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Anna Dyson is the Hines Professor of Architecture at the Yale Schools of Architecture (YSoA) and Environment (YSE). She is the founding Director of the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture (Yale CEA), a research initiative that integrates interdisciplinary labs across campus to collaborate on the research, development and deployment of novel architectural systems that are focused on the challenge of metabolizing energy, water and materials within architecture in radically new ways.

At the YSoA, Dyson has established a new model for PhD-level design research in Architectural Sciences which has received multiple honors for pedagogy, including the award for most innovative academic program from the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) and an Award of Excellence from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

Dyson has been directing design research programs that have competitively won awards and contracts from multiple sponsors such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), The New York City Dept of Design and Construction (NYC-DDC), NYSERDA, NYSTAR, NEXUS, and from private sponsors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Baruch Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, and others.

Recipient of the Innovator Award from Architectural Record, Dyson holds many international patents on building systems innovations for the collection and distribution of clean energy, water, air quality and material life cycle. Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The World Future Energy Summit (WFES), and The Center for Architecture. Designs for novel systems have won many awards, including a 1st prize from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for the Climate Camouflage and Integrated Concentrating Solar Façade systems, Architect R&D awards for the Solar Enclosure for Water Reuse (SEWR) and the Active Modular Phytoremediation System (AMPS).

In 2007, Dyson co-founded the ground-breaking Center for Architecture, Science and Ecology (CASE) with Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM LLP) and RPI. Multiple systems are being deployed within scaled up building test sites: with SOM, the AMPS system was installed into the Public Safety Answering Center (PSAC II) in Bronx, NY and was included in the Best Architecture of 2017 by the Wall St. Journal, as the first full-scale test of the production of fresh air from within a building through plant-based air handling systems. In 2019, Yale CEA's Ecological Living Module, demonstrating a nexus for on-site energy, water and agricultural production, was named as the #1 World Changing Idea, by the UN News.

Phoebe Mankiewicz Ledins, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Anna Dyson and Elizabeth Hénaff

Research Directions: Biotechnology Design , Volume 2 , 2024 , e5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/btd.2024.4

Phoebe Mankiewicz Ledins, Elizabeth Z. Lin, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Krystal J. Godri Pollitt, Anna H. Dyson and Elizabeth M. Hénaff

Scientific Reports 14, 23857 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-72341-y

United Nations Environment Programme Global Report

UNEP & Yale CEA. Lead Authors: Anna Dyson, Naomi Keena, Mae-ling Lokko, Barbara K. Reck, Christina Ciardullo.

Phoebe Mankiewicz, Aleca Borsuk, Christina Ciardullo, Elizabeth Hénaff, and Anna Dyson

Energy & Buildings (2022) Vol. 260, Pages 111913, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.111913

United Nations Environment Programme

Yale CEA joins UNEP's Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction in Releasing Updates towards Zero Emission Futures for the Built Environment

Christina Ciardullo; Andreas Theodoridis; Phoebe Mankeiwitz; Mohamed Aly Etman; Anna Dyson. (2022) 

ASHRAE Topical Conference Proceedings (2022)

Naomi Keena, Marco Raugei, Mae-ling Lokko, Mohamed Aly Etman, Vicky Achnani, Barbara Reck, Anna Dyson (2022)

Energies (2022)

Phoebe Mankiewicz, Christina Ciardullo, Andreas Theodoridis, Elizabeth Hénaff + Anna Dyson (In review 2021).

The ASHRAE Journal (2021)

Indoor Environmental Parameters: Considering Measures of Microbial Ecology in the Characterization of Indoor Air Quality

Marco Raugei, Naomi Keena, Nick Novelli, Mohamed Aly Etman + Anna Dyson (2021)

Journal of Industrial Ecology (2021)

Nick Novelli, Justin Shultz, Mohamed Aly Etman, Kenton Phillips, Michael Jensen, Jason Vollen + Anna Dyson (In review 2021)

Proceedings of SDEWES. SDEWES, Dobrovnik (2021)

Towards Energy-Positive Buildings Through a Quality-Matched Energy Flow Strategy

Nick Novelli, Justin Shultz, Mohamed Aly Etman, Kenton Phillips, Melanie Derby, Peter Stark, Michael Jensen + Anna Dyson (In review 2021)

Proceedings of IBPC. International Building Physics Conference, Copenhagen (2021)

System-scale modeling of a building envelope-Integrated, transparent concentrating photovoltaic and thermal collector

Mohamed Aly Etman, Naomi Keena + Anna Dyson (2020, November)

In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 588, No. 3, p. 032062). IOP Publishing (2020)

Anna Dyson, Jason Vollen, Mark Mistur, Peter Stark, Kristin Malone, Matt Gindlesparger (2015)

U.S. Patent No. 9090486B2

Anna Dyson, Jason Vollen, Michael Amitay, Peter Stark, Ajith Rao, Edward DeMauro, David Menicovich (2015)

U.S. Application No. US20150308103A1

Anna Dyson Joins Panel on Circularity, Regeneration, and Urban Design
Architecture, apparel, and art came together in a powerful conversation on circularity, regeneration, and urban space. Moderated by Julia Gamolina, the panel featured insights from Anna Dyson and Elisabeth Sherman, and was hosted by Another Tomorrow and WOAH (Work of Art Holdings).
Yale CEA at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair – New York
Yale CEA researchers present a biomaterials installation at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in New York, showcasing a visionary fusion of cultural heritage and ecological innovation. This immersive installation explores how indigenous materials and ancestral craftsmanship can inform a sustainable future for architecture and design.
Bridging the gap between vision and action for a greener panel at the Denmark Pavilion (COP28)
Anna Dyson delves into the future of sustainable architecture and the crucial dialogue on advancing net-zero carbon materials at the Denmark Pavilion.
RENEW REUSE REGROW Summit
Anna Dyson as the keynote speaker at the Summit for an insightful presentation on the latest biomaterial research, decarbonizing buildings, and innovative approaches to a sustainable built environment. Don't miss this opportunity to delve into the future of mass timber, zero carbon design, and adaptive reuse. Anna Dyson, leading the way in sustainable solutions.
ELM NYC
Yale CEA partnered with Gray Organschi Architecture and UNEP to demonstrate on-site net-zero self-sufficiency for energy, water and food.
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Anna Dyson is the Hines Professor of Architecture at the Yale Schools of Architecture (YSoA) and Environment (YSE). She is the founding Director of the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture (Yale CEA), a research initiative that integrates interdisciplinary labs across campus to collaborate on the research, development and deployment of novel architectural systems that are focused on the challenge of metabolizing energy, water and materials within architecture in radically new ways.

At the YSoA, Dyson has established a new model for PhD-level design research in Architectural Sciences which has received multiple honors for pedagogy, including the award for most innovative academic program from the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) and an Award of Excellence from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

Dyson has been directing design research programs that have competitively won awards and contracts from multiple sponsors such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), The New York City Dept of Design and Construction (NYC-DDC), NYSERDA, NYSTAR, NEXUS, and from private sponsors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Baruch Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, and others.

Recipient of the Innovator Award from Architectural Record, Dyson holds many international patents on building systems innovations for the collection and distribution of clean energy, water, air quality and material life cycle. Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The World Future Energy Summit (WFES), and The Center for Architecture. Designs for novel systems have won many awards, including a 1st prize from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for the Climate Camouflage and Integrated Concentrating Solar Façade systems, Architect R&D awards for the Solar Enclosure for Water Reuse (SEWR) and the Active Modular Phytoremediation System (AMPS).

In 2007, Dyson co-founded the ground-breaking Center for Architecture, Science and Ecology (CASE) with Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM LLP) and RPI. Multiple systems are being deployed within scaled up building test sites: with SOM, the AMPS system was installed into the Public Safety Answering Center (PSAC II) in Bronx, NY and was included in the Best Architecture of 2017 by the Wall St. Journal, as the first full-scale test of the production of fresh air from within a building through plant-based air handling systems. In 2019, Yale CEA's Ecological Living Module, demonstrating a nexus for on-site energy, water and agricultural production, was named as the #1 World Changing Idea, by the UN News.

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Anna Dyson

Renewable bio-based circular material economies in timber, post-agricultural by-products and plant-based bioremediation

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Anna Dyson

Director /Hines Professor

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