Innovating Sustainable Buildings and Urban Development in the Era of Climate Change

This week kicks off the third annual Harvard Climate Action Week (September 15-21), culminating in the Salata Institute’s Harvard Climate Symposium: Pathways for Progress on Energy and Climate (September 19-21).

The week features events hosted by schools and centers across the University, bringing together leaders from government, business, non-profits, and academia. Together, they will explore strategies to enhance resilience in the face of climate change and accelerate efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Featured as part of the Salata Institute’s Harvard Climate Symposium, the Sustainable Building and Urban Future research cluster will host a panel session titled “Innovating Sustainable Buildings and Urban Development in the Era of Climate Change,” taking place on Friday, September 19 from 1:15 to 2:00 PM in the HBS “Hives.”

This panel explores how collaboration across disciplines—chemistry, materials science, fluid mechanics, AI, computer science, and architecture—addresses urgent climate challenges by developing innovative, scalable solutions for sustainable buildings and cities. Building on Harvard’s HouseZero®—a retrofitted pre-1940s building transformed into a Net-Zero-emission, sensor-rich living laboratory supported by a sophisticated Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure —speakers will examine how these building-level innovations can scale to interconnected communities. The discussion will highlight how intelligent systems, energy-sharing networks, and digital twins can create pathways toward a more resilient, low-carbon built environment that responds effectively to our changing climate.

Speakers include members of the Sustainable Building and Urban Future cluster: Ali Malkawi (Harvard Graduate School of Design); Joanna Aizenberg, Na Li, and Vijay Reddi (Harvard SEAS); Jarad Mason (Harvard University); and industry partners Taiil Kim (Schneider Electric), Fei Sha (Google), and Michel Nasilowski (Saint-Gobain).

Breakout sessions are first come, first served. Please plan to arrive early to the session.

Read more about the Sustainable Building and Urban Future cluster here.
Explore the full Harvard Climate Action Week agenda and register for virtual and live sessions here.