Jan Kośny

Director, Building Enclosures and Materials

Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems CSE

Dr. Kośny leads Building Enclosure Research at Fraunhofer CSE. Dr. Kosny, also winner of a 2009 R&D 100 Award for the development of phase-change materials (PCMs), is a leading building envelope researcher with 30 years experiences in the building sciences. Dr. Kośny holds a Ph.D. in Building Physics from the Polish Academy of Sciences. His doctoral research was in area of passive solar systems. Prior to joining Fraunhofer CSE, Dr. Kośny spent 12 years teaching building science as a professor of the Rzeszow Technical University, Poland and 18 years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. While working for ORNL, he developed a number of high-performance envelope concepts including masonry systems, advanced roofing systems, light-gage steel framing and metal-foam sandwich technologies. He has held a number of faculty positions, published more than 120 technical articles, and has authored numerous patents related to advanced building concepts. He has represented the United States at many international organizations and standards bodies, including the International Energy Agency. He has extensive experience collaborating with industry to commercialize advanced building technologies. Particularly relevant to the proposed presentation, he has worked with most major world manufacturers of PCM technologies to develop novel dynamic building envelopes based on integration of advanced heat storage components, local ventilation strategies, and high-performance insulations (including aerogels, vacuum insulations, reflective insulations, cool coatings, etc.).