Prof. Avlokita Agrawal of the Department of Architecture and Planning, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, has been selected for the National Awards to Teachers (NAT) 2026 in recognition of her contribution to teaching, research and innovation in Sustainable Architecture and Built Environment.
The award is among the 21 National Awards to Teachers announced by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education. President of India Droupadi Murmu will confer the awards at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on September 5, 2026, on the occasion of Teachers’ Day. Prof. Agrawal is the only awardee listed from IIT Roorkee and is recognised in the discipline of Sustainable Architecture and Built Environment.
The National Awards to Teachers for higher education institutions and polytechnics recognise exemplary teachers and faculty members. According to the Ministry of Education, the selection considers parameters including teaching-learning effectiveness, outreach activities, research and innovation, sponsored research, faculty development programmes, consultancy and teaching. The 2026 selection involved preliminary screening followed by evaluation by a jury committee.
Prof. Avlokita Agrawal: A focus on sustainable architecture
Prof. Avlokita Agrawal is a Professor in the Department of Architecture and Planning at IIT Roorkee. Her academic and research work focuses strongly on energy efficiency in buildings, sustainability in the built environment, passive design, sustainability audits, traditional architecture, thermal comfort, life-cycle analysis and sustainable tourism development. Her research also explores thermal comfort through passive features, sustainable development around existing water bodies and dams, and the Indian Knowledge System, including Vaastu Shastra.
Prof. Agrawal completed her Bachelor of Architecture from IIT Roorkee in 2003 and earned her PhD from IIT Roorkee in 2010, with research on energy efficiency in buildings through passive techniques and simulation tools.
Her research portfolio includes projects related to sustainable tourism development around large dams, energy-efficient residential buildings, life-cycle performance assessment, digital restoration and sustainable infrastructure. Among the projects listed in her profile are work on sustainable tourism development around dams in India, life-cycle performance assessment of cold mix roads, restoration of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi and condition assessment of the Bharatpur Haveli in New Delhi.
Her academic contributions also extend to publications and knowledge dissemination. She is the sole contributor to the monograph “Shekhawati: Colourful Urbanism in Semi Desert of India,” published in 2016 under funding from the QIP Centre, IIT Roorkee. Her listed publications address subjects including sustainable transport in campuses, urban climate, solar collector performance, sustainable development in technical higher education, thermal behaviour of building materials, biomimicry and solid-waste management.
Prof. Agrawal has also been involved in teaching courses such as Sustainable Architecture, Sustainable Built Environment, Vaastushastra, History of Indian Architecture and Indian Knowledge Systems. Her profile records supervision and research engagement in areas including sustainable educational campuses, urban physics, heat-transfer reduction through building envelopes, energy-efficient envelope design and sustainable waste management.
The National Award to Teachers 2026 adds a significant national recognition to Prof. Agrawal’s longstanding work at the intersection of architecture, energy efficiency, sustainability, traditional knowledge and the built environment, highlighting the growing importance of sustainable approaches in architectural education and research.
Congratulations to Prof. Avlokita Agrawal
TheAPN extends its heartfelt congratulations to Prof. Avlokita Agrawal, IIT Roorkee, on her selection for the prestigious National Awards to Teachers 2026 in the discipline of Sustainable Architecture and Built Environment.
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