Building Measurable Impact: Research Update from 2025 Art Rosenfeld Award Winner Aoyu Zou
Since receiving the 2025 Art Rosenfeld Award, CBE PhD student Aoyu Zou has continued developing standardized retrofit frameworks alongside new methods for measuring and verifying building performance.
Emilio Camacho Joins CIEE
Emilio Camacho joins the California Institute for Energy and Environment as a Research Analyst, where he will support the institute’s research projects.
The Thermostat that Talks: How Dr. Isabel Méndez is Humanizing Smart Technology
CIEE postdoctoral researcher and Fulbright scholar Dr. Isabel Méndez is working with Dr. Therese Peffer to develop AI-powered thermostats that use language and empathy to make smart energy technology more intuitive and human-centered.
Labs, Lessons, and Lived Environments: Inside the BEST Center’s Fourteenth Building Automation Systems Workshop
The BEST Center hosted its fourteenth Building Automation Systems workshop in Milwaukee, bringing instructors from across the country together for five days of training, peer collaboration, and ideation for the future of energy-efficient building design.
Dr. Phillippe Phanivong on EcoBlock and Our Environmental Future
CIEE postdoctoral scholar Phillippe Phanivong reflects on his two years spent with the Oakland EcoBlock project, sharing lessons on advancing California’s decarbonization efforts through technical innovation and community collaboration.
CIEE Researchers Build Global Partnerships to Explore AI-Powered Solutions for Sustainable Urban Communities
Associate Director Dr. Therese Peffer and CIEE affiliate Dr. Miriam Aczel recently visited Europe to present their research on responsible AI use and sustainable buildings as part of a multinational project supported by the France-Berkeley Fund.
CIEE, BEST Center, and Partners Awarded $2M to Scale Demand Response in Commercial Buildings
The California Institute for Energy and Environment at CITRIS and Banatao Institute has been awarded a $2 million grant from the California Energy Commission for Super-GX, a project that will demonstrate demand response strategies in large commercial buildings.
Aoyu Zou Named 2025 Art Rosenfeld Fellow
CIEE is pleased to announce Aoyu Zou, a third-year PhD student in Architecture, as the 2025 Art Rosenfeld Award for Energy Efficiency winner. His research tackles the challenge of matching building HVAC operations with renewable energy generation from the grid.
As Heard on KQED: EcoBlock Revisited
A recent episode of KQED’s housing and climate podcast, Sold Out, revisited the Oakland EcoBlock pilot project since it was first featured in 2023. Led by researchers at the CIEE and the CITRIS Climate initiative, EcoBlock is addressing climate change at the urban block scale.