Associate Professors Lee Fithian, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Pober have published a chapter in the recently released New Perspectives in Indoor Air Quality, published by Elsevier. Their contribution, titled “Chapter 16 – Architecture and the Challenges of Indoor Air Quality,” examines the relationship between architecture and indoor air quality.
The University of Oklahoma’s Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture hosted the inaugural Oklahoma Housing Supply Accelerator Coalition event on November 13, 2025, a day-long gathering dedicated to addressing the state’s growing housing challenges and exploring solutions to expand the supply of attainable homes.
Dr. Lee Fithian, Associate Professor of Architecture and Director of OU Online MS in Sustainable Architecture at the University of Oklahoma’s College of Architecture, recently contributed to the new book Teaching Carbon Neutral Design in North America: Twenty Award-Winning Architectural Design Studio Methodologies, edited by Robin Puttock and published by Routledge.
OU Gibbs College of Architecture associate professor, Dr. Andrés Cavieres received a 2-year $497,750 grant from the Oklahoma Center for Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) for the development of innovative solutions to streamline the deployment of ground mount photovoltaic systems, with a special focus in the area of Agrivoltaics.
Interior Design assistant professor, Dr. Negar Matin, has published a study that advanced the application of data-driven design for minimizing discomfort glare in high-performance sustainable buildings.
Dr. Ladan Mozaffarian, an assistant professor in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design, has published an Open Access textbook titled “Green Cities and Transportation” in collaboration with scholars from the University of Texas at Arlington. This comprehensive guide explores the intersection of urban planning and transportation to advance sustainable mobility, mitigate climate change, and promote transportation equity for low-income communities.
OU Construction Science assistant professor and principal investigator of the Construction Innovation and Analytics Lab (CInnaLAB), Dr. Kofi Asare, has published two studies that advance the application of data-driven analytics and Digital Twins for predictive maintenance in buildings. His research highlights the potential of predictive maintenance to save 8% to 40% in maintenance costs, reduce operational inefficiencies and optimize energy consumption in buildings.
An interdisciplinary team of OU students from the Gibbs College of Architecture, Gallogly College of Engineering and Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication was recently selected as a finalist for the 2024 Solar Decathlon Competition. The team is competing in this year’s Design Challenge in the Single-Family Housing Category.
James Collard, professor of Regional and City Planning and director of planning and economic development for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, was invited to speak at the “Making Global Goals a Local Affair” webinar. The event took place on Aug. 10 and was hosted by the International Economic Development Council.
The OU Eco-Sooners received an award at the final competition of the 2023 Solar Decathlon Design Challenge. The team of Gibbs students won the Best Name of the Year award for their well-selected team name. According to the judges, the name strongly reflected the team’s design ideas and innovative strategies.
Dr. Lee Fithian, an Associate Professor of Architecture, was recently issued a patent for her building façade system that she has spent years developing. The double skin façade system evacuates polluted air from the streetscape, providing better air quality for people in urban environments and improving human health. The system can be included in new buildings but can also be retrofitted to existing ones.
Youngjin Hwang, Assistant Professor of Architecture, recently presented research at the 2022 Building Performance Analysis Conference and SimBuild hosted by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the International Building Performance Simulation Association USA Regional Division (IBPSA-USA).
Dr. Wenwen Cheng, assistant professor of Landscape Architecture, was recently awarded funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to support her project titled “A Spatial Decision Support System for Identifying Heat Vulnerability Based on a Comprehensive Energy Budget Model and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis in Oklahoma City, OK,” with an amount of $149,163.
Dr. Andrés Cavieres, an Assistant Professor with the Division of Architecture, recently attended the InterSolar Conference in Munich, Germany, from October 6th to the 8th. Dr. Cavieres attended as part of the official launch by VesprSolar Inc. of the V-ClampTM , a ground-breaking, patent-pending fastener for photovoltaic (PV) modules developed by Dr. Cavieres at OU.
The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Texas-Oklahoma chapter recently hosted the 2021 ZeroLandfill OKC event. The organization partnered with Oklahoma City interior designers and architects, encouraging them to clean out their discontinued or un-used finish materials from their libraries.
Associate Professor of Architecture Daniel Butko, AIA and Zach Maggia, AIA were invited to present their ADALAC acoustic concrete research at the recent American Concrete Institute (ACI) international conference, where their work was also recognized with an ACI Excellence in Concrete Construction Award!
The OU Environmental Concerns Committee (ECC) recently named the Environmental Sustainability Working Group (ESWG), co-led by led by Dr. Randy Peppler (above left, OU Dept. of Geography & Environmental Sustainability) and Dr. Angela Person (above right, OU Architecture) the 2021 recipients of the ECC’s Environmental Stewardship recognition for Student Groups.
Since 2017, assistant professor of Architecture Angela Person has co-led the Environmental Sustainability Working Group (ESWG) at OU with Dr. Randy Peppler, of OU Geography. Four of the ESWG’s students recently presented during the University of Oklahoma’s 33rd Annual Undergraduate Research day on Friday, April 9th, 2021. Two of their students, Brooke Foster and Julie Bahr, took home top prizes among the more than 100 presenters.
Dr. Negar Matin, assistant professor of Interior Design, published a study in Intelligent Buildings International on optimizing daylight performance in responsive facade design. The research uses data analysis and simulations to determine hourly facade angles that significantly improve indoor lighting compared to fixed or no-louver systems.
Assistant professor of Architecture Angela Person recently coauthored the article “Community education and perceptions of water reuse: A case study in Norman, Oklahoma,” published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. The research looks at the effectiveness of community education in increasing citizens’ willingness to use recycled wastewater in Norman, Oklahoma.
Five research teams at the University of Oklahoma will receive internal funding to support innovative research projects. The awards are for the OU Big Idea Challenge, an initiative launched by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships to support the development of transdisciplinary research projects with significant potential for future extramural funding and that address global grand challenges. Gibbs College of Architecture faculty are represented on two of the five research teams.
University of Oklahoma Construction Science graduate student Samira Rasolkhani recently collaborated on the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s 2019 World Small Hydropower Development Report. Based on her contributions, Samira has been asked to contribute to the report again, when it is updated in 2022.
Assistant professor of Architecture Angela Person recently coauthored the article “Climate Change Communication: Examining the Social and Cognitive Barriers to Productive Environmental Communication,” published in Social Science Quarterly. The research looks at the effectiveness of different types of visual appeals that may be used to communicate climate change risk.
GCA assistant to the directors Camille Germany (C), sat down with Suchi Bhattacharjee (S), Interior Design professor at OU! Suchi shared her educational journey and the current projects she is working on! Read on for highlights or click the link below to access the full podcast.
The University of Oklahoma reviewed and upgraded indoor air systems in Gould Hall to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. The study, led by Associate Professor Lee Fithian, is guiding ventilation improvements, filtration upgrades, and space planning to support campus health and safety.
