Dr.  N a d e r  C h a l f o u n

Dr. NADER CHALFOUN: Coordinator of the School of Architecture’s Graduate Program in Design & Energy Conservation and Director of a University community outreach program  –  The House Energy Doctor (please see website at:)   http://capla.arizona.edu/research/hed/.  Dr. Chalfoun’s background includes academic appointments at the University of Cairo and University of Zagazig in Egypt, as well as the University of Arizona - College of Architecture. He has received a number of research related awards and grants including TEP grants for energy conservation and community education programs. He regularly publishes articles in professional journals and presents at international conferences, and is founder and active member of a number of architecture and solar associations.

Teaching: Undergraduate: involves courses on fundamentals of environmental control systems as applied to architectural design for indoor and outdoor spaces. The courses cover the three major environments; luminous, thermal, and sonic. Specialized design studio that focuses on "building systems" with emphasis on circulation, structure, enclosure, and other environmental responsive building systems.

Graduate - involves courses on energy conservation and passive solar for residential and small commercial buildings with specialization on advanced computer simulation, site survey methods and data acquisition systems. Design studios with emphasis on sustainability and thermal comfort in indoor and outdoor spaces.

Research: includes development of the House Energy Doctor: an education, research, and community service program, . Special focus on developing and disseminating community interactive workshops on energy and passive solar methodologies and economics. Has developed a number of computer programs and data base on energy and climate related issues. Nader is interested in pursuing all scales of "sustainable designs" that emphasize the use of applied research in the field of energy conservation, passive and active solar technologies, advanced building envelope systems, and intelligent use of materials.  His designs consistently demonstrate understanding of the basic concepts of human physiological comfort and sensorial thresholds regarding environmental factors (i.e., humidity, temperature, wind, luminosity, etc.) as well as the performance of ecological and sustainable designs.  Projects are enriched by special attention to the provision of thermally comfortable outdoor spaces and landscape designs within specific climatic contexts.  As an option, designs can be justified and rationalized through the use of computer simulation, empirical instrumentations, data acquisition systems, and in laboratory testing.

Background - includes academic appointment at the University of Cairo and University of Zagazig in Egypt, and the University of Arizona College of Architecture. Has received a number of research related awards and grants including TEP grants for energy conservation and community education programs. Regularly publishes articles in professional journals and presents at international conferences, and is founder and active member of a number of architecture and solar associations. Keynote panelist and invited speaker at several symposiums and societies. Has patents and registration at the Syndicate of Egyptian Engineers. Consultant to several firms and companies including Planetary Design Corporation, Tucson Electric Power, Southwest Gas, Salt River Project, Arizona State Energy Office, Research & Technology Institute of Gabarone, American University Cairo, Architecture Research Laboratory Inc., and more.

General Focus - As an architect engineer, my general area of expertise is focused on environmental studies with specialization in energy conservation and passive solar architecture and their implementation into the design process of sustainable and climate responsive architecture. My interests are strongly emphasized in computer application for architecture education. As a result, the advanced courses in energy which I have developed have led to the development of the House Energy Doctor (HED) program. Participants of HED are taught fundamentals of energy conservation and passive solar, develop skills on using up-to-date site survey methods, forms, market ready or in-house developed instruments and computer simulation techniques to predict the thermal performance of structures. He is internationally recognized for his work and publications on building energy efficiency and energy performance modeling.  Dr. Chalfoun is a LEED accredited professional.