Research Summary
Rahman Azari is an architect, an associate professor, and the founding director of the Resource and Energy Efficiency [RE2] Lab at Penn State Department of Architecture. Prior to Penn State, Azari served as an assistant professor and the interim director of the Architecture Ph.D. program at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago.
Azari’s research focuses on life cycle environmental impacts of built environments, innovative building materials for energy production and carbon sequestration, building and urban energy and carbon efficiency, and data-driven models for urban sustainability. Azari is a recipient of the American Institute of Architects’ Upjohn Research Grant in 2018 and 2019 and the faculty sponsor to student winning entries at ACSA+AIA COTE Top Ten competitions in 2016 and 2017. In 2019, Azari was recognized as a ‘Researcher to Know’ by the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition. With a background in Architecture, Azari holds a Ph.D. in Built Environment from the University of Washington in Seattle.
In the News
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Projects
Recent Publications
Determinants of U.S. residential energy consumption at national and state levels: Policy implications
Korsavi, S. S., Azari, R., Iulo, L. D. & Mahdavi, M., Jul 2025, In: Energy Policy. 202, 114594.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Current Developments and Future Directions in Energy-Efficient Buildings from the Perspective of Building Construction Materials and Enclosure Systems
Azari, R., Kamel, E. & Memari, A. M., Jul 2024, In: Buildings. 14, 7, 1921.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Carbon Neutrality in the Building Sector of the Global South—A Review of Barriers and Transformations
Ghasemi, E., Azari, R. & Zahed, M., Feb 2024, In: Buildings. 14, 2, 321.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
A Building Information Modeling-Based Life Cycle Assessment of the Embodied Carbon and Environmental Impacts of High-Rise Building Structures: A Case Study
Ma, L., Azari, R. & Elnimeiri, M., Jan 2024, In: Sustainability (Switzerland). 16, 2, 569.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Low-Cost IoT-based Indoor Air Quality Monitoring
Othman, H., Azari, R. & Guimarães, T., 2024, In: Technology Architecture and Design. 8, 2, p. 250-270 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Smart Building Skins for Urban Heat Island Mitigation: A Review
Talaei, M. & Azari, R., Dec 1 2024, In: Journal of Architectural Engineering. 30, 4, 03124005.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
A Review of Potential Electrochemical Applications in Buildings for Energy Capture and Storage
Zhang, J., Azari, R., Poerschke, U. & Hall, D. M., Dec 2023, In: Micromachines. 14, 12, 2203.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Thermal and energy performance of a user-responsive microalgae bioreactive façade for climate adaptability
Talaei, M., Mahdavinejad, M., Azari, R., Haghighi, H. M. & Atashdast, A., Aug 2022, In: Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments. 52, 101894.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Gold-like activity copper-like selectivity of heteroatomic transition metal carbides for electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction
Esmaeilirad, M., Baskin, A., Kondori, A., Sanz-Matias, A., Qian, J., Song, B., Tamadoni Saray, M., Kucuk, K., Belmonte, A. R., Delgado, P. N. M., Park, J., Azari, R., Segre, C. U., Shahbazian-Yassar, R., Prendergast, D. & Asadi, M., Dec 1 2021, In: Nature communications. 12, 1, 5067.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Multi-objective optimization of building-integrated microalgae photobioreactors for energy and daylighting performance
Talaei, M., Mahdavinejad, M., Azari, R., Prieto, A. & Sangin, H., Oct 2021, In: Journal of Building Engineering. 42, 102832.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Development and Testing of a Tall Building Façade System to Collect Rainwater
Pinto, J., Maradni, A., Paul, J. & Azari, R., 2020, In: CTBUH Journal. 2020, 1, p. 20-25 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Thermal and energy performance of algae bioreactive façades: A review
Talaei, M., Mahdavinejad, M. & Azari, R., Mar 2020, In: Journal of Building Engineering. 28, 101011.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
A data-driven framework for urban building operational energy use modeling
Abbasabadi, N. & Azari, R., 2019, In: Simulation Series. 51, 8, p. 71-77 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review
An integrated data-driven framework for urban energy use modeling (UEUM)
Abbasabadi, N., Ashayeri, M., Azari, R., Stephens, B. & Heidarinejad, M., Nov 1 2019, In: Applied Energy. 253, 113550.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Embodied energy of buildings: A review of data, methods, challenges, and research trends
Azari, R. & Abbasabadi, N., Jun 1 2018, In: Energy and Buildings. 168, p. 225-235 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review