https://alumcommunity.mit.edu/topics/44934/events/280787,
last accessed on July 22, 2026.
Architecture Group – MACA July Meeting: Advancing Climate Action Through Collaboration and Implementation
The
Architecture Group, initiated by MIT Alumni for Climate Action (MACA), has been
advancing its climate action initiatives since its inaugural meeting in late
February 2026, with a focus on project development and pathways toward
implementation. Through its climate action initiatives, the Architecture Group
aims to contribute to MIT’s climate mission of Designing Resilient and
Prosperous Cities (1) and support broader efforts toward climate-resilient
communities.
The July meeting will highlight the continued progress of three selected ongoing climate action initiatives:
• United States (Massachusetts) - From Barriers to Action: Accelerating Passive House Adoption
Guided by Mike Duclos, a former member of Governor Baker’s Commission on Clean Heat with extensive Passive House implementation experience, this climate action initiative is led by Meral Ekincioglu, Ph.D., who has been leading the establishment and development of the Architecture Group and coordinating its climate action initiatives across diverse geographic contexts and scales of intervention. It seeks to identify the systemic barriers that limit the implementation of Passive House by design architects and translate these findings into actionable strategies. The Group has reached out to Jeff Geisinger, MIT alumnus and a Passive House expert recommended by Christoph Reinhart, MIT Architecture and Climate Professor, and received his feedback. For this initiative with experts, the Group has also developed a collaboration with Passive House Massachusetts. This initiative has completed its initial phase, including the design and distribution of an architect-focused survey (2).
• Brazil:
Enhancing Climate Resilience of Critical Infrastructure in the Metropolitan
Region of the Paraíba Valley and North Coast (RMVale)
Led by Rui Wagner R. Sedor, this climate action initiative focuses on strengthening urban resilient systems and critical infrastructure to address climate-driven water extremes in the Metropolitan Region of the Paraíba Valley and North Coast (RMVale). It has completed its initial data collection and assessment phase, including securing access to landslide and flood risk maps, official disaster records, and developing a structured Geological Maps Library covering 39 municipalities and five RMVale subregions. International and national climate resilience references were reviewed to strengthen the project’s conceptual and technical foundation. The updated project framework has been submitted for validation and feedback to leading experts in the field.
• Climate
Intelligence in Action: A Translation Framework for the Built Environment
Led by Ayse Gizem Tas, this third initiative aims to function as a translation framework connecting climate knowledge with actionable decisions across different scales. From the Massachusetts Passive House initiative, the group will discuss how this initiative can translate technical performance data into architectural design decisions, energy efficiency knowledge into implementation strategies, and cost/barrier analyses into policy and market solutions. From the Brazil RMVale resilience initiative, the group will discuss how this initiative can translate risk maps, disaster records, and climate scenarios into urban planning approaches, infrastructure strategies, and local government actions. This initiative is also exploring opportunities to align these efforts with the objectives of the COP31 in Türkiye.
The Architecture Group welcomes engagement from MIT alumni, SA+P graduates, researchers, practitioners, and the wider MIT community who are interested in advancing climate action through architecture and the built environment. We encourage participation, knowledge exchange, and collaborative opportunities across disciplines.
Event Details
Date: July 25,
2026
Time: 12.00 PM – 1 PM ET
Format: Online (Link provided upon registration)
Who Should
Attend:
MIT SA+P alumni, former research scholars, MACA members and affiliates, and MIT
community members interested in architecture, urban design, climate resilience,
and climate action.
How to contact
the organizer:
Meral Ekincioglu, Ph.D.
meralekinci2020@gmail.com
1.MIT’s climate mission of Designing Resilient and Prosperous Cities, https://climateproject.mit.edu/six-missions/mission-descriptions, last accessed on July 19, 2026.
2. See for Architecture Group Passive House Action Initiative, “From Barriers to Action: Accelerating Passive House Adoption in Massachusetts”, online survey, https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxJJvymhMbP7dBPx0ZWH9tVCqrOto2R9k_ULSLg5xxs0qAiA/viewform, last accessed on July 19, 2026.
Photo credit: MIT, Department Architecture, interior space, Cambridge, MA. Photo by: Meral Ekincioglu, Ph.D.