www.buildingsandcities.org/about/sofie-pelsmakers.html
Dr Sofie Pelsmakers
Dr Sofie Pelsmakers is an environmental architect, educator, and researcher with expertise in energy demand reduction and holistic sustainable architecture and housing design. Based at Tampere University, Finland, she leads Sustainable Housing Design research - how buildings and spaces work in reality, how they influence users, and how they change over time.
She is particularly passionate about bridging the information gap between research and knowledge application in design and building practice. She is the author of the Environmental Design Pocketbook.
Latest Commentaries
COP30 Report
Matti Kuittinen (Aalto University) reflects on his experience of attending the 2025 UN Conference of the Parties in Belém, Brazil. The roadmaps and commitments failed to deliver the objectives of the 2025 Paris Agreement. However, 2 countries - Japan and Senegal - announced they are creating roadmaps to decarbonise their buildings. An international group of government ministers put housing on the agenda - specifying the need for reduced carbon and energy use along with affordability, quality and climate resilience.
Building-Related Research: New Context, New Challenges
Raymond J. Cole (University of British Columbia) reflects on the key challenges raised in the 34 commissioned essays for Buildings & Cities 5th anniversary. Not only are key research issues identified, but the consequences of changing contexts for conducting research and tailoring its influence on society are highlighted as key areas of action.