Constantinos A Balaras, PhD, PEng, FASHRAE

Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens

Athens, GR15236

Greece

+30 210 3490852

Region: XIV

Honorarium: None

Languages Spoken: English

costas@noa.gr

Constantinos “Costas” Balaras has been working for over 30 years on energy conservation, energy audits, sustainability assessment of the built environment, resilience to climate change, solar thermal and cooling applications, environmental impact of buildings and embodied energy/emissions, indoor environmental quality and solar air-conditioning.

Costas graduated from Michigan Technological University in 1984 with a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering. In 1985 he received his Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and in 1988 he was awarded a PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Costas has worked as a professional engineer, setup his own MEP firm and also collaborated with various engineering and architectural firms on various electromechanical design and construction projects for new and renovated houses, apartment buildings, offices and industrial facilities.

His main research career and primary professional affiliation was initiated in 1995 when he joined the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) that is the first public research center in Greece. He set up the Group Energy Conservation (GREC) and still is the group leader. Costas advanced through all four research positions following external evaluations and achieved a tenure as research director since 2006. His R&D activities have contributed in over 60 European R&D competitive projects.

Since 1990, Costas has been teaching undergraduate courses, seminars and short courses. As an adjunct professor, since 1999 he has consistently been teaching post-graduate level courses and currently is collaborating with the Hellenic Open University.

One of his most notable and enduring contributions are his leading efforts for the development of the national regulation on the energy performance of buildings in Greece, the supporting legislative and methodological framework, the energy audit and building certification method and tools, along with the supporting training and educational material. This was instrumental for the national transposition of the European Directive on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD). To this date, this work has supported all the building energy audits performed in Greece for issuing about 4 million energy performance certificates, used by thousands of energy auditors, energy inspectors and other professionals, while the calculation engine is integrated in all commercial engineering software available in the national market.

Costas has contributed to the international literature with over 400 scientific articles published in international peer reviewed journals, books and conference proceedings, with over 11,000 citations in Google scholar. He is ranked in the world's top 2% scientists since the first edition of the citation metric in 2017.

Costas joined ASHRAE as a Student Member in 1984, advanced to an Associate Member in 1985, Member in 2000 and Fellow in 2012. He has served as a DAL (2007-2010), Society Vice President (2011-2013) and DRC Region XIV (2017-2020), on numerous ASHRAE Councils, standing and technical committees, and currently serves on ASHRAE Foundation, Society Rules, Nominating, and SSPC 240P on Evaluating Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Carbon Emissions in Building Design, Construction and Operation, TC 2.8 and Tc 6.7. In 1998, he was the initiator for chartering the Hellenic Chapter and served as its first President in 1999-2000, remaining active since then. He has received the John F. James International Award (2007), DSA (2006). ESA (2011), Andrew T. Boggs Service Award (2025) and Louise & Bill Holladay Distinguished Fellow Award (2026). Costas is a Fellow of ASME, Member of Sigma Xi - The Scientific Research Society and Pi – Tau – Sigma - Honorary Mechanical Engineering Fraternity.

Topic

Operational and Embodied Energy-Carbon-GHG of Buildings

Cover the principles of building energy balance, energy use and identify available international data resources that can be used as baselines and benchmarks. Following the moto “efficiency first” will elaborate the processes for energy gains (from the sun, equipment, and people) and energy losses (through the building's envelope via transmission and ventilation), and an overview of available technologies and systems. Achieving a good balance is key to creating more sustainable buildings. Review available data resources for energy use intensities. Continue with the basics of how to calculate embodied energy-carbon-GHG of buildings. Overview of ASHRAE 240P and 100 Standards for evaluating GHG and carbon emissions in building design, construction and operation.

Sustainability and Resilience Assessment of Buildings and Urban Environments

Collaborative efforts of several European organizations from different countries developed common methods and tools for sustainability self-assessment of buildings and neighborhoods in a decision making framework that can be adapted by cities and interested professionals. A similar approach has been followed to develop a decision making framework to help cities understand and assess the level of climate risk and impacts at urban and building scale and support them to design and monitor climate adaptation measures. All this is supported by educational and training material that is openly available. This will be an opportunity to gain insights and understand the underlying principles of similar assessment systems and tools that are available in the market.

Congratulations for chartering your ASHRAE Chapter! Here are some tips on how to do it and keep it growing

new sections-chapters navigate through the early day hardships. Using personal experiences as an initiator of Hellenic Chapter - the first European chapter, serving as the first Director & Regional Chair of Region XIV – the new European Region, and learning over the years and decades of how to keep growing, explore good practices and learning from each other, deal with challenges and keep on having fun.

Navigating Through the Maze of ASHRAE and its Bright Side of Technology

Help members understand how to engage at chapter, regional and Society level and the opportunities to join Technical & Standing Committees. How does the bright side of ASHRAE look like? What do Techies do it and have fun? How do they do it? How can one be part of this effort? Research proposals and RFPs, are they real? Standards and Guidelines, where do you start and how to participate in the process. Provide practical tips on how to join, keep up with the flow of information and advance on how to chair a TC and run good meetings.

Congratulations for chartering your ASHRAE Student Branch! Here are some tips on how to do it and keep it growing

Supporting topic that can be provided as a complementary presentation to help students, faculty and other interested members of new student branches on how and why to start a student branch and navigate through the early day hardships. Using personal experiences as an initiator and a faculty advisor of the Hellenic Open University student branch, the presentation will explore good practices and learning from each other, help your students with career options and help them grow as ASHRAE members, while having fun.

Decarbonizing Hospital Building

This lecture presents an overview of the new ASHRAE Guide on decarbonization for hospital facility managers, capital planners, hospital architectural and engineering teams, sustainability leaders, contractors and other building stakeholders. The Guide is part of the ASHRAE series on decarbonization that specifically shows how to reduce GHG emissions in hospital buildings. Hospitals have one of the largest carbon use intensities (CUI) of all building types that is documented with relevant European and Hellenic data. The challenges for decarbonizing healthcare buildings are much more complex than those for other buildings because of their unique needs in terms of the number and complexity of systems, infection prevention needs, regulatory environment, abundance of technology to deliver healthcare services, and needs for resilience. The Guide has been developed by ASHRAE and American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE).

The Built Environment - A Source of & Solution to the Challenges for a Sustainable Future

Look at the transformation of buildings from being at the center stage of the energy and environmental problems to being part of the solution for a sustainable future. Start with an overview of the role of buildings in the energy and environmental issues. Understand how they are coupled and interdependent. Review the transformation of buildings and their role as part of the solutions for improving the energy and environmental challenges. Review available technologies, from the basics to the more advanced solutions, for all end-uses – space heating, domestic hot water, cooling, ventilation, lighting, equipment and appliances. Present examples of real buildings and installations, including building integration of systems for the exploitation of renewable energy sources.

European Efforts for High Energy Performance Building and the New Bauhaus

Over the past several decades the European Union has introduced and implemented numerous policies and supporting legislations to improve the energy performance of buildings and energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase the use of renewables and smartness of buildings, reduce energy import dependency and move towards a secure, competitive and sustainable energy system for serving people and protecting the environment. The presentation will focus on the main EU efforts, instruments, regulations and directives related to the built environment that have been introduced, are in place and are being planned for reaching the near- and short-term energy and environmental targets. The overview also provides relevant data and quantifies key performance indicators that reflect the past trends and current emissions, use of renewables and energy efficiency, energy use intensities, along with the near- and long-term EU targets that are mainly related to the buildings sector. Furthermore, focus on the New European Bauhaus efforts as a creative and interdisciplinary initiative to make buildings, neighborhoods and urban environment sustainable, inclusive and beautiful, leading to a better quality of life for citizens. Review the self-assessment tool that can be used to guide the preparation and implementation of individual local transformation projects focusing on energy, emissions and non-energy related issues, as part of the work in the sustainability dimension.