Research Directions in Sustainability in the Built Environment

Research Directions in Sustainability in the Built Environment
A Talk by Dr Simi Hoque

Date: Thursday, 24th August, 2023
Time: 6:00 PM
Venue: Level 2 of Bengal Institute, 45 Kamal Ataturk Avenue, Banani, Dhaka 1213.

Dr. Simi Hoque, P.E., is Professor and Program Director at the Dept. of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She is a licensed professional engineer and an architectural designer with over two decades of experience in the design and analysis of sustainable and healthy built environments. Her research focuses on sustainability in the urban built environment as well as health in indoor environments that are increasingly stressed by climate change. Her work is funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Spencer Foundation, as well as Boeing.

Research Directions in Sustainability in the Built Environment:

“This talk will cover three scales of research that I have been focusing on during my career as a professor and researcher in architectural engineering. This research is framed around sustainability in the built environment. I will talk about the scales from largest to smallest, starting with the work that I am doing to measure and analyze how cities can become more livable, more sustainable, and more resilient. Cities are at the frontline of climate change and my research on urban metabolism and gentrification processes focuses on developing tools to measure urban growth and development. Then I will focus on buildings, and how buildings will be impacted by climate change and the ways that we can mitigate building vulnerabilities in the near, mid-, and far future. My research has focused in particular on understanding how the IPCC climate scenarios can be translated (downscaled) to simulate building impacts at the local level, and what adaptation and mitigation strategies will best serve buildings in the future. And finally I will talk about the human experience, and how wellbeing, productivity, and comfort are implicated by the indoor environment. My research focuses on how we understand, measure, and quantify the thermal, acoustic, and luminous experience of building occupants. My goal in this talk is to give you a snapshot of how an architectural engineer like myself has worked with public health, industry, government, and non-governmental officials to collaboratively develop sustainable solutions to help cities, buildings, and their human occupants thrive.” – Simi Hoque