Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) has launched a new research center that is focused on advancing the energy efficiency of buildings through better design.
The impetus behind the Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.” Mohsen contends that this dynamic has led to energy consumption patterns that need to be changed to avoid “dramatic environmental consequences. Improving the energy efficiency of buildings is absolutely critical.”
The Center’s director is Ali Malkawi, a GSD professor who specializes in architectural technology and computation. Dr. Malkawi has also consulted on numerous construction projects, including airport designs, super towers, factories, and commercial and residential building.
The Center is pursuing a “design-centric strategy,” which links research outcomes to the development of new processes, systems, and products. To stimulate ideas and set its agenda, the Center will hold its inaugural Challenge Conference on Nov. 7, whose presenters will include James Carpenter, founder of James Carpenter Design Associates; Gordon Gill, a founding partner of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture; Phil Harrison, president and CEO of Perkins + Will; Alejandro Murat, CEO of Infonavit, which provides financing for affordable housing in Mexico; and Joshua Prince-Ramus, a principal of Rex-NYC.
“As the Center gains momentum, its research trajectory will be guided by the outcome of both our preliminary research projects and the feedback from the focused symposia organized by the Center,” its website states.
The Center is backed by Evergrande Group, the giant China-based property developer that recently announced that it would invest nearly $15 billion to build 9.2 gigawatts of photovoltaic projects in that country, according to the National Business Daily newspaper. The terms of Evergrande’s support of the Center were not disclosed.
Related Stories
| May 16, 2011
Dassault Systèmes to distribute Gehry Technologies’ digital project
Dassault Systèmes and Gehry Technologies announced that Gehry Technologies’ Digital Project products will be integrated into the Dassault Systèmes’ portfolio and distributed through Dassault Systèmes. Digital Project is a suite of 3D BIM applications created by Gehry Technologies using Dassault Systèmes’ CATIA as a core modeling engine.
| May 11, 2011
DOE releases guide for 50% more energy-efficient office buildings
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the release of the first in a new series of Advanced Energy Design Guides to aid in the design of highly energy efficient office buildings. The 50% AEDG series will provide a practical approach to commercial buildings designed to achieve 50% energy savings compared to the commercial building energy code used in many areas of the country.
| May 10, 2011
Google hires Ingenhoven Architects to design new Mountain View office
The current Googleplex is straining at the seams and yet the company is preparing its biggest hiring surge ever, so Google decided now’s the time to build its own office space—a first for the Internet giant. The company hired Ingenhoven Architects, a German firm that specializes in sustainable architecture, to create plans for what could be a 600,000-sf office.
| May 10, 2011
Solar installations on multifamily rooftops aid social change
The Los Angeles Business Council's study on the feasibility of installing solar panels on the city’s multifamily buildings shows there's tremendous rooftop capacity, and that a significant portion of that rooftop capacity comes from buildings in economically depressed neighborhoods. Solar installations could therefore be used to create jobs, lower utility costs, and improve conditions for residents in these neighborhood.
| May 10, 2011
Dinner is now served…atop the Lincoln Memorial?
Take a look at the temporary restaurant sitting atop Brussels’ historic Arc de Triomphe-Triomfboog. The Cube, by Electrolux, offers 18 diners a spectacular view of the Parc du Cinquantenair, and is one of two structures traveling across Europe, making stops at famous landmarks in Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, and Russia. What do you think about one of these 60-tonne structures being placed on a U.S. memorial?
| May 6, 2011
Ellerbe Becket now operating as AECOM
*/ The architecture, interiors and engineering firm Ellerbe Becket, which joined AECOM in 2009, has fully transitioned to operating as AECOM as of May 2, 2011.
| May 2, 2011
URS acquires Apptis Holdings, a federal IT service provider
SAN FRANCISCO, CA and CHANTILLY, VA– April 28, 2011 – URS Corporation and Apptis Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of information technology and communications services to the federal government, announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which URS will acquire Apptis.
| May 2, 2011
Perkins+Will merges with Vermeulen Hind Architects, offically launches Perkins+Will Canada
Ottawa and Hamilton-based Vermeulen Hind Architects, one of Canada’s leading healthcare architectural firms, has merged with Perkins+Will. Vermeulen Hind joins Toronto-based Shore Tilbe Perkins+Will and Vancouver-based Busby Perkins+Will to create Perkins+Will Canada. The combination marks the official launch of Perkins+Will Canada, a merge that will establish the firm as among the pre-eminent interdisciplinary design practices in Canada.
| Apr 26, 2011
Ed Mazria on how NYC can achieve carbon neutrality in buildings by 2030
The New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects invited Mr. Mazria to present a keynote lecture to launch its 2030 training program. In advance of that lecture, Jacob Slevin, co-founder of DesignerPages.com and a contributor to The Huffington Post, interviewed Mazria about creating a sustainable vision for the future and how New York City's architects and designers can rise to the occasion.
