Program for Resource Efficient Communities

Staff, Faculty & Students

Dr. Knowles interests focus on organizational leadership, behavior change, and energy efficiency as mitigation strategies for the dual global challenges of climate change and energy transition. His current research involves modeling the geospatial resource impacts of alternative urban land use scenarios and deciphering energy use patterns via multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MFDFA).

Since 2002, Dr. Knowles has worked for multiple academic and outreach units within the University of Florida. From August 2004 through August 2007, Dr. Knowles served as a faculty-level Coordinator for the University of Florida Program for Resource Efficient Communities (UF/PREC). As a Graduate Research Assistant with the University of Florida Office of Sustainability from August 2008 through August 2009, he helped to coordinate the campus-wide Carbon Inventory and Climate Action Plan as part of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). In both his past coordination and his current Change Agent position with UF/PREC (August 2009 to current), Dr. Knowles promotes the adoption of best green design, construction, and operation practices in community development, monitors and measures comparative urban development impacts, creates extension education materials, develops and deploys energy efficiency financing programs, and fosters public/private partnerships that pursue sustainability in Florida's built environment.

Beyond his work for the University of Florida, Dr. Knowles holds experience as a commercial and residential construction project engineer and business development manager. He is a former Treasurer and Board Member of the Florida Green Building Coalition, a 2006 Fellow and 2007-2008 Board Member of the Florida Natural Resources Leadership Institute, a former appointed member of the Gainesville Energy Advisory Committee, and a 2009 National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Fellow. Dr. Knowles also has experience teaching continuing education courses on green building and development as well as speaking at conferences and workshops for industry professionals, governmental staff, and elected officials throughout Florida.

A 2013 interview on the life and work of Dr. Knowles was conducted for the University of Florida Faces of Sustainability series and can be found at the following link:

http://sustainable.ufl.edu/2013/02/06/faces-of-sustainability-hal-knowles/