Areas
Profile
Efrie Escott is a lecturer in the Master of Environmental Building Design program and associate in the Research Group at KieranTimberlake. Within her role as a researcher, she explores topics related to materials, digital technologies, and the environment while managing client relationships on research projects, maintaining research partnerships both internally and externally, and identifying and coordinating research funding. She works with architectural design teams to translate data-driven research into building design and integrates novel analysis practices into design workflows and was a core member of the award-winning development team for Tally, a BIM-integrated tool for measuring embodied environmental impacts in the built environment. She also coordinates the firm’s strategy for tracking embodied carbon on projects and leads internal task team to identify and implement embodied carbon reduction strategies.
Additionally, Efrie is a member of the USGBC Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group, the founder of Philadelphia’s Dynamo User Group, and an AIA Philadelphia Women in Architecture Co-Chair. She lectures internationally about embodied carbon and the relationships between building materials, human health, and ecosystems.
She has also held positions at BASE Beijing, where she led thermal performance and operational energy research team; the Energy and Resources Institute New Delhi, India, where she led a team authoring GRIHA for Large Developments, an eco-assessment system for developments in India with a population greater than 5,000 (comparable to LEED Neighborhood Development); and Horowitz Architects, New York, where she was a project manager and director of sustainable design.
Academic Appointments
University of Pennsylvania Adjunct Faculty, 2018-present
Primary instructor and coordinator of ARCH 753: Building Performance Simulation. Lecturer for ARCH 633: Environmental Systems II.
Temple University Adjunct Faculty, 2016-2018
Technical instructor for ARCH 3231: Sustainability Studio, teaching environmental analysis and digital visualization techniques. Studio instructor for graduate elective studio, ARCH 8012: Restorative Ecologies.
Cooper Union Guest Lecturer, 2017
Co-taught “6 Scales” workshop with Billie Faircloth.
Education
University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning Master of Architecture. Class of 2014.
Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Master Environmental Management. Class of 2011.
Yale University B.A. in Architecture, concentration in Physics. Class of 2007.
Significant Papers, Publications, Presentations, and Exhibitions
(Work prior to September 2017 published under maiden name of Friedlander)
On Topics of Urban Ecology, Materials, and the Environment:
“Creating Carbon Footprint Baselines.” Panel with Kate Simonen and Anthony Pak at ILFI Zero Carbon Conference. October 8, 2020.
“High Performance Embodied carbon: Leveraging Data to Define Targets.” Panel with Erin McDade and Haley Gardner at Net Zero Conference. October 5, 2020.
“Embodied Carbon Workshop.” Panel with Z Smith, Eric Corey Freed, and Andrea Love at AIA/ACSA Intersections Conference. September 30, 2020.
“Evaluating Whole Building LCA.” Training with Dirk Kestner for USGBC LEED reviewers. July 13, 2020. “Carbon Transparency.” Expert panel presentation at Living Future‘s Embodied Carbon Summit. June 23, 2020. “Life Cycle Assessment and Tally.” 8-hour workshop training for USGBC Massachussets. June 22-23.
“Comparative whole-building life cycle assessment of renovation and new construction.” Authored with Vaclav Hasik. Buildings and Environment, 161 (2019): 106218.
“Life Cycle Assessment in Practice.” Presentation for AIA Portland Material Matters series. November 8, 2018. “LCA and Buildings.” Presentation for AIA Philadelphia Material Matters series. January 12, 2018.
“The influence of durability and recycling on life cycle impacts of window frame assemblies.” Authored with Stephanie Carlisle. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2016: 1-13.
“Calculating the Life Cycle Impacts of Buildings.” Full-day workshop at BuildingEnergy 2016 with Stephanie Carlisle, Maggie Wildnauer, and Greg Norris. March 8, 2016.
Aluminium and Life Cycle Thinking. With Stephanie Carlisle and Billie Faircloth for the International Aluminium Institute. June 2015. http://www.world-aluminium.org/publications/
“Life Cycle Analysis at the Speed of Design.” Presentation at AIA National Convention with Jason Smith and Jonathan Rowe. May 14, 2015.
“Renters’ Home Energy Effciency Project.” Featured Project at Energy 2030 on the Road: Michigan Conference at the Ross School of Business. March 31, 2014.
“Renters’ Home Energy Effciency Workbook.” Authored with Emily Taylor, Cassarah Brown, Alicia Chin, and Amy Eischen. February 2014. Published by the City of Ann Arbor as a part of A2 Renter Resources.
“The Methodology of Metal Criticality Determination,” authored by the Criticality Group at Yale. Published in Environmental Science & Technology vol. 46, January 2012.
“Criticality of the Geological Copper Family,” authored by the Criticality Group at Yale. Published in Environmental Science & Technology vol. 46, January 2012.
On Topics of Architecture, Fabrication, and Technology:
“Let’s Play! How Virtual Reality is Engaging Communities to Solve Problems.” Presentation at Living Future’s unConference with Hether DeGrella, Fatima Olivieri, and Dierdre Quarnstrom. May 3, 2019.
“Data and Design: Machine Learning in Practice.” Keynote presentation at Autodesk University Computational BIM Forum. November 12, 2018.
“Machine Learning: Concepts and Application.” Presentation for Philadelphia Dynamo User Group. May 8, 2018. “Facade Futures: Computation and the Amplification of Design,” moderator. Facades+AM Philly. September 25, 2017.
“Mars, STEM, and Virtual Reality.” Presentation at National Institute for Building Sciences Conference with Fátima Olivieri. January 9-10, 2017.
“Visualizing Mars: Enabling STEM learning using Revit, Project Expo, and Stingray.” Presentation at Autodesk University with Fátima Olivieri and Rolando Lopez. November 15-17, 2016.
Morphfaux…recovering plaster as architectural substrate. Plaster research shown as part of the Research Through Making Exhibition at the University of Michigan. Work completed with Steven Mankouche, Joshua Bard, and Matthew Schulte. Exhibition opened in Ann Arbor January 21, 2012.
Significant Grants and Awards
Innovation By Design Award OpenHome, Fast Company, 2020.
Materials Management Grant Life Cycle Assessment Training, Oregon DEQ, 2019. AIA Pennsylvania Honor Award Brown University Engineering Research Building, 2019. R+D First Award Winner Tally, ARCHITECT Magazine, 2016.
AIA TAP BIM Award Winner Tally, 2014.
Dow Distinguished Award for Interdisciplinary Sustainability Renters’ Home Energy Effciency Workbook, 2013.
R+D First Award Winner Morphfaux, ARCHITECT Magazine, 2013.