Events

Designing Sustainable Solutions for a Better Built Environment: Climate Action Week 2023

Register for the event.

With mounting evidence of the impact of human activity on the global climate, the built environment is increasingly understood as a critical site for applied and conceptual research in questions of energy and ecology. In light of the increasing imperative to act on mitigating the causes and effects of climate change—and to devise new pathways for research and investigation—Harvard’s Center for Green Buildings and Cities (CGBC) and the Harvard Graduate School of Design are pleased to present, “Designing Sustainable Solutions for a Better Built Environment.” The event will take place on Wednesday, May 10 from 6:30-9 PM in 112 Stubbins in Gund Hall and virtually. This event is open to Harvard affiliates only.

This event features a keynote address by Harvard’s Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability, James Stock, followed by short presentations by CGBC affiliated faculty from the GSD, whose research ranges from a carbon-free electrical grid to radiant cooling devices. A five-minute Q&A session will follow each presentation. This event is part of Harvard Climate Action Week, which gathers climate leaders and experts in pursuit of durable, effective, and equitable solutions to the climate change challenges confronting humanity. See here for more information and additional ways to participate.

 

EVENT PROGRAM

Welcome & Opening Remarks by Ali Malkawi, Founding Director of the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities
and Sarah Whiting, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Keynote Address

James H. Stock, Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability

The Role of Building Design in Aiding a Transition to a Carbon-Free Grid: Case Study of Glass Properties

Holly Samuelson, Associate Professor of Architecture

Analysis of Neighborhood Level Material, Water and Energy Flows

Peter Rowe, Raymond Garbe Professor of Architecture and Urban Design

Remade: Studio Case Study to Enhance Climate Resilience and Technological Imagination

Niall Kirkwood, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Technology

A Commons Governance Framework for the Clean Energy Transition

Craig Douglas, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture; Rosalea Monacella, Design Critic in Landscape Architecture

Characterization of Links Between Embodied Carbon and Performance of Thermal Mass

Jonathan Grinham, Assistant Professor of Architecture

Eco-Folly: Studio, Seminar, Exhibition

Erika Naginski, Robert P. Hubbard Professor of Architectural History

Sustainability – Perceptions and Choices

Martin Bechthold, Co-Director of the Master in Design Engineering Program and Kumagai Professor of Architectural Technology