When GZ “Charlie” Brown has any free time, his idea of fun is sitting at his desk on a Sunday morning and thinking of new ideas.
“I’m all about ideas,” the University architecture professor said, “and trout fishing.”
From innovative architecture to energy efficient designs, Brown’s ideas have helped create solutions to sustainability problems.
Brown has lent his passion for energy efficiency to students, faculty and the buildings on campus through more than 25 years of teaching and about two decades of sustainability planning at the University.
Brown said he has been a registered architect in Oregon since 1980 and has designed and consulted on numerous projects, including the Brewery Blocks in Northwest Portland.
As the director of the BetterBricks Daylighting Laboratory in Portland and Eugene since 2002, Brown has managed various activities within the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, including the establishment of the University’s BetterBricks Portland Daylighting Laboratory. The Laboratory is used for projects involving integrated daylighting design and architecture.
“He is interested in how things apply to and affect people while trying to integrate different ideas,” Director of Campus Operations George Hecht said. “And he’s got a real sense of compassion for people on campus.”
After meeting Brown during a sustainability project two years ago, Hecht said he has come to appreciate the professor’s extensive academic background, leadership skills and pragmatic approaches to energy efficiency.
“He has a lot of dimensions,” Hecht said. “He is a true visionary and a pioneer in the field.”
During biweekly energy meetings, Brown, Hecht and representatives from other organizations come together to discuss and plan different ways to conserve energy on campus.
In recent projects, Brown and others tried to increase efficiency of gas and steam use because the University didn’t know how much it used campus-wide. To help manage the problem, Brown helped create an internal Web site to plot daily usage at the University. Although one would assume colder temperatures would cause a spike in usage during the winter months, the Web site revealed that usage remained the same during spring and summer months.
“We were suspicious of the steam system on campus,” Brown said.
Considering the majority of steam went to heating pools and domestic water, which is under-used, Brown said, solar collection seemed like to best solution during clear, summertime weather.
After the installation of solar panels in mid-July, Hecht said the University has made plans to start putting them up all over campus.
Through other projects, Brown helped to improve energy efficiency for buildings such as the Lillis Complex, PLC and the School of Music. For these projects, Brown gets a lot of use out of an artificial sky lab located in Pacific Hall. Designed by one of his graduate students and paid for by the Eugene Water & Electric Board, the large mirrored box reproduces overcast light conditions for various building models.
Graduate student Chris Chatto has worked with “Charlie” on several daylighting studies and real-world projects. Chatto is one of a handful of participants in this year’s graduate research fellowship, a program that employs fellows to collaborate on sustainable projects. He said his first impression of Brown was an inspiring one.
“He’s obviously a smart guy and he is very hardworking and methodical,” he said.
Born in Mobile, Ala., Brown received a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in industrial design in 1964, a master’s degree from Michigan State in industrial and graphic design in 1966, a Master of Business Administration degree marketing from the University of Akron in 1971 and a master’s degree in architecture from Yale University in 1974.
Brown said his motivation for teaching architecture was based on “straight economics.” While continuing his education at the graduate level, Brown started to teach at the University in 1977 to save tuition money and get paid for what he likes to do.
“I’ve never seen another job I liked more,” he said. “It’s a perfect fit for me.”
As a professor, Brown has taught numerous subjects, including computer-aided design and advanced courses in sight and building energy simulation.
Although he fell in love with architecture before sustainability, Brown said both come into play when he works on campus. And while some professors at the University may teach primarily to inspire students, Brown said he also teaches to learn.
With aspirations to teach sustainable architecture one day, Chatto said he looks up to Brown as both an educator and a friend.
“He has really helped to make the University a leading school for a more ecological approach to architecture by attracting new faculty and making a name for the school,” he said. “He’s a big influence in my goal to teach.”