Contribution to an overview of the health co-benefits of energy upgrades in buildings to the Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction 2024/2025, published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC).

This study explores how higher solar heat gain coefficients in residential windows can reduce energy use, carbon emissions, and electricity demand peaks in cold, cloudy U.S. cities. Using performance-based energy modeling in new multifamily housing, it challenges conventional code limits and quantifies the benefits of leveraging winter solar heat, especially when paired with electric heat pumps, which must work harder in very cold weather. Results suggest energy savings of up to 6% and carbon emission reductions of up to 19% in south-facing apartments, calling for a re-evaluation of design norms in the era of electrification.

This study evaluates residential window replacement strategies in Chicago to identify glass properties that reduce both energy use and carbon emissions. Through simulations representing the existing housing stock, the research finds that maximizing solar heat gain delivers energy and emissions savings, even under future climate conditions or when paired with other window upgrades or a switch to heat pumps. Results dispel industry confusion and amplify the underestimated impact of window replacement by harnessing untapped solar gain in cold climates.

 SNIFFIA is a National Science Foundation funded project and start-up committed to transforming indoor air quality monitoring and ventilation with our smart sensor, which detects over 20 harmful volatile organic compounds, promotes healthy environments, saves energy, and aligns with LEED standards.

This paper, awarded a Best Paper Award in Energy and Buildings (one of the top ten out of over 3,800 from 2018-2022), addresses the challenge of effectively integrating natural ventilation with HVAC systems. It introduces a reinforcement learning control strategy that optimizes HVAC and window operations to substantially reducing energy consumption and thermal discomfort.

This paper examines a proposed public housing project in Phoenix, AZ, using several tools to calculate economic, environmental, and health metrics across three energy efficiency levels. We find that avoided health and climate costs could represent about 40% of direct utility savings. Additionally, we quantify how energy-saving strategies can cool the neighborhood, enhance heat resilience, improve indoor air quality, and reduce airborne disease transmission, leading to future cost savings.

In this paper, we investigate how building design decisions interact across three heat-related factors: energy use/carbon emissions, passive survivability, and heat rejection in urban climates. We demonstrate that architectural design and related policies can leverage synergies between these climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

This study uses physics-based simulations of 92,000 housing prototypes to demonstrate that housing design is a critical determinant of indoor heat-related health risks. We show that current heat vulnerability indices overlook housing characteristics, particularly the nuanced effects of building age and air conditioning functionality, and propose methods to address these gaps.

This paper presents a framework for early-design guidance for architects and policymakers using parametric whole-building energy simulation. It introduces a simplified sensitivity analysis to pinpoint key architectural design parameters impacting energy use, while also identifying synergies and trade-offs between energy and health objectives.