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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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.

2008

Anders, André."Self-sputtering runaway in high power impulse magnetron sputtering: The role of secondary electrons and multiply charged metal ions."Applied Physics Letters 92.20 (2008). DOI

Anders, André, Jonathan L. Slack, and Thomas J. Richardson."Electrochromically switched, gas-reservoir metal hydride devices with application to energy-efficient windows."Thin Solid Films 1 (2008).

Gustavsen, Arlid, Dariush K. Arasteh, Bjørn Petter Jelle, Dragan C. Curcija, and Christian Kohler."Developing Low-Conductance Window Frames: Capabilities and Limitations of Current Window Heat Transfer Design Tools."Journal of Building Physics 32 (2008) 131-153.

Wray, Craig P., and Hashem Akbari."The effects of roof reflectance on air temperatures surrounding a rooftop condensing unit."Energy and Buildings 40.1 (2008) 11-28. DOI

Akbari, Hashem, and Ronnen M. Levinson."Evolution of cool roof standards in the United States."Advances in Building Energy Research 2.1 (2008) 1-32. DOI

Andersson, Joakim, and André Anders."Gasless sputtering: Opportunities for ultraclean metallization, coatings in space, and propulsion."Applied Physics Letters 92 (2008) 221503.

Andersson, Joakim, and André Anders."Self-sputtering far above the runaway threshold: an extraordinary metal ion generator."Physical Review Letters (2008).

Horwat, David, and André Anders."Spatial distribution of average charge state and deposition rate in high power impulse magnetron sputtering of copper."Journal of Physics D 41 (2008) 135210-1-6.

Akbari, Hashem, and Leanna S. Rose."Urban Surfaces and Heat Island Mitigation Potentials."Journal of the Human-Environmental System 11.2 (2008) 85-101. DOI

2007

Drumheller, S. Craig, Christian Kohler, and Stefanie Minen."Field Evaluation of Low-E Storm Windows."Thermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Whole Buildings X International Conference 277 (2007) 228-236.

Synnefa, Afroditi, Mat Santamouris, and Hashem Akbari."Estimating the effect of using cool coatings on energy loads and thermal comfort in residential buildings in various climatic conditions."Energy and Buildings 39.11 (2007) 1167-1174. DOI

Akbari, Hashem, Surabi Menon, and Arthur H. Rosenfeld."Global cooling: effect of urban albedo on global temperature."2nd PALENC and 28th AIVC Conference (2007) 1-5.

Lee, Eleanor S., Glenn D. Hughes, Robert D. Clear, Luis L. Fernandes, Sila Kiliccote, Mary Ann Piette, Francis M. Rubinstein, and Stephen E. Selkowitz."Daylighting the New York Times Headquarters Building: Final Report: Commissioning Daylighting Systems and Estimation of Demand Response." (2007).

Levinson, Ronnen M., Hashem Akbari, and Joseph C. Reilly."Cooler tile-roofed buildings with near-infrared-reflective non-white coatings."Building and Environment 42.7 (2007) 2591-2605. DOI

Akbari, Hashem, Darryl J. Dickerhoff, and Josh Pollak."The effect of a cool-coating on the thermal effectiveness of exposed exterior ducts."Energy and Buildings 39.6 (2007) 681-692. DOI

Lee, Eleanor S., and Aslihan Tavil."Energy and visual comfort performance of electrochromic windows with overhangs."Building and Environment 42.6 (2007) 2439-2449. DOI

Lee, Eleanor S., Robert D. Clear, Gregory J. Ward, and Luis L. Fernandes."Commissioning and verification procedures for the automated roller shade system at The New York Times Headquarters." (2007).

Hughes, Glenn D.."Moving from Niche to Mainstream Markets: Addressing the High Cost of Daylighting Systems." (2007).

Mohamed, Sodky H., and André Anders."Physical properties of erbium implanted tungsten oxide films deposited by reactive dual magnetron sputtering."Thin Solid Films 515.13 (2007) 5264-5269. DOI

Lee, Eleanor S., Robert D. Clear, Gregory J. Ward, and Luis L. Fernandes."Quick Start Guide: Commissioning and verification procedures for the automated roller shade system at The New York Times Headquarters." (2007).

Anders, André, and Georgy Yu Yushkov."A low-energy linear oxygen plasma source."Review of Scientific Instruments 78.4 (2007).

Levinson, Ronnen M., Paul H. Berdahl, Hashem Akbari, William A. Miller, Ingo Joedicke, Joseph C. Reilly, Yoshi Suzuki, and Michelle Vondran."Methods of creating solar-reflective nonwhite surfaces and their application to residential roofing materials."Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 91.4 (2007) 304-314. DOI

Gustavsen, Arlid, Christian Kohler, Arvid Dalehaug, and Dariush K. Arasteh."Two-Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics and Conduction Simulations of Heat Transfer in Horizontal Window Frames with Internal Cavities."2007 ASHRAE Winter Meeting (2007).

Jonsson, Jacob C., and Michael D. Rubin."NFRC Interlaboratory Comparison on Optical Properties."NFRC Conference (2007).

Jonsson, Jacob C., and Henrik Branden."Obtaining the Bidirectional Transfer Distribution Function of Isotropically Scattering Materials Using an Integrating Sphere."Optics Communications 277 (2007) 228-236.