Emily McGlohn is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Auburn University in Alabama. She teaches the 3rd year design studio at Rural Studio, an off-campus design-build program. She was inspired to become an architect after volunteering with a ReFrame member organization, Mountain T.O.P.

Emily earned her Master of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon where she studies common practice use of vapor and air control layers in residential construction. Her research interests focus on energy efficiency in affordable housing. In her ongoing research, she studies the cost and health burdens of high air infiltration rates in existing homes in low-income communities.

Her plenary speech, "Rural Studio: Educating the Citizen Architect," will be about their 20K Initiative and strategies and policies that facilitate a new paradigm of housing affordability. Drawing from Rural Studio's 20 years of leadership in the area of Public Interest Design, this session will outline best practices with regard to design, constructability, and affordability while simultaneously engaging in community growth, health, welfare, sustainability, and education. It will provide an inside look at how Rural Studio continues to evolve within the ever-emerging complexities of an impoverished rural community while simultaneously striving to educate its students as citizen architects. Her plenary address will be on November 8th. Emily will also lead two break-out sessions, "Lessons Learned in Affordable Housing Details: The construction evolution of Rural Studio's 20K House," and "The Burden of High Air Infiltration Rates." See more details here.