Surekha Tetali

Surekha Tetali has been an Assistant Professor at the Center for Sustainability at Mahindra University since January 2024. With over 15 years of experience in researching sustainability within the built environment, she is dedicated to advancing knowledge and practices in this field. She holds a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA.
Her research focuses on the interactions between urban heat and the built environment, utilizing advanced analytical techniques and computational models. Her work encompasses various topics, including cool roofs, Urban Heat Islands, building performance modeling, and urban micro-climate analysis. She is actively involved in projects that aim to develop sustainable and resilient built-environments through innovative design and technology. Additionally, she collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to identify climate change challenges and enhance the environmental sustainability of urban areas.

• Ph.D. in Building Performance and Diagnostics, Carnegie Mellon University (2023)

• M.Sc in Master of Science, IT in Building Science, IIIT Hyderabad, India. (2011)

• Bachelor of Architecture, Andhra University College of Engineering, India. (2006)

Books

• V.Garg, J.Mathur, S.Tetali, A.Bhatia. Building Energy Simulation: A Workbook Using DesignBuilderTM, Edition 1, CRC Press LLC, 2017, ISBN: 9781498744515

Book Chapters

• Energy Conservation Building Code – User Guide, Publication of Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Govt. of India, July 2009, (member, user guide development team)
• Garg V., Mathur J., Tetali S. Energy simulation and Whole building performance method for ECBC compliance. ISHRAE Green Building Handbook, August 2009

Journal Publications

• S. Tetali, N.Baird, K.Klima. “A multicity analysis of daytime Surface Urban Heat Islands in India and the US.” Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 77, February 2022, 103568, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103568

• S Tetali, N Baird, K Klima, Mapping and Quantifying Surface Urban Heat Islands in India’s Most Dense Cities, Vol. 3 (2019): Buildings, Cities, and Performance I, 2021

• T. Xu, J. Sathaye, H. Akbari, V. Garg, S. Tetali, “Quantifying the direct benefits of cool roofs in an urban setting: Reduced cooling energy use and lowered greenhouse gas emissions,” Building and Environment, 2012, 48, 1:6.

• V. Garg, K. Chandrasen, J. Mathur, S. Tetali and A. Jawa. “Development and performance evaluation of a methodology, based on distributed computing, for speeding EnergyPlus simulation,” Journal of Building Performance Simulation, 2011, 4, 257:270.

Conference Proceedings and Presentations

• Somagani Jaithra Sathwik, Jevaji Hasini, Surekha Tetali, Balasubramanian Sambasivam, “Machine Learning Applications for Demand Forecasting in Renewable Energy Dominated Electricity Systems”, 12th International Conference on Business Analytics and Intelligence (ICBAI-2025), Madurai, India, December 15–17, 2025.

• Vivek Reddy Palsani and Surekha Tetali, “Urban Land Surface Temperatures and Land Cover Adjacency: A Multi-City Analysis from India”, INTROMET 2025, Pune, India, November 18–20, 2025.
• Monisha Kollipara, Geethika Choudhary Yadlapalli, Sri Dhruti Tikkisetti, Cherith Reddy Yerabolu, Surekha Tetali, “AI-Enabled Risk Communication for Urban Heat Adaptation: Integrating Personalization and Citizen Participation”, INTROMET 2025, Pune, India, November 18–20, 2025.
• Venkata Kousthuba Ippagunta, Ashritha Chittireddy, Ylr Sri Vaishnavi Borusu, Surekha Tetali, “Predicting Air Temperature from Land Surface Temperatures Utilizing Machine Learning”, International Conference on Climate Change, Mumbai, January 18–19, 2025.

• S. Tetali, N. Baird, K. Klima, “A Multicity Study to Quantify the Magnitude and Identify the Factors Impacting Urban Heat Islands Across Cities in India: A Remote Sensing Approach”, 5th International Conference on Countermeasures to Urban Heat Islands (IC2UHI), Hyderabad, India, December 2–4, 2019.
• S. Tetali, N. Baird, K. Klima, “Mapping and Quantifying Surface Urban Heat Islands in India’s Most Dense Cities”, Building, Cities and Performance: 3rd International Graduate Student Symposium of the Ph.D. Program, IIT College of Architecture, Chicago, Illinois, November 16–18, 2018.
• “Energy Interactions between Urban Built Environment and Micro-Climate: Impacts, Assessment Methods, and Existing Gaps”, National Council for Science and Environment Conference Session, Washington DC, January 24, 2017.
• S. Tetali, V. Garg, J. Mathur, “The Effect of Roof Insulation on Energy Consumption of Office Buildings with Cool Roofs in India”, 3rd International Conference on Countermeasures to Urban Heat Islands (IC2UHI), Venice, Italy, October 13–15, 2014.
• V. Garg, S. Tetali, K. Chandrasen, J. Mathur, “Online Energy Savings Calculator for Cool Roof”, Clima 2010 – REHVA World Congress, Antalya, Turkey, 2010.

• V. Garg, K. Chandrasen, S. Tetali, J. Mathur, “EnergyPlus Simulation Speedup Using Data Parallelization Concept”, ASME 2010 4th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, Phoenix, Arizona, 2010.
• V. Garg, J. Mathur, S. Srivastava, S. Tetali, “Impact of Glazing on Total Energy Consumption of Commercial Buildings”.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3616-3448

• Assistant Professor, Center for Sustainability, Mahindra University (January 2024 – Present).
• Key Member, Master’s Programme and Curriculum Development.
• Co-Mentor, Aei Foria Student Club.
• Faculty Advisor and Research Mentor for independent research projects and semester projects.

• Assessing the impact of AI on heat mitigation and adaptation, PI, Grant Agency: Future of Life Institute, Grant Amount: USD 15,000.
• Variation in Built-Up Area Land Surface Temperatures with the Spatial Neighbor – A multi-city study of cities in India and the US (Publication under preparation)
• Other ongoing research:
  • Predicting air temperatures from land surface temperatures using machine learning techniques
  • Land Use Classification of Hyderabad using machine learning techniques
  • Designing an experimental setup for estimating the impact of cool roofs on solar photo-voltaic panels
  • Intra-urban air temperature variations across cities in India

Research Interests: Energy efficiency in Buildings, Sustainable Built-Environments, Urban Heat, Building Performance Simulations, High Performance Buildings, Urban Microclimate Modelling, AI-ML for Sustainable Urban Built-Environments