About

Erica Cochran Hameen, Ph.D., NOMA, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, is an architectural designer and Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture. She serves as the Co-Director of the Center for Building Performance & Diagnostics (CBPD), the Track Chair of the Doctor of Design (DDes) program, and the Director for Student Relations. Erica is involved in teaching multiple graduate and undergraduate courses, including a recently developed course focused on energy-efficient and healthy retrofits. Her architectural experience encompasses over 50 projects across educational, media and broadcast, residential, community, and transportation facilities. She has received numerous honors for her research and design work, including awards from the AIA, NY Landmarks Conservancy, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and recognition for her proposal in a Department of Energy competition presented at the White House. Her research interests include the impact of school building and neighborhood characteristics on student and teacher health and performance, and she has contributed to a Sustainable Engineering textbook and served as a Principal Investigator for the Consortium for Building Energy Innovation (CBEI). Erica holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech, a Master of Science in Sustainable Design, and a Ph.D. in Building Performance & Diagnostics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Engineering
• Architectural engineering
• Computer Science
• Civil engineering
• Environmental science
• Sociology
• Business
• Construction engineering
• Ecology
• Process management
• Environmental resource management
• Environmental economics
• Medicine
• Engineering management
• Operations management
• Geography
• Environmental planning
• Environmental engineering

Selected publications

• The Building as a Teaching Tool for Science, Technology, Engineering, Architecture and Math

  2025-01-21

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  The studio focuses on architectural design strategies for elementary school buildings to serve as places for interactive and fun learning. Students work as a team to develop the design of an elementary school focused on science, technology, engineering, architecture and math (STEAM) learning where the building serves as a teaching tool for K-5 grade students. The course provides an overview of the metrics utilized to define Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and their correlations to energy consumption, health, productivity, equitable sustainability and design justice. Employing diverse teaching methodologies, the curriculum is meticulously crafted to optimize student comprehension, engagement and retention. Students also experiment with multiple types of simulation software to evaluate and quantify the benefits of their design solutions. As part of the course and integral to the learning journey, students collaborate with professionals in enclosure and mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) disciplines and meet with community leaders and the education leadership team from Assemble: A Community Space for Arts + Technology and the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh to identify engaging and exciting design solutions that are culturally sensitive, environmentally responsive and encourage interest in STEAM learning.

  PublisherDOI

• Socio-Sustainable Architectural Design Through Ethical Implementation of Generative Design and Artificial Intelligence

  CIB Conferences · 2025-06-19 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  The design and valuation of buildings require a weighted assessment of many qualitative and quantitative values; the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can potentially enhance this process and the built environment. However, preserving the ethics and social sustainability of architectural design is crucial. Generative Design (GD) can potentially add value to new buildings and improve functionality and sustainability by generating design while weighing many quantitative measures effectively (e.g., functionality, economy, energy performance etc.). Generative AI (GAI) can potentially generate and assess designs based on learning from large sets of quantitative and qualitative data. However, underlying qualitative social, cultural, and ethical values usually considered by architects pose challenges to quantitative GD tools, and GAI faces ethical challenges including bias, transparency, and accountability. These underlying qualitative values can significantly influence the social sustainability of projects. An omission of these values may result in a less comprehensive decision-making process and a built environment that lacks essential qualities. This research utilized a survey of Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) professionals to assess their use of and trust in AI. The focus is on their concerns regarding the ethics of AI implementation and their views on social sustainability values, which may not be considered in AI decision-making. The survey results were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods and laid the ground for the future development of a framework for quantitatively integrating the qualitative variables into collaborative and comprehensive decision-making processes. The goal is to provide a more ethical and sustainable built environment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Exploring Gaussian Process Regression for indoor environmental quality: Spatiotemporal thermal and air quality modeling with mobile sensing

  Building and Environment · 2025-05-16 · 6 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• SETU: SAFETY IN EXCAVATION AND TRENCHING FOR YOU A TRAINING AND DECISION-MAKING TOOL FOR WORKER SAFETY IN EXCAVATION AND TRENCHING OPERATIONS IN CONSTRUCTION

  INTED proceedings · 2024-03-01 · 1 citations

  article

  SETU: SAFETY IN EXCAVATION AND TRENCHING FOR YOU A TRAINING AND DECISION-MAKING TOOL FOR WORKER SAFETY IN EXCAVATION AND TRENCHING OPERATIONS IN CONSTRUCTION

  PublisherDOI

• An Expeditious Spatial Mean Radiant Temperature Mapping Framework using Visual SLAM and Semantic Segmentation

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2024-10-12

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Ensuring thermal comfort is essential for the well-being and productivity of individuals in built environments. Of the various thermal comfort indicators, the mean radiant temperature (MRT) is very challenging to measure. Most common measurement methodologies are time-consuming and not user-friendly. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel MRT measurement framework that uses visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) and semantic segmentation techniques. The proposed approach follows the rule of thumb of the traditional MRT calculation method using surface temperature and view factors. However, it employs visual SLAM and creates a 3D thermal point cloud with enriched surface temperature information. The framework then implements Grounded SAM, a new object detection and segmentation tool to extract features with distinct temperature profiles on building surfaces. The detailed segmentation of thermal features not only reduces potential errors in the calculation of the MRT but also provides an efficient reconstruction of the spatial MRT distribution in the indoor environment. We also validate the calculation results with the reference measurement methodology. This data-driven framework offers faster and more efficient MRT measurements and spatial mapping than conventional methods. It can enable the direct engagement of researchers and practitioners in MRT measurements and contribute to research on thermal comfort and radiant cooling and heating systems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Overcoming the Perceptual Gap: Worldwide Perceived Comfort Survey of Earthen Building Experts and Homeowners

  Construction technologies and architecture · 2022-01-06 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author

  Earthen building materials are a critical future for sustainable construction because they are locally available, minimally processed, and waste-free. However, despite their advantages, earthen materials still face challenges for comprehensive implementation. First, their technical data vary significantly, making it challenging to quantify their true performance for different climates and environmental contexts. Second, people mistakenly perceive these materials as low-tech and poor in their performance. Lastly, building codes and standards do not comprehensively represent these materials worldwide. This work identifies perceptual barriers that hold back the broader implementation of earthen materials in order to ascertain possible solutions and assess the performance of earthen buildings and perceived comfort among primary resources such as practicing professionals and people who live in earthen houses. The results of an online survey of 126 earthen building experts and homeowners are presented, providing important insights regarding a range of barriers to, and motivating factors for, the implementation of earthen materials, as well as design and thermal performance aspects of existing earthen homes. The results of the surveys show that, of the various earthen building techniques, light straw clay requires the lowest maintenance, and construction of adobe and/or clay plaster encountered the least barriers to implementation. The energy performance of existing earthen homes show that all types of earthen materials reduce the need for cooling, in all climate zones. Insulation over earthen walls was shown to increase occupants’ perceived comfort levels, but only slightly. Additional results provide significant recommendations for future research on thermal performance and comfort guidelines for earthen structures. This study contributes to the development of environmental and policy measures that could be used by policymakers by synthesizing technical and environmental data and by identifying means of improving the perception of natural building.

  PublisherDOI

• An Interactive Task Conditioning System Featuring Personal Comfort Models and Non-Intrusive Sensing Techniques: A Field Study in Shanghai

  Technologies · 2021-11-21 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems play a key role in shaping office environments. However, open-plan office buildings nowadays are also faced with problems like unnecessary energy waste and an unsatisfactory shared indoor thermal environment. Therefore, it is significant to develop a new paradigm of an HVAC system framework so that everyone could work under their preferred thermal environment and the system can achieve higher energy efficiency such as task ambient conditioning system (TAC). However, current task conditioning systems are not responsive to personal thermal comfort dynamically. Hence, this research aims to develop a dynamic task conditioning system featuring personal thermal comfort models with machine learning and the wireless non-intrusive sensing system. In order to evaluate the proposed task conditioning system performance, a field study was conducted in a shared office space in Shanghai from July to August. As a result, personal thermal comfort models with indoor air temperature, relative humidity and cheek (side face) skin temperature have better performances than baseline models with indoor air temperature only. Moreover, compared to personal thermal satisfaction predictions, 90% of subjects have better performances in thermal sensation predictions. Therefore, personal thermal comfort models could be further implemented into the task conditioning control of TAC systems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Life cycle assessment (LCA) of natural vs conventional building assemblies

  Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · 2021 · 133 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Environmental science
  • Environmental resource management
  • Civil engineering
  PublisherDOI

• Deconstructing Heat Stress: Communicating Bottom-Up Heat Stress Resilience for Self-build Housing in Nigeria

  2021-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  In Nigeria, heat stress is responsible for significant health complications and loss of lives. Rising temperatures in the country are exacerbated by unbridled anthropogenic activities including deforestation, poor urban planning, and urbanization. Low-income households, single mother led households, and households with the elderly and/or people with disabilities, are especially vulnerable to heat stress because of their limited response to unreliable & failing energy infrastructure in the country. Consequently, to mitigate heat stress, many households heavily utilize gas- powered generators and mechanical cooling systems, which unfortunately contribute to both high energy burden amongst low-income households and increased environmental pollution. Adapting to heat stress is paramount in saving lives and reducing significant costs. It is especially important, as a large part of the populace develop and build their own homes in a widely practiced process called self-building. Fortunately, a systematic approach to literature review of over 40 ethnographic peer reviewed literature determined successful bottom-up heat stress resilience strategies used by households in tropical global south, such as in informal settlements. However, successfully disseminating these findings to self-builders in Nigeria would encounter challenges. Although some of these design solutions are local knowledge in other regions of the global south, they may be unfamiliar to self-builders in Nigeria; thereby, requiring steep learning curves for households–many with limited formal education– to effectively incorporate these bottom-up strategies in their housing. Furthermore, there is a communication barrier due to the multiple languages, nomenclature, and subcultures in the country. To address these challenges, this research study used participatory design through focus groups involving a cross section of Nigerian self-builders, to develop a step-by- step design guide using nontechnical descriptors (visuals, illustrations, jargon) to break down complex and technical architecture and engineering designs. This paper highlights findings from the participatory design sessions which will be evaluated through inductive analysis to determine themes on the ‘best’ design elements for the guidebook, communication” “methods, and effective learning techniques for self-builders in this region. The paper will also provide insight on performing participatory design sessions in countries within the global south, and the methods for promoting stakeholder engagement while navigating different subcultural, socioeconomic, and language boundaries.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Protocol for Post Occupancy Evaluation in Schools to Improve Indoor Environmental Quality and Energy Efficiency

  Sustainability · 2020 · 30 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Sociology
  • Political Science

  Research has shown a strong correlation between the performance and health of young students and teachers, and the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of their schools. A post occupancy evaluation (POE) of a school’s IEQ can help stakeholders understand the current conditions of the building and their impact on occupant wellbeing and productivity. It can also provide pathways for building performance upgrades and resource allocation for school administrations. However, current research on POE in schools frequently omits the contexts of young students during evaluations. Furthermore, there is limited research on guidelines for performing POE and measurements in school facilities. This study adopted the National Environmental Assessment Toolkit (NEAT) and tailored qualitative methods to evaluate eight schools over an eight-year period. The methodology was refined throughout the study to develop a protocol for robust investigation of IEQ conditions in schools. The NEAT was developed by Carnegie Mellon University’s Centre for Building Performance and Diagnostics for measuring the IEQ of office buildings. The paper addresses the challenges that may occur during POE and measurements (POE+M) and the differences between POE+M for offices and schools. It also determines how the POE+M process can be efficiently implemented to include all primary stakeholders in order to improve data collection for IEQ and energy efficiency analysis.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Kent A. Harries

  6 shared

• Vivian Loftness

  Carnegie Mellon University

  6 shared

• Lola Ben-Alon

  Columbia University

  6 shared

• Siliang Lu

  5 shared

• Bobuchi Ken-Opurum

  4 shared

• Shalini Priyadarshini

  3 shared

• Weilong Wang

  Shanxi Datong University

  2 shared

• Shihan Wang

  Utrecht University

  2 shared

Labs

• CodeLabPI

  Computational Design Laboratory

Education

• PhD Building Performance & Diagnostics, Architecture

  Carnegie Mellon University

  2014

Awards & honors

• Awards from the AIA
• NY Landmarks Conservancy Award
• Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Award
• Faculty and Graduate Student Awards
• Best Proposal in a Department of Energy (DOE) Competition pr…