| Building Technology and Urban Systems

About Us +
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
Research +
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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Publications +
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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Tools & Guides +
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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2017

Chen, Yixing, Tianzhen Hong, and Mary Ann Piette."Automatic Generation and Simulation of Urban Building Energy Models Based on City Datasets for City-Scale Building Retrofit Analysis." (2017).

Luo, Na, Tianzhen Hong, Hui Li, Rouxi Jia, and Wenguo Weng."Data Analytics and Optimization of an Ice-Based Energy Storage System for Commercial Buildings." (2017).

Luo, Xuan, Tianzhen Hong, Yixing Chen, and Mary Ann Piette."Electric Load Shape Benchmarking for Small- and Medium-Sized Commercial Buildings." (2017).

Yoshino, Hiroshi, Tianzhen Hong, and Natasa Nord."IEA EBC Annex 53: Total Energy Use in Buildings – Analysis and Evaluation Methods."Energy and Buildings 152 (2017). DOI

Yan, Da, Tianzhen Hong, Bing Dong, Ardeshir Mahdavi, Simona D'Oca, Isabella Gaetani, and Xiaohang Feng."IEA EBC Annex 66: Definition and simulation of occupant behavior in buildings."Energy and Building 156 (2017). DOI

Zhang, Rongpeng, and Tianzhen Hong."Modeling of HVAC Operational Faults in Building Performance Simulation." (2017).

Hong, Tianzhen, Yixing Chen, Zsofia Belafi, and Simona D'Oca."Occupant behavior models: A critical review of implementation and representation approaches in building performance simulation programs." (2017).

Walker, Iain S, Max H Sherman, Jordan D Clark, and Gaelle Guyot."Residential Smart Ventilation: A Review." (2017).

Zhang, Qi, Da Yan, Jingjing An, Tianzhen Hong, Wei Tian, and Kaiyu Sun."Spatial Distribution of Internal Heat Gains: A Probabilistic Representation and Evaluation of Its Influence on Cooling Equipment Sizing in Large Office Buildings."Energy and Buildings (2017). DOI

D'Oca, Simona, Chien-Fen Chen, Tianzhen Hong, and Zsofia Belafi."Synthesizing building physics with social psychology: An interdisciplinary framework for context and occupant behavior in office buildings." (2017).

Cui, Ying, Da Yan, Tianzhen Hong, and Jingjin Ma."Temporal and spatial characteristics of the urban heat island in Beijing and the impact on building design and energy performance." (2017).

Hong, Tianzhen, Da Yan, Simona D'Oca, and Chien-Fei Chen."Ten Questions Concerning Occupant Behavior in Buildings: The Big Picture."Building and Environment (2017).

D'Oca, Simona, Tianzhen Hong, and Jared Langevin."The Human Dimensions of Energy Use in Buildings: A Review." (2017).

Koyanagi, Hidemitsu, and Alan K Meier."VALIDITY OF ENERGY SIMULATIONS AND ENERGY MEASUREMENTS IN A NET ZERO ENERGY OFFICE BUILDING: A CASE STUDY."ASHRAE Annual Conference. (2017).

2016

Pass, Rebecca Zarin, Michael Wetter, and Mary Ann Piette."A Tale of Three District Energy Systems: Metrics and Future Opportunities."2016 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2016).

Levinson, Ronnen M, Sharon S Chen, George A Ban-Weiss, Haley E Gilbert, Paul H Berdahl, Pablo J Rosado, Hugo Destaillats, Mohamad Sleiman, and Thomas W Kirchstetter."Next-Generation Factory-Produced Cool Asphalt Shingles: Phase 1 Final Report." (2016).

Nordman, Bruce, and Alan K Meier."Energy Aware Devices: Study of Policy Opportunities." (2016).

Lee, Eleanor S, Anothai Thanachareonkit, Samir Touzani, Spencer M Dutton, Jordan Shackelford, Darryl J Dickerhoff, and Stephen E Selkowitz."Technology Assessments of High Performance Envelope with Optimized Lighting, Solar Control, and Daylighting." (2016).

Granderson, Jessica, Marco Bonvini, Mary Ann Piette, Janie Page, Guanjing Lin, and R. R Lily Hu."Can We Practically Bring Physics-based Modeling Into Operational Analytics Tools?."Proceedings of the 2016 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Pacific Grove, CA, August 2016 (2016).

Johnson, Karl, Vagelis Vossos, Margarita Kloss, Gerald Robinson, and Richard E Brown."Direct Current as an Integrating Platform for ZNE Buildings with EVs and Storage: DC Direct Systems – A Bridge to a Low Carbon Future?."2016 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2016).

Johnson, Karl, Vagelis Vossos, Margarita Kloss, Gerald Robinson, and Richard E Brown."Direct Current as an Integrating Platform for ZNE Buildings with EVs and Storage: DC Direct Systems - A Bridge to a Low Carbon Future."ACEEE 2016 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2016).

Wenzel, Thomas P."Effect of using Different Vehicle Weight Groups on the Estimated Relationship between Mass Reduction and U.S. Societal Fatality Risk per Vehicle Miles of Travel." (2016).

Brown, Richard E, Erin Beddingfield, Marshall Duer-Balkind, Ali Levine, and Elena Alschuler."Putting Data to Work: Using Building Energy Performance Data to Expand the Market for Energy Efficiency in Buildings." (2016). DOI

Granderson, Jessica, Samir Touzani, Claudine Y Custodio, Michael D Sohn, David A Jump, and Samuel Fernandes."Accuracy of Automated Measurement and Verification (M&V) Techniques for Energy Savings in Commercial Buildings."Applied Energy 173 (2016) 296-308. DOI

Granderson, Jessica, Erin L Hult, Samuel Fernandes, Paul A Mathew, and Robin Mitchell."Unlocking Energy Efficiency in Small Commercial Buildings through Mechanical Contractors."Journal of Architectural Engineering (2016).