Ajla Aksamija, associate professor of architecture, was recently interviewed on the NPR's radio show, “The Pulse”, which focuses on the intersection of health, science and innovation.
"The Science of Staying Cool" episode explores the science behind keeping cool, heath island effect in urban areas, how to design cooler buildings, and new building technologies that use less energy for operation and improve occupants' thermal comfort.
Aksamija's research focuses on high-performance buildings and innovative building technologies. She defines high-performance buildings as buildings that use the least possible amount of energy to maintain comfortable interior conditions, which promote health and productivity of building occupants.
In this radio episode, Aksamija discussed how climate impacts energy usage of buildings, and passive design techniques that can be employed to reduce energy demand and cooling loads, such as responding to solar orientation, using building massing and form to provide shading, and improving thermal performance of building envelope. She also talked about innovative building technologies and radiant cooling systems that reduce buildings’ energy consumption while improving thermal comfort of building occupants.
Aksamija and her collaborators are currently working on design, research and development of smart facade systems that can cool and heat buildings by integrating thermoelectric materials. These smart systems generate heating or cooling based on temperature differential between the interior and exterior environments.