Expertise

Topics:  Building Performance & Diagnostics, Sustainability, Energy, Ethics, Sustainable Design

Industries: Research, Architecture and Planning, Education/Learning

Erica Cochran Hameen, Ph.D., NOMA, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP is an architectural designer and Assistant Professor at the Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture. In 2021, she was named the school’s first Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). She also serves as the Co-Director of the Center for Building Performance & Diagnostics (CBPD) and as Track Chair of the Doctor of Design (DDes) program.

Erica serves as an instructor for multiple graduate and undergraduate courses and recently developed a new course focused on energy efficient and healthy retrofits. Formerly, she was Program Director for the UDream program at CMU, which from 2009-2016 worked to increase diversity in the urban design profession nationally, and in the Pittsburgh region specifically, by offering opportunities for permanent employment in Pittsburgh to recent college graduates.

Erica has served as a studio critic at multiple universities. Her architectural experience includes over 50 educational, media and broadcast, residential, community, and transportation facilities. She is also an active member of several community service and non-profit organizations.

Erica has received numerous honors for her research and architectural design project participation including awards from the AIA, NY Landmarks Conservancy, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Faculty and Graduate Student Awards, and most recently Best Proposal in a Department of Energy (DOE) Competition presented at the White House Conference Room.

Erica holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech, and a Master of Science in Sustainable Design and a Ph.D. in Building Performance & Diagnostics from CMU. Erica’s doctoral research investigated the impact of school building and neighborhood physical and environmental characteristics on student and teacher health and performance. She is also a contributing researcher for a Sustainable Engineering textbook and served as one of the Principal Investigators for the Consortium for Building Energy Innovation (CBEI), formally the EEB Hub, established by the DOE as an Energy-Regional Innovation Cluster.

Media Experience

The Future Of Office Work  — Carnegie Mellon University News
Vivian Loftness and Erica Cochran Hameen, co-directors of CMU's Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics and faculty in CMU's School of Architecture in the College of Fine Arts, also spoke with PBS NewsHour Weekend about trends they expect to see as more offices reopen.

Erica Cochran Hameen: A Half Dozen Students Can Lead a Revolution  — Architect Magazine
Here, Carnegie Mellon University assistant professor Erica Cochran Hameen, Assoc. AIA, shares how this past year has strengthened her resolve to seek equitable outcomes for students and the profession at large through her research and leadership. Cochran Hameen is also the incoming director or diversity, equity, and inclusion at the institution’s School of Architecture and the co-director of the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, .

11 local winners announced for 2021 AIA Pennsylvania Architectural Excellence Awards  — NEXTpittsburgh
Erica Cochran Hameen, Ph.D., received an Impact Designer Award in the category of Architectural Excellence Special Awards. Hameen is the inaugural department director of diversity, equity and inclusion, the track chair of the doctor of professional practice program and assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

Top public officials and experts on building sustainable cities  — The Washington Post
Cities around the globe are investing in new sustainable initiatives to reap the economic and environmental benefits for their communities. Join Washington Post Live for a series of conversations with White House Council on Environmental Quality chair Brenda Mallory and Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D) about building greener cities and addressing historical environmental inequities. BlocPower CEO Donnel Baird, Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture’s Erica Cochran Hameen and New Urban Mobility Alliance director Harriet Tregoning will also discuss the role of buildings in designing more sustainable cities.

What your future office could look like — if you even need to be there  — The Washington Post
We asked workplace experts Cappelli and Erica Cochran Hameen, co-director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, to evaluate the five ideas companies have developed to reimagine the traditional office. Below are the concepts, their key features and what our experts thought.