three papers out of 400 were selected for the honor at the meeting. The award-winning research paper investigates the feasibility and strategies of using model-free, reinforcement learning-based control (RLC) for the slow-response radiant floor heating systems with […]

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New Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability to launch in fall of 2022

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Harvard University has announced the creation of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, a groundbreaking new entity that will advance and catalyze research programs across all of Harvard’s Schools and enable comprehensive cross-University education in climate and the environment. Building on work developed over decades at Harvard, the Salata Institute will launch in fall 2022 and be led by Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability Jim Stock with a […]

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Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities at the Graduate School of Design logo.

Research on reducing energy consumption and use of harmful refrigerants in AC receives Climate Change Solutions Fund Award

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Ten teams from across the University will share $1.3 million to support research into reducing the risks of climate change, hastening the transition to renewable energy, diminishing the impact of existing fossil fuels on the climate, understanding, and preparing for the effects of climate change, and propelling innovations needed to accelerate progress toward a healthier, more sustainable future. Joanna Aizenberg, the Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science and Professor […]

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Holly Samuelson gives keynote talk at Norman Foster Foundation workshop on energy

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On April 26, 2022, Associate Professor Holly Samuelson gave a keynote talk at the first edition of the Norman Foster Foundation Energy Public Debates in Madrid, Spain. During her talk (see recording below), she discusses how buildings are a cost-effective opportunity to abate carbon. This event brought together a group of experts from a range of fields to discuss overarching topics such as the use of energy and resources, and […]

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Headshot of Hanif Kara

CGBC Spring Lecture: Hanif Kara on “Sustainable Practice Concerns”

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On Thursday, April 28, 2022 at noon, the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities will host an in-person talk as part of its lecture series. The event will take place at 20 Sumner Road, Cambridge, MA in the lower-level conference room. The Center is pleased to host the GSD’s own Hanif Kara, Professor in Practice of Architectural Technology, Design Director and Co-founder of AKT II (in London and other EU locations). He will […]

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Designing Sustainable Solutions for a Better Built Environment

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Read More On Wednesday, April 20, 2022, from 3-5 pm, the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities will host “Designing Sustainable Solutions for a Better Built Environment” at the Graduate School of Design in the Gund Hall Piper Auditorium. This event is open to members of the Harvard community. RSVP is not required. This event features a keynote address by Harvard’s new Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability, James […]

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CGBC researchers collaborate with SEAS on a project that unlocks hidden potential of porous metamaterials

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When it comes to porous metamaterials —ubiquitous, sponge-like materials used in everything from sound absorption to self-cleaning glass — it’s all about how you slice it. In a new paper from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), researchers found that slicing a block of elastomer with a periodic array of holes at a 45-degree angle, instead of the […]

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