PhD in Architecture - Design Technology (High Performance Building) in Atlanta United States | Georgia Institute of Technology

Developing high-performance buildings demands the capability to design, validate, and ensure systems that fulfill the most stringent requirements of clients and society. A building's technical performance emerges from the intricate interaction of diverse boundary conditions influencing the physical dynamics of numerous components across multiple interconnected domains—including heat transfer, mass transfer, fluid dynamics, lighting, and acoustics—all coordinated by progressively smarter building control systems. Performance modeling, simulation, and optimization support a comprehensive strategy for analyzing and enhancing building performance, while sensor networks and embedded smart systems increasingly embed this intelligence directly into physical structures.

The discipline is evolving to encompass both finer and broader scales, from refining HVAC system representations to accounting for a building's microclimate interactions and simulating energy consumption at an urban level. Environmental performance considerations now extend beyond direct energy usage to encompass the larger human systems surrounding buildings—such as logistics networks, occupant behavior, and broader carbon and energy cycles.