John E. Fernández has been on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1999. He is a full Professor and Director of the Building Technology Program in the Department of Architecture. Fernández is also Director of the Urban Metabolism Group, a highly multidisciplinary research group focused on the resource intensity of cities and design and technology pathways for future urbanization. Additionally, he is co-Director of the International Design Center at MIT, a large internationally funded center for design studies across engineering and architecture. Fernández is also a practicing architect, and has organized, chaired or co-chaired 7 international conferences.
The MIT Urban Metabolism Group, founded by Fernández in 2008, has been at the forefront of establishing an understanding of the resource intensity of urbanization. Research has included material flow analysis of a number of cities in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Previous to establishing the Urban Metabolism Group Fernández was primarily engaged in the research of materials for high-performance buildings.
Fernández has served on several National Science Foundation Review Panels, as a member of the Department of Energy Roadmap 2020 Advisory Committee, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Building Envelope Technology and Environmental Council of the National Institute of Building Science. He is currently a Board member of New Ecology, Inc. in Boston, and a member of the Board of Advisors for the Center for Sustainable Energy of the Fraunhofer Institute, also in Boston. Fernández has participated in the launch of two startup companies in the past 5 years.