Stephen E. Selkowitz is an American building scientist, and a leading researcher of energy efficiency in

building envelope A building envelope is the physical separator between the conditioned and unconditioned environment of a building including the resistance to air, water, heat, light, and noiseSyed, Asif. ''Advanced building technologies for sustainability''. Hoboke ...

s. He is currently a senior advisor for building science at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2014, he received the Award of Excellence from

Engineering News-Record ''Engineering News-Record'' (widely known as ''ENR'') is an American weekly magazine that provides news, analysis, data and opinion for the construction industry worldwide. It is widely regarded as one of the construction industry's most authorita ...

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Life and career

Selkowitz was born March 8, 1948, and grew up in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. His father was a pharmacist. Selkowitz graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

with a B.A. in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

. While an undergraduate, Selkowitz's interest in the environment was increased through participation in

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing mo ...

World Game World Game, sometimes called the World Peace Game, is an educational simulation developed by Buckminster Fuller in 1961 to help create solutions to overpopulation and the uneven distribution of global resources. This alternative to war games uses ...

. He received a Master of Fine Arts in Environmental Design from the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

(CalArts) in 1972. Before beginning his career at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), Selkowitz taught at CalArts and worked at a consulting engineering firm. Selkowitz led research at Berkeley Lab to reduce the amount of heat transfer through windows. The

low-emissivity Low emissivity (low ''e'' or low thermal emissivity) refers to a surface condition that emits low levels of radiant thermal (heat) energy. All materials absorb, reflect, and emit radiant energy according to Planck's law but here, the primary co ...

(low-E) windows they developed have saved $7.7 billion on energy costs and 1.2 quadrillion BTUs, according to National Academy of Sciences' data. Selkowitz had to convince window manufacturers of the benefits of low-E glass before its use became widespread.

Awards

Selkowitz received the ENR Award of Excellence "for relentlessly working to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings and for moving the nation toward better building performance, as well as for being the master of commercializing energy-efficient building technologies and the mastermind of FLEXLAB," the Facility for Low-Energy eXperiments in Buildings located at Berkeley Lab. Selkowitz is a recipient of the Berkeley Lab Prize – Lifetime Achievement Award in the area of societal impact. This award honors a career of achievement and Selkowitz was recognized for his work to reduce energy use in buildings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selkowitz, Stephen Harvard University alumni California Institute of the Arts alumni Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory people Living people 1948 births American materials scientists