Gail Brager

Design for high-performance buildings, post-occupancy evaluation, thermal comfort in naturally ventilated and mixed-mode buildings, assessment of energy and indoor environmental quality, sustainable design in hot climates, the green workplace

What makes a building memorable? I believe it comes not from the glossy images in a magazine, but from the experiences of people who live, work, or pass through the interior spaces. The environmental forces of sun, wind and light have a strong influence on a building's experiential aesthetic, and the consideration of these forces should be a purposeful part of the earliest stages of design. I guide students to learn about principles, tools, and values that will enhance their ability to create buildings that are both beautiful and efficient, responsive to climate and people, sensitive to the environment, and a delight to be in.

Gail Brager, PhD, has been a professor in the Building Science & Sustainability area of the department since 1984 and is also an affiliate faculty member of the Energy and Resources Group. Professor Brager serves as the director of the Center for Environmental Design Research, and associate director of the Center for the Built Environment, a research collaboration between the university and over 40 industry partners focused on improving the energy performance and environmental quality in buildings, with a focus on the workplace. This collaboration is important for making connections between research and the design and manufacturing industries. Professor Brager also has a 50% appointment as the associate dean of the Graduate Division.

Professor Brager conducts research and teaching across multiple dimensions of sustainability addressing the design, operation, and assessment of buildings, with a focus on thermal comfort and adaptation, occupant well-being, natural ventilation, and personalized environmental control.  Among her many service activities, Dr. Brager was the founding chair of the Research Committee of the US Green Building Council. She is also an ASHRAE Fellow and past-president of the Golden Gate ASHRAE Chapter.

ARCH 140 Introduction to Energy and Environment

ARCH 242 Design for Sustainability Colloquium

ARCH 243 Natural Cooling and Ventilation

ARCH 249 The Green Workplace

Recipient of the Presidential Young Investigator Award from National Science Foundation, Progressive Architecture Research Award, AIA Education Honors Honorable Mention, Places/EDRA award for Place-based research, and several awards from ASHRAE including

Brager, Gail; Paliaga, Gwelen; & de Dear, Richard. (2004). Operable windows, personal control and occupant comfort. ASHRAE Transactions, 110(2). http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4x57v1pf

de Dear, Richard; & Brager, Gail. (2001). The adaptive model of thermal comfort and energy conservation in the built environment. International Journal of Biometeorology, 45(2), 100 - 108. doi: 10.1007/s004840100093. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/89d4871t

Altomote, S., S. Schiavon, M.G. Kent, and G. Brager.  (2017).  Indoor environmental quality and occupant satisfaction in green-certified buildings.  Building Research & Information, Nov 2017

de Dear, R; Akimoto, T; Arens, E; Brager, G; Candido, C; Cheong, K.W.;  et al.(2013). Progress in thermal comfort research over the last twenty years. ”.  Indoor Air. April 2013.   http://escholarship.org/uc/item/92z5q2qb

de Dear, R and Brager, G;  Adaptive comfort and mixed-mode conditioning (2018). Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, R. A. Meyers (ed.), Springer Science+Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2493-6_1049-1

Kim, J., S. Schiavon, and G. Brager. (2018).  Personal comfort models – A new paradigm in thermal comfort for occupant-centric environmental control. Building and Environment, Volume 132, 2018, Pages 114-124.  https://escholarship.org/uc/item/18d174zs

Földváry, V., T. Cheung, H. Zhang, R. deDear, T. Parkinson, E. Arens, C. Chun, S. Schiavon, M. Luo, G. Brager, et al. (2018).  Development of the ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II.  Building and Environment, Volume 142, September 2018, Pages 502-512.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.06.022

Landsman J. , G. Brager, and M. Doctor-Pingel. (2018). Performance, prediction, optimization and user behavior of night ventilation: Energy and Buildings, Volume 166, May 2018, Pages 60-72.   https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9jk1d795