Susan Ubbelohde

We face a crisis of imagination in sustainable architecture, often substituting competence for creativity. Equally we face a crisis of comprehension, especially our inability to understand that our world may not survive as long as we live, much less for our grandchildren. Nevertheless, as architects we are obligated to act.

Professor Ubbelohde and her partner George Loisos lead an office of unconventional practice, bringing research methods and physical and computer modeling to a wide range of architectural design solutions. The firm has pioneered new methods of energy conservation, production and analysis; lighting and daylighting design and analysis; natural ventilation analysis; concept design and fabrication of light emitting and controlling elements including light sculptures. Most projects are collaborations with other firms where L+U contributes tools and processes to reveal aspects of building performance. The firm works closely with University researchers, LBNL and other research institutions to bring the most sophisticated and appropriate technology to the practice of architecture.

L+U projects have received many AIA design and sustainability awards, including AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Project Awards and including 6 Platinum LEED certifications. Recent carbon net-zero buildings include Packard Foundation Headquarters with EHDD Architects, NASA Sustainability Base with William McDonough + Partners and Project Frog zero-energy classrooms. Well known projects include the New York Times building and the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York, the Pixar Animation Studios and Art Center School of Design South Campus. Current work in the office includes the Guggenheim Museum in Abu Dhabi with Gehry Partners and the Menil Drawing Institute with Johnston Marklee.

Beyond consulting on specific building projects, Loisos + Ubbelohde Associates is serving as Technical Experts for the US Department of Energy Commercial Buildings Pilot Program through Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL), working on natural ventilation and low-energy retrofits for the University of Hawaii Manoa. The firm was selected as a Technical Expert and for PG&E’s Zero-Net-Energy Pilot Program working with the Oakland Unified School District and is working with Hawai’I National Energy Institute on building modeling, monitoring, and procurement. L+U is also providing research and development work on high performance building design, dashboard design and controls for a number of building industry manufacturers.

ARCH 101 Case Studies in Architectural Design

ARCH 202 Advanced Option Studio

ARCH 204A Final Thesis Seminar

ARCH 204B Thesis Studio

ARCH 238 Dialectics of Poetics and Technology: Louis Kahn and Le Corbusier

ARCH 249 High Performance Facades

ARCH 249X Sustainable Waterfronts

ENV DES 105 Deep Green Design

“Lighting Within Limits” Architectural Record (2012)

“Hidden Genius – the Smartest Design Firm you’ve Never Hear Of” Green Building Design Magazine (2011)

Design Informed: Driving Innovation with Evidence-Based Design by Chong, Brandt and Martin (2010)

“Transparency: Literal and Sustainable” Architectural Record (2009)