Research Bio

Gail Brager is an expert in sustainable building design and operation whose research investigates how architecture can improve human health, comfort, and energy efficiency. Her work integrates thermal comfort science, building physics, and occupant behavior to inform strategies that create adaptive, energy-efficient environments that are healthy for both planet and people.

Brager is best known for her role in redefining comfort standards for passive buildings to reflect actual occupant preferences rather than laboratory-based rigid temperature guidelines, countering the trends towards air conditioning dependence. Her recent book, Experiential Design Schemas, bridges the data-driven language of building science and engineering with the more poetic sensorial perspective of the architect, advocating for low-energy, climate-responsive buildings by fore fronting the human dimension —nature-connected, multi-sensory architectural experiences that enrich occupant wellbeing. Her work overall has transformed green building certification systems and global climate-responsive design practices.

A leader in building science and environmental sustainability, Brager is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, where she also serves as Director of the Center for the Built Environment. She is a Fellow of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate and ASHRAE, among other honors. 

Research Expertise and Interest

architecture, high-performance buildings, energy use, indoor environmental quality, post-occupancy evaluation, comfort and adaptation in buildings, natural ventilation and mixed mode