2013 40 Under 40: Amit Khanna, 36

Senior Design Engineer and 
Senior Sustainability Consultant, Arup, San Francisco

By Jessia DuBois-Maahs, Contributing Writer May 14, 2013

Amit Khanna, PE, LEED AP, 36

Senior Design Engineer and 
Senior Sustainability Consultant, Arup, 
San Francisco

Virginia Tech, 
MS Architecture, Buildings Sciences

Grounded in his Indian roots of maximizing results with minimal resources, Amit Khanna dedicates his career to creating resource efficiency in the built environment. He believes design and engineering solutions need to be kept as simple as possible by using climate-responsive and progressive technologies that are timeless. The first renewable energy system Khanna helped create was a 26,000-lpd thermosyphonic solar hot water system for a charitable organization in India, demonstrating his simplistic and functional approach to design. In the past decade, Khanna’s work has spanned the U.S., Europe, and Asia, giving him a global perspective on sustainable design. His recent project design, a 17 MW supercomputer facility in Berkley, Calif., achieves more than 93% data center infrastructure efficiency, making it one of the most efficient facilities of its kind that results in a savings in more than $400,000 annually in utility costs. Khanna continues to use his skills for humanitarian endeavors all over the world. He helped design a new hospital for Aravind Eye Care System, an organization that provides eye surgery and care for the poor in India. Khanna is also working with Humani Inc. to build a community village for women living with AIDS in Ethiopia. His inventiveness has also benefited him in his personal life—he designed and handcrafted a bookcase for his girlfriend to persuade her to marry him. It worked. They now have a 3-year-old and enjoy traveling around the world together.