| Building Technology and Urban Systems

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Researchers in the Building Technology & Urban Systems Division (BTUS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory develop data and technologies that increase energy efficiency and improve the health, safety and comfort of building occupants, in the United States and worldwide.

We work closely with industry partners, academics and government officials to achieve these goals, and share our research widely
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We are at the forefront of cutting-edge research that redefines building technology and explores all areas of urban systems.

We have been leaders for decades in developing energy-efficient windows, improving indoor air quality, coming up with new ideas to fix the nation's electricity grid, and so much more.

Visit our research areas at the right to find out more.
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Enjoy presentations from Building Technology & Urban systems research experts on a wide variety of topics in the areas of building energy efficiency, the electricity grid and how it relates to buildings and much more.
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Explore our tools, guidebooks and software and download for free.

We offer a variety of technologies designed to simulate and model real-world circumstances to assist in energy-saving programs and help building owners build better buildings. These tools can help calculate performance of building systems like windows and shades, help consumers and builders pick the best windows for a variety of applications and much more.

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2025

Szum, Carolyn, Mohamed Firas Jemal, Ezzedine Khalfallah, and Stephane de la Rue du Can."Clean Energy Revolving Loan Funds: International Experience." (2025).

Office, U.S Department of Energy Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization, Heidi Fuchs, Unique Karki, Tae-Hwan Lim, Peng Peng, Prakash Rao, Arman Shehabi, and Jibran Zuberi."Transformative Pathways for U.S. Industry: Unlocking American Innovation." (2025). DOI

Rao, Prakash, Thomas P Hendrickson, Elizabeth Wachs, Shubhankar Upasani, and Alberta Carpenter."Testing a method for developing facility-level greenhouse gas emissions intensities of U.S. traded goods." (2025).

2024

Sawe, Nik, Hongyou Lu, Jeffrey Rissman, Zhiyu Tian, and Nan Zhou."Clean Industry in China: A Techno-Economic Comparison of Electrified Heat Technologies, Barriers, and Policy Options." (2024). DOI

Lu, Hongyou, Stephane de la Rue du Can, Virginie E Letschert, Hon LeungCurt Wong, Nan Zhou, Farid Wijaya, Faricha Hidayati, and Dwi Cahyo Husodo."Industry Decarbonization Roadmaps for Indonesia: Opportunities and challenges to net-zero emissions." (2024).

Earni, Shankar, Amy Pevzner, Paul Sheaffer, Prakash Rao, Jeff Davis, Josh Weissert, Mike Christianson, and Katie Roessler."Field Validation of a Pilot-scale Black Liquor Membrane for Water Removal at Ahlstrom-Munksjö Paper Mill in Mosinee, WI." (2024).

Earni, Shankar, Amy Pevzner, Unique Karki, Paul Sheaffer, Prakash Rao, Ross Charland, and Josh Weissert."Field Validation of Electrochemical Water Filtration System on an Open Loop Cooling Tower at Nissan Manufacturing Plant in Canton, Mississippi." (2024). DOI

Earni, Shankar, Amy Pevzner, Unique Karki, Prakash Rao, Ross Charland, and Josh Weissert."Field Validation of Electrochemical Water Filtration System on an Open Loop Cooling Tower at Toyota MotorManufacturing Plant in Blue Springs,Mississippi." (2024).

Earni, Shankar, Unique Karki, Paul Sheaffer, Prakash Rao, CD Nayak, and Amit Kanungo."Field Validation of Electrocoagulation Treatment for Oily Wastewater at Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Mill in Cleveland, Ohio." (2024).

2023

Karki, Unique, and Prakash Rao."Techno-economic analysis of the water, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions impacts from the adoption of water efficiency practices in the U.S. manufacturing sector."Resources, Conservation and Recycling 196 (2023) 107054. DOI

Das, Sujit, Heidi Fuchs, Ritu Philip, and Prakash Rao."A review of water valuation metrics: Supporting sustainable water use in manufacturing."Water Resources and Industry 29 (2023) 100199. DOI

Fitzgerald, Patrick, Peter L Therkelsen, Paul Sheaffer, and Prakash Rao."Deeper and persistent energy savings and carbon dioxide reductions achieved through ISO 50001 in the manufacturing sector."Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 57 (2023) 103280. DOI

Lu, Hongyou, Tianqi Zhou, and Nan Zhou."Industrial Energy Intensity Benchmarking and Energy Transition in Inner Mongolia." (2023).

Fuchs, Heidi, Peter L Therkelsen, William Miller, Graziella Siciliano, and Paul Sheaffer."ISO 50001-Based Energy Management Systems as a Practical Path for Decarbonization: Initial Findings from a Survey of Technical Assistance Cohort Participants."Energies 16.14 (2023) 5441. DOI

2022

Moudio, Marie Pelagie Elimbi, Richard Bolin, Alberta Carpenter, Samantha Bench Reese, Arman Shehabi, and Prakash Rao."Characterizing manufacturing sector disruptions with targeted mitigation strategiesAbstract."Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability 2.4 (2022) 042001. DOI

Earni, Shankar, and Philip Coleman."Better bang for your buck? Comparing savings realization from ESPCs and direct-funded projects."ACEEE Summer Study 2022 (2022). DOI

Abdul-Khabir, Fatima, Billie Holecek, Christopher T Payne, and Gerald Robinson."The Policy Mullet: Good Intentions in Front, Bad Policy in Back."ACEEE Summer Study (2022). DOI

Rao, Prakash, Paul Sheaffer, Yuting Chen, Unique Karki, and Patrick Fitzgerald."U.S. Industrial and Commercial Motor System Market Assessment Report Volume 3: Energy Saving Opportunity." (2022). DOI

Zhou, Nan, Nina Khanna, Jingjing Zhang, Hongyou Lu, Lynn K Price, David Fridley, Jing Ke, Wei Feng, Bo Shen, Jiang Lin, and Mark D Levine."China Energy Outlook 2022." (2022).

2021

Ahn, Hyeunguk, William Miller, Paul Sheaffer, Vestal Tutterow, and Vi H Rapp."Opportunities for installed combined heat and power (CHP) to increase grid flexibility in the U.S.."Energy Policy 157 (2021) 112485. DOI

Fuchs, Heidi, and Prakash Rao."Survey of Available Information on U.S. Manufacturing Wastewater and Energy Requirements for Reuse." (2021). DOI

Newkirk, Alexander, Prakash Rao, and Paul Sheaffer."U.S. Industrial and Commercial Motor System Market Assessment Report Volume 2: Advanced Motors and Drives Supply Chain Review." (2021). DOI

McCall, James, Prakash Rao, Susana Garcia Gonzalez, Sachin Nimbalkar, Sujit Das, Sarang Supekar, and Joe Cresko."U.S. Manufacturing Water Use Data and Estimates: Current State, Limitations, and Future Needs for Supporting Manufacturing Research and Development."ACS ES&T Water (2021). DOI

Hedman, Bruce, David Jones, and Vestal Tutterow."Beneficial CHP – Is that a Thing? Considering CHP in the Context of Beneficial Electrification."ACEEE Summer Study for Energy Efficiency in Industry (2021).

Tutterow, Vestal, and Ethan Rogers."Energy Management and Product Sustainability Standards – A Key Link to Sustainable Supply Chains."ACEEE Summer Study for Energy Efficiency in Industry (2021).