Rate My Professor Jonathan Grinham

Jonathan Grinham is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His research brings an intensely interdisciplinary approach to climate change and the built environment, connecting material science with building science and design to examine questions on materiality, thermal health, and lifecycle carbon emissions. These questions have sparked the development of novel technologies, publications, patents, and a start-up company, Trellis Air Corporation, that deliver low-carbon climate solutions through material innovation. Jonathan is a Faculty Associate with the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities, the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, and the Aizenberg Lab at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He holds degrees in architecture and building science from Virginia Tech and a Doctor of Design degree from the Harvard GSD.

Jonathan Grinham teaches courses including Materials, Building Simulation, and Circuits, Circles, and Loops: Towards a Regenerative Architecture. In June 2026, he received a Frontiers of Innovation for Societal Impact Fund Spark Award from the Office of the Provost for research on transforming waste wool into a low-carbon building solution. His research areas include Construction & Building Systems, Design Engineering, Energy, Environmental Systems, Materials & Material Systems, Responsive Environments, and Sustainability.