People
Esther Obonyo, Executive Director
eao4@psu.edu | 814-867-4222
Esther Obonyo is the Executive Director of the Global Building Network and an associate professor of engineering design and architectural engineering. Under her tenure as Executive Director since 2019, the GBN has established more than 35 industry, non-profit, and higher education partnerships across North America, Europe, Africa, and Australia to collaboratively catalyze research and education to make buildings more sustainable, more efficient, and healthier for people. Dr. Obonyo is also the lead for an international, Penn State-led consortium funded by the Belmont Forum to improve infrastructure resiliency, sustainability, and public health in disaster-prone, low-income communities. In addition to her academic career, Dr. Obonyo brings more than two decades of globally-focused work experience on buildings, including working as a Jefferson Science Fellow and senior policy adviser for USAID, innovation analyst with Balfour Beatty, and construction engineer for an emergency retrofit project for the U.S. consulate in Nairobi, Kenya.
Wandga Zuo, Associate Director of Research
Wangda Zuo is the Associate Director of Research for the Global Building Network and a professor of architectural engineering and mechanical engineering. With degrees in three majors (Automation, Computational Engineering, Mechanical Engineering) from three countries (China, Germany, U.S.), Dr. Zuo’s research is highly interdisciplinary and collaborative. His current research focuses on smart, sustainable and resilient buildings, communities and cities. His lab contributes to the development of multiple major open-source tools, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Modelica Buildings library and NREL’s URBANopt. He is the associate editor of the Journal of Solar Energy Engineering and treasurer and affiliate director of International Building Performance Simulation Association. He has served as the principal investigator for more than 30 research projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He has authored and co-authored more than 120 peer-reviewed papers.
James Mutunga, Assistant Research Professor
Dr. James Mutunga is an Assistant Research Professor for the Global Building Network. He will lead the development of new US-Africa partnerships at the nexus of climate change, health, and urban systems. Dr. Mutunga holds a BSc and MSc degrees in Biology and Biochemistry from Jomo Kenyatta University in Kenya. He completed his PhD in Entomology at Virginia Tech (USA) and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Emerging Pathogens Institute, Department of Entomology and Nematology of the University of Florida (USA). He had worked as a researcher at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), a lead scientist for Vestergaard Sarl and an Associate Principal Scientist for Walter Reed project under the US Army Medical Research Directorate in Kenya. During his 16-year research career, Dr. Mutunga has explored new approaches for controlling vector-borne diseases such as Dengue, Chikungunya, Malaria, Zika and West Nile, among others. This work has included a focus on the built environment as social determinant of health in a changing climate. These efforts have been funded by agencies such as the US Department of Defense, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Foundation for the National Institute of Health. Dr. Mutunga has also served as a faculty member at the Mount Kenya University in Kenya
Sarah Klinetob Lowe, Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives
Sarah Klinetob Lowe is the Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Global Building Network. From 2019-2022 as Technical Content Developer for the Global Building Network, she created the Passive House Primer: Core Topics micro-credential and managed the development and partnerships for the High-Performance Building Summer Camp. She is a Certified Passive House Consultant (CPHC) with the Passive House Institute of the US and is a practitioner instructor of architectural engineering for a senior-level course on Passive House design. In partnership with the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center and the Hamer Center for Community Design, she has served as a faculty advisor since 2014 for Penn State Solar Decathlon Design Challenge teams and was Principal Investigator for an initiative to catalyze and document energy retrofits for affordable housing in State College, PA. Sarah brings over 15 years of work, research, and volunteer experiences with high performance design, energy retrofits, solar photovoltaic systems, affordable housing, and student engagement, and holds an M.S. in Architectural Engineering, and B.S. degrees in Engineering Science and German, all from Penn State.
Supraja Sudharsan, Associate Director of Policy and Strategy
Supraja Sudharsan is the Associate Director of Policy and Strategy for the Global Building Network. She has expertise in international climate policy with recent works spanning climate policy implementation and industrial data for regional economic development. Supraja is experienced in working across industry, academia, and government, and her previous works have informed policy both globally and in the Southeastern United States. Internationally, she has several years of experience working with start-up investment banking and private equity firms in the United States and India to strategize long-term growth and investment. In addition, Supraja is also deeply engaged in incorporating sustainability in learning practices serving in a university-wide advisory committee, and training and mentoring several graduate students over the years. Supraja is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in the international affairs, science and technology program at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) where her research aims to assess effectiveness of networked interactions, particularly in the context of climate policy implementation by local governments in India. Supraja is also an alumnus of the climate corps program of the Environmental Defense Fund, and the science, technology and innovation policy program at Georgia Tech. Previously, she earned an M.S. degree from Columbia University, New York and a B. Tech in engineering from Anna University, India.
Current Graduate Student Researchers
Valerie Eve Atieno
Valerie Eve Atieno is a graduate student researcher with the Global Building Network since 2022 and a Ph.D. candidate in Architectural Engineering. She is a registered architect with a desire to use science and technology for social impact. Her doctoral research in Architectural Engineering has allowed her to explore a place-based approach to energy efficiency in buildings by tailoring actions to local solutions.
Valerie has a wealth of multidisciplinary experience working with organizations such as the National Construction Authority (Kenya), Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Habitat for Humanity in New Jersey, Mutiso Menezes International, and Gitutho Architects & Planners Limited. Her background in architecture has provided her with a platform to provide solutions to improve the performance of buildings in a way that is functional and responsive to the setting where the buildings are situated. Her recent work with Engineering for Change deals with the applicability of digital toolkits to enhance the flood and extreme heat resilience of low-income housing in Florida and Pennsylvania.
In addition, she is currently setting up an artisan training center in rural Kenya to empower local communities with the skills and knowledge to improve the built environment. With her passion for using science and technology for social impact, Valerie is dedicated to making a meaningful impact on the built environment through her work.
Homeira Mirhosseini
Homeira Mirhosseini is a graduate student researcher with the Global Building Network since 2020 and a Ph.D. candidate in Architectural Engineering, Mechanical option. Her doctoral research focuses on the benefits of using Passive House over conventional code-based buildings in terms of energy use and Indoor Air Quality. She also investigates the implications of using modified HVAC systems in Passive House buildings. In the past, Homeira has worked on projects on community resilience, and resilience and sustainability rating systems and methods. In the past few years, she has completed several internship positions with a focus on high-performance buildings at companies such as Ramboll, Trimble, Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (SOM), and Kirksey Architecture. She holds an M.S. in Architecture from University of Arizona and a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering from Art University of Isfahan.
Joachim Ebrahim Ouma Wafula
Joachim Ebrahim Ouma Wafula is a graduate student researcher with the Global Building Network since 2022 and a Ph.D. candidate in Architectural Engineering, Construction option. His doctoral research is focused on sustainable energy use in Construction operations; modelling the right energy use mix and sustainability education for Contractors to achieve energy efficient and sustainable construction operations. He is a faculty member of the Department of Construction Economics & Management, The Technical University Kenya. Prior, Joachim had a career spanning more than 20 years in Construction Costing and project management roles covering Buildings and public utilities infrastructure in Kenya and the East African region. He holds an MSc. in Building Construction Management from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and a Bachelor of Building Economics (Quantity Survey) from the University of Nairobi.
Past Graduate Student Researchers
Qin Yin
Qin Yin was a graduate student researcher with the Global Building Network from 2020-2022 and is a doctoral student in architectural engineering. His research interest is on the human aspect of construction safety management. His doctoral research applies the science of organizational psychology in construction safety management. In the past, he has worked on projects investigating safety perception, safety culture, and team dynamics in construction teams. He also contributed to the making of the GBN bibliography site. Qin holds an M.S. in construction engineering from University of Michigan and a M.Phil in project management from Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Past Project Drawdown Scholars
Shalom Nthenya Mulinge
Shalom Nthenya Mulinge was a 2020-2021 Project Drawdown Scholar with the project entitled Affordable Solar Powered Cooling for Selected Low-Income Communities, which was supported by the Global Building Network. She is an international student from Kenya, majoring in petroleum and natural gas engineering. As an undergraduate student, she has conducted research on engineering design team performance and carbon sequestration as a means to reduce Pennsylvania’s energy sector emissions. Her interests in sustainability focus on equitable energy systems and sustainability analytics and modeling.
Kiarat Eduardo Vidal Rodriguez
Kiarat Eduardo Vidal Rodriguez was a 2020-2021 Project Drawdown Scholar for the project Affordable Solar Powered Cooling for Selected Low-Income Communities, which was supported by the Global Building Network. As an international student her Mexican-Cuban background serves as a base for questions of equitability, justice, and accessibility for her professional and academic careers. Kiarat is an undergraduate student double majoring in Architecture and Italian studies, minoring in Medieval Studies, Residential Construction, and Architectural History, and her interests in the field of architecture focus on sustainability and historic preservation.