Cities & Buildings
Where we live and where we work are critical to who we are. How we power, organize, and move within these spaces is a key part of our energy story.
Recent Work
Cooling People, Not Spaces: Surmounting the Risks of Air-Conditioning Over-Reliance
The growing global demand for air conditioning is exacerbating carbon emissions. This trend will intensify unless alternative solutions are sought and massively adopted. Solutions already exist and new ones are emerging, but face barriers including technology, building design, education, finance, and policy.
Powering the Slum: Meeting SDG7 in Accra’s Informal Settlements
More than a billion people worldwide live in informal settlements and lack proper access to energy. This case study explores energy poverty in the slums of Accra, Ghana, where illegal electrical hookups are the norm. How can we reverse this trend while providing safe, reliable, and affordable energy to all?
Energy Efficiency
Evaluating K-12 Public School District Sustainability Plans for Justice and Equity
Sustainability and climate plans for public K-12 school districts have the potential to address infrastructural gaps that produce outdated, unhealthy, and unsafe school facilities. This project takes a deeper look at several plans across the nation.
The Economics of Building Electrification
The percentage of U.S. homes heated with electricity has increased steadily from 1% in 1950 to 40% in 2020. New research explores the implications of this increase for a growing number of policies aimed at electrifying buildings.
Featured Researcher
Mark Alan Hughes
Director EmeritusMark Alan Hughes is director emeritus of the Kleinman Center. During his time as faculty director, he led the Center and wrote on topics ranging from deep decarbonization to the future of Philadelphia's energy landscape.