Dr. Mark Fretz is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Oregon and Associate Director of Knowledge Exchange at the Institute for Health in the Built Environment. He directs the Institute’s industry research consortium, Build Health, which leverages design thinking and transdisciplinary science collaboration to develop and apply innovative design solutions for low-carbon buildings that simultaneously promote healthier individuals, communities and planet. Prior to practicing architecture, Mark was a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service. As a designer, Mark has worked on projects ranging from product design to healthcare, single and multi-family housing, embassies, office buildings and district scale master planning. His research and teaching focus on exploring the unseen in the design of the built environment that affects human health across scales ranging from microbes and molecules to energy and carbon.
