Profile

MArch Yale University, 1976
MBA University of Akron, 1971
MA (Industrial/Graphic Design) Michigan State University, 1966
BA (Industrial Design) Michigan State University, 1964

Registered Architect: Oregon

Professor G. Z. (Charlie) Brown is the founder of the UO Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory (ESBL) in Portland and Eugene. As Director of the Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory (1985-2015), Brown developed and oversaw research projects focused on understanding how building and transportation design determined energy consumption. Brown, Jessica Green, and Brendan Bohannan join forces to create Biology in the Built Environment (BioBE) Center, now in conjunction with the ESBL and Baker Lighting Lab, these teams form the Institute of Health in the Built Environment (IHBE). The lab collaborates with designers, builders, developers, and governmental agencies to develop strategies and design tools that maximize energy efficiency in new materials, components, assemblies, buildings, and communities.

Brown is the author of a pioneering book on the practice of sustainable design, Sun, Wind and Light: Architectural Design Strategies (John Wiley & Sons, 1985, 2001) and co-author of Natural Ventilation in Northwest Buildings (2004) and Inside Out: Design Procedures for Passive Environmental Technologies (John Wiley & Sons, 1982, 1992). His list of publications includes more than 100 papers and reports on computing, energy, climate, and housing. He has also co-authored software programs to facilitate design including Energy Scheming, SIP Scheming, Energy Module, and Auto Architect.

Brown served as an advisor on the Global Warming project for the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress in 1991, and in 1988 he collaborated on a study investigating the impacts of climate change on the energy performance of buildings.

Brown is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the American Solar Energy Society, and he has received awards for leadership in research from the U.S. Green Building Council and the Architectural Research Centers Consortium. In 1984, Brown was the recipient of both the National Award for Energy Innovation from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Governor’s Award for Energy Innovation from the State of Oregon. His teaching experience includes positions as a Cass Gilbert Visiting Professor at the University of Minnesota, a Senior Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Trondheim in Norway, a Senior Fulbright Lecturer at the Federal University of Technology in Yola, Nigeria, and a Sam Gibbons Eminent Scholar at the University of South Florida.