Sustainable Built Environments

CAPLA Professor Ladd Keith on the Imperative of Planning for Heat Resilience
Assistant Professor of Planning and Sustainable Built Environments Ladd Keith recently published two editorials in important national and international publications. With UArizona Professor of Geography Andrea K. Gerlak he authored “There’s no place in the US safe from the heat” in The Hill, and with ASU Assistant Professor of Geography Sara Meerow he authored “Cities must plan for heat resilience now,” published by Reuters.

Meet Ash Avila ’23 BS SBE, 2022 Transportation Research Board Minority Student Fellow
Ash Avila, a Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Built Environments student from Nogales, Arizona, who will graduate in 2023, has been awarded an acclaimed Transportation Research Board (TRB) Minority Student Fellowship for 2022. Avila is one of 24 students selected by TRB.

UArizona Team Led by Architecture Professor Jonathan Bean and Engineering Professor Wolfgang Fink Wins $200,000 ‘American-Made Challenge’ E-ROBOT Prize
wall-EIFS, a robotically applied, 3D-sprayable exterior insulation and finish system for building envelope retrofits, is one of 10 finalist prize winners of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Envelope Retrofit Opportunities for Building Optimization Technologies Prize, or E-ROBOT Prize.

CAPLA Experts: In Wake of COVID-19, Employers Must Make Offices Healing Spaces
Altaf Engineer and Esther Sternberg, two CAPLA professors who study how work and living spaces affect physical and mental health, say the pandemic has forced employers to think about how office spaces can reduce employees' stress and enhance their wellbeing.

The Role of Building Emissions in Meeting Climate Change Goals: Architecture Professor Jonathan Bean Interviewed by KJZZ
Jonathan Bean was interviewed by KJZZ Radio regarding the role of building emissions in meeting climate change goals, noting that if we want to get to a zero carbon future by 2050, we must cut emissions from buildings in half by 2030.

Civil Engineering Magazine Discusses Green Infrastructure Proposals Created by CAPLA Architecture Students
“How do you retrofit a city for infrastructure that it doesn’t have?” asks Assistant Professor of Architecture Courtney Crosson in Civil Engineering magazine. “The idea is that instead of digging up roads and putting in single-purpose piping, green infrastructure is a multi-benefit way to adapt and upgrade city infrastructure.”

CAPLA Assistant Research Scientist Adriana Zuniga and Fellow Researchers Win Best Paper Award from Water International
Adriana Zuniga has been awarded the 2018 Water International Best Paper Award. The editors of Water International choose the winners in three-year cycles, recently naming the 2018, 2019 and 2020 awardees, who will be honored in Korea in December 2021.

Architecture and Planning Faculty Quoted in Salt Lake Tribune Article on 'Water Shaming'
Courtney Crosson, assistant professor of architecture, and Ladd Keith, assistant professor of planning and sustainable built environments, were quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune's July 12, 2021 story, "Neighbor wasting water? Is 'water shaming' the answer?"

CAPLA-led Research Team Awarded $150K NOAA Grant to Help American Communities Better Plan for Heat Mitigation
To help bridge government disparate efforts, Ladd Keith is leading an effort called Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard for Heat, or PIRSH, that has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the NOAA Climate Program Office, under its Extreme Heat Risk Initiative.

Keeping Homes and Cities Cool in Extreme Heat
Planning and Sustainable Built Environments Assistant Professor Ladd Keith, an expert on urban planning and climate change, offers tips to keep your home cool during a heat wave, and discusses how and why cities across the country are doing more to become heat resilient.

Tucson CBS Affiliate Turns to Sustainable Built Environments Professor for Insight on the Dangers of Hiking in Southern Arizona Heat
In a series covering "Monsoon 2021" broadcast June 14, Tucson CBS affiliate TV station KOLD News 13 interviewed Ladd Keith, assistant professor of planning and sustainable built environments, on how "hiking in heat can have deadly repercussions in Southern Arizona."

Assistant Professor Jonathan Bean Named 2021 CUES Distinguished Fellow for ‘Climate Heroes’ Curriculum
Architecture and Sustainable Built Environments Assistant Professor Jonathan Bean has been named one of four 2021 CUES Distinguished Fellows by UArizona’s Center for University Education Scholarship. His project, Climate Heroes: Transforming the Built Environment, addresses the fundamental challenge of our time: climate change.
