Sherif Goubran, PhD, is an interdisciplinary scholar driving the transition of the built environment from incremental efficiency to transformational sustainability. He serves as an Assistant Professor of Sustainable Design at the American University in Cairo (AUC). His academic foundation, anchored by the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, synthesizes rigorous quantitative building science with advanced real estate finance and design policy. His research is distinguished by a strong publication record, featuring influential work published in the Journal of Environmental Management, which reconciles Green Building standards with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As founder of the Engaged Sustainable Futures (ESF-MAM-BE) lab, he directs a research portfolio that bridges macro-policy and localized climate strategy. This program is supported by successful grants, including dedicated funding for Machine Learning-based ESG assessment in Real Estate, and demonstrates significant ambition through strategic collaboration in major international research proposals. He mobilizes this expertise into high-impact regional solutions, from pioneering experimental testing of air leakage in Egyptian residential stock to co-leading a creative decarbonization studio showcased at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. His work leverages data and design to articulate and achieve resilient and equitable built futures.
Omar Abdelaziz is an Associate Professor of Thermofluids at the American University in Cairo focusing on energy-efficient building technologies, sustainable energy production, alternative cooling and heating technologies, and lower global warming refrigerants. Abdelaziz is currently a Senior Advisor to the Cool Coalition with a focus on data and reporting for the Global Cooling Pledge and one of the Lead Authors of its flagship biannual publication Global Cooling Watch. He is an expert in NCAP and is currently working with the Cool Coalition on contextualizing the NCAP for the MENA region. Abdelaziz serves as an international independent consultant to UNIDO, UNEP, and other non-governmental organizations and philanthropies. He started his career at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2009 and later joined the US Department of Energy Building Technologies Office as a Senior Fellow. Abdelaziz led the building equipment research group at ORNL until 2017. He then moved to UAE and established CLEAT consulting to provide consulting services. He collaborates with leading appliance manufacturers on developing advanced HVAC&R equipment. Abdelaziz is a member of the UN Ozone Secretariat Techno-economic Assessment Panel And Co-Chair of the Refrigeration Air Conditioning, and Heat Pump Technical Options Committee. He is an active member of the ASHRAE. He has received numerous awards, has published around 150 peer-reviewed papers, several spotlight reports, and holds several patents.
