Believe it or not, buildings consume more than a third of the world’s energy. And our homes, schools, shopping malls, skyscrapers, factories—all the structures on the planet combined—account for nearly 40 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, the size of our buildings is growing. In just two decades (by 2040), the floor area of buildings will grow by 60 percent worldwide. Let’s just say that our “built environment” is not necessarily all that good for “the” environment.

Enter two UMass Amherst faculty members who are revolutionizing how residential, commercial, and industrial buildings heat and cool themselves through facades that use thermoelectric materials to interact with temperature changes. Ajla Aksamija, (pronounced ak-sha-mia) associate professor of architecture and adjunct professor in building and construction technology, and her husband, Zlatan Aksamija, professor of electrical and computer engineering, recently demonstrated how building facades (exterior walls) can utilize nature’s own existing thermal energy to heat and cool the interiors of buildings more efficiently than the most advanced technology on the market today.