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.
- Presentations
News
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.

2002

Papamichael, Konstantinos M., and Vineeta Pal."Bridging the Gap Between Building Science and Design Studios."Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) Conference (2002).

Hitchcock, Robert J.."Metracker Version 1.5: Life-Cycle Performance Metrics Tracking." (2002).

Bazjanac, Vladimir, James Forester, Philip Haves, Darko Sucic, and Peng Xu."HVAC Component Data Modeling Using Industry Foundation Classes."5th International Conference on System Simulation in Buildings 2002 (2002).

2001

Laine, Tuomas, Risto Kosonen, Kim Hagström, Panu Mustakallio, De-Wei Yin, Philip Haves, and Qingyan Chen."Better IAQ through Integrating Design Tools for the HVAC Industry."Healthy Buildings 2000 Conference 4 (2001) 279-284.

Bazjanac, Vladimir."Acquisition of Building Geometry in the Simulation of Energy Performance."7th International IBPSA Conference Building Simulation 2001 (2001) 305-312.

Haves, Philip, Tim I. Salsbury, David Claridge, and Mingsheng Liu."Use of Whole Building Simulation in On-Line Performance Assessment: Modeling and Implementation Issues."Seventh International IBPSA Conference Building Simulation 2001 (2001) 335-344.

Friedman, Hannah, and Mary Ann Piette."Comparative Guide to Emerging Diagnostic Tools for Large Commercial HVAC Systems." (2001).

Kinney, Satkartar, Mary Ann Piette, Lixing Gu, and Philip Haves."Demand Relief and Weather Sensitivity in Large California Commercial Office Buildings."International Conference for Enhanced Building Operations (ICEBO) (2001).

Friedman, Hannah, and Mary Ann Piette."Evaluation of Emerging Diagnostic Tools for Commercial HVAC Systems."International Conference for Enhanced Building Operations (ICEBO) (2001).

Pal, Vineeta, and Konstantinos M. Papamichael."Integrated Simulation Environment for Lighting Design."2001 IESNA Conference (2001).

Friedman, Hannah, and Mary Ann Piette."Comparison of Emerging Diagnostic Tools for Large Commercial HVAC Systems."9th National Conference on Building Commisioning (2001).

Piette, Mary Ann, Satkartar Kinney, and Hannah Friedman."EMCS and Time-Series Energy Data Analysis in a Large Government Office Building."9th National Conference on Building Commissioning (2001).

Pal, Vineeta, Konstantinos M. Papamichael, Norman Bourassa, and John J. Loffeld."Incorporating LCA Tools in Integrated Simulation Environments."Seventh International IBPSA Conference, Building Simulation 2001 (2001) 689-696.

Sreedharan, Priya."Evaluation of Chiller Modeling Approaches and Their Usability for Fault Detection."Mechanical Engineering (2001).

Gu, Lixing, and Philip Haves."Guideline for the Operation of Demand-Responsive HVAC Systems." (2001).

Bazjanac, Vladimir, Yu Joe Huang, and Frederick C. Winkelmann."Impact of Perimeter Insulation on Heat Flow through Slabs in Residential Buildings." (2001).

2000

Shockman, Christine, and Mary Ann Piette."Innovation Adoption Processes for Third Party Property Management Companies."2000 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Efficiency and Sustainability (2000).

Papamichael, Konstantinos M.."Desktop Radiance: A New Tool for Computer-Aided Daylighting Design." (2000).

Piette, Mary Ann, Satkartar T. Khalsa, and Philip Haves."Use of an Information Monitoring and Diagnostic System to Improve Building Operations."2000 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Efficiency and Sustainability (2000).

Papamichael, Konstantinos M., Vineeta Pal, Norman Bourassa, John J. Loffeld, and Guedi Capeluto."An Expandable Software Model for Collaborative Decision Making During the Whole Building Life Cycle."ACADIA 2000 Conference. Eternity, Infinity and Virtuality in Architecture (2000).

Papamichael, Konstantinos M.."Green Building Performance Prediction/Assessment."Building Research & Information 28 (2000) 394-402.

1999

Piette, Mary Ann, Satkartar Kinney, Philip Haves, Peter Rumsey, Kristopher L. Kinney, Eng Lock Lee, Anthony Sebald, Kumar Chellapilla, and Christine Shockman."Performance Assessment and Adoption Processes of an Information Monitoring and Diagnostic System Prototype." (1999).

Hitchcock, Robert J., Mary Ann Piette, and Stephen E. Selkowitz."A Building Life-Cycle Information System for Tracking Building Performance Metrics."8th International Conference on Durability of Building Materials and Components (1999).

Papamichael, Konstantinos M.."Digital Media in Architecture:Opportunities and Challenges."ACADIA '99 (1999).

Papamichael, Konstantinos M., Hannah L. Chauvet, John LaPorta, and Robin W. Dandridge."Product Modeling for Computer-aided Decision-Making."Automation in Construction 8.3 (1999) 339-350.