Faculty Research Connections Profile
Kyoung Hee Kim, Ph.D, AIA, NCARB, is a Professor of the School of Architecture at UNC Charlotte, teaching design studios, MS studio labs, and sustainable technology integration. She is the Director of the Integrated Design Research Lab (IDRL), an interdisciplinary research platform for integrating architecture design and innovative building technologies.
Dr. Kim is a registered architect in the state of North Carolina and has practiced as both an architect and engineer. Her expertise lies in performance-based design, innovative building systems integration, and high-performance facades as a way to achieve a sustainable built environment. Dr. Kim has served as a PI for over $2M in research-funded projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation, AIA Upjohn Research Initiative Grant, EPA-P3 award, and institutional research grants and has led interdisciplinary research in response to global warming and the importance of occupant health and wellbeing attributed by the built environment.
As a recipient of the 2019 UNC Charlotte Chancellor’s Diversity Grant, Dr. Kim organized lecture events under the theme of Women in Architecture Technology. She has offered lectures and workshops in the United States, Korea, Hong Kong, and China about performance-based design and regenerative building technologies toward net zero energy, net zero carbon architecture. Dr. Kim co-chaired the Architectural Research Centre Consortium (ARCC) conference: the Visibility of Research at UNC Charlotte in 2013. Upon arrival at UNC Charlotte, she established the USGBC UNC Charlotte Student Chapter and has served as a faculty advisor since 2011. Dr. Kim has served on a National Science Foundation review panelist and as a member of the UNC Charlotte patent committee appointed by the Chancellor.
As a facade consultant at Front Inc., NYC (2007-2017), she was involved in a wide range of buildings, including King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) (Saudi Arabia, Completion 2009), World Trade Center Museum Pavilion (NYC, Completion 2012), Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum (Lansing, MI, Completion 2012), Mahakakhon Tower (Bangkok, Completion 2015), Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (Athens, completion 2016), Shinsegae HQ (Korea, Completion 2016), Shenzhen Energy Mansion (China, Completion 2017), TWA Flight Center Hotel (NYC, Completion 2019), Capital Market Authority Tower (Saudi Arabia, Completion 2019) as well as a wide range of private and public buildings with green building labeling such as LEED, GBI, and Passivhaus.
Her book entitled Microalgae Building Enclosures: Design and Engineering Principles (Routledge, 2022) explores symbiotic relations between human, built environment, and ecosystem to achieve net-zero carbon architecture while also promoting ecological sustainability and occupant well-being.
Dr. Kim holds a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering and a Master of Architectural Engineering from CBNU, Korea, and a Master of Architecture, a Master of Science, and a Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.
Explore HER recent work
R+D Award: Toward Carbon Neutrality - High-Performance Biochromic Window. A microalgae window system by Dr. Kim and the IDRL checks both boxes while
cultivating a renewable energy source and supporting occupant wellness through improved air quality as well as thermal and visual comfort. Read more →
NSF grant will further development of solar windows: A research project to develop high-performance regenerative windows integrated with climate responsive solar cells will move to a new phase of development thanks to a $250,000 Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT). Read more →
Dr. Kim's publication Microalgae Building Enclosures: Design and Engineering Principles aims to provide design, engineering, and biotechnical guidelines for microalgae building enclosures that need to be considered for symbiotic relations among the built environment, humans, and ecosystems. Read more →