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.

Publications and Research Presentations

Demand Response Research Center

Shaping, shedding and shifting energy use within Smart Grid infrastructures

Publications and Research Presentations

2025

Marnay, Chris, Tao Xu, Yuko Hirase, Patricio Mendoza-Araya, Nikos Hatziargyriou, and Shuai Lu."Microgrids 2025 editorial."Applied Energy 381 (2025) 125348. DOI

2024

Zanetti, Ettore, David Blum, Marco Pritoni, and Mary Ann Piette."Field Performance of Commercial Building Load Flexibility Using Model Predictive Control."8th International High Performance Buildings Conference at Purdue (2024). DOI

2022

Liu, Jingjing, Rongxin Yin, Lili Yu, Mary Ann Piette, Marco Pritoni, Armando Casillas, Jiarong Xie, Tianzhen Hong, Monica Neukomm, and Peter Schwartz."Defining and applying an electricity demand flexibility benchmarking metrics framework for grid-interactive efficient commercial buildings."Advances in Applied Energy 8 (2022) 100107. DOI

Gerke, Brian F, Sarah Josephine Smith, Samanvitha Murthy, Aditya Khandekar, Cong Zhang, Sunhee Baik, Shreya Agarwal, Jingjing Liu, Richard E Brown, Mary Ann Piette, and Peter Alstone."Overview of Phase 4 of the California Demand Response Potential Study." (2022).

2021

Baudette, Maxime, Jaimie Swartz, Keith Moffat, Jasper Pakshong, Leo Chu, Christoph Gehbauer, and Alexandra von Meier."Hardware-In-the-Loop Benchmarking Setup for Phasor Based Control Validation." (2021). DOI

2020

Gerke, Brian F, Giulia Gallo, Sarah Josephine Smith, Jingjing Liu, Shuba V Raghavan, Peter Schwartz, Mary Ann Piette, Rongxin Yin, and Sofia Stensson."The California Demand Response Potential Study, Phase 3: Final Report on the Shift Resource through 2030." (2020). DOI

2018

Gallo, Giulia, Brian F Gerke, Jingjing Liu, Mary Ann Piette, Peter Schwartz, and Peter Alstone."Mobilizing the Anti-Duck Brigade: Technology and Market Pathways for Load-Shifting Demand Response in California."2018 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2018). DOI

Regnier, Cynthia, Kaiyu Sun, Tianzhen Hong, and Mary Ann Piette."Quantifying the benefits of a building retrofit using an integrated system approach: A case study."Energy and Buildings 159 (2018). DOI

2017

Alstone, Peter, Jennifer Potter, Mary Ann Piette, Peter Schwartz, Michael A Berger, Laurel N Dunn, Sarah Josephine Smith, Michael D Sohn, Arian Aghajanzadeh, Sofia Stensson, and Julia Szinai."Demand Response Potential for California SubLAPs and Local Capacity Planning Areas: An Addendum to the 2025 California Demand Response Potential Study - Phase 2." (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

2016

Alstone, Peter, Jennifer Potter, Mary Ann Piette, Peter Schwartz, Michael A Berger, Laurel N Dunn, Sarah Josephine Smith, Michael D Sohn, Arian Aghajanzadeh, Sofia Stensson, and Julia Szinai."2015 California Demand Response Potential Study - Charting California's Demand response Future: Interim Report on Phase 1 Results." (2016).

2015

Price, Phillip N, Mary Ann Piette, Jessica Granderson, and John Elliott."Automated Measurement and Verification of Transactive Energy Systems, Load Shape Analysis, and Consumer Engagement."GridWise® Architecture Council Transactive Energy Conference (2015).

Price, Phillip N, Bruce Nordman, Mary Ann Piette, Richard E Brown, Janie Page, Steven Lanzisera, and Jessica Granderson."Automated Measurement and Verification and Innovative Occupancy Detection Technologies." (2015).

Olsen, Daniel, Arian Aghajanzadeh, and Aimee T McKane."Opportunities for Automated Demand Response in California Agricultural Irrigation." (2015).

Aghajanzadeh, Arian, Craig P Wray, and Aimee T McKane."Opportunities for Automated Demand Response in California Wastewater Treatment Facilities." (2015).

Homan, Gregory K, Arian Aghajanzadeh, and Aimee T McKane."Opportunities for Automated Demand Response in California's Dairy Processing Industry." (2015).

Price, Phillip N, Nathan J Addy, and Sila Kiliccote."Predictability and Persistance of Demand Response Load Shed in Buildings." (2015).

2014

Yin, Rongxin, Sila Kiliccote, and Mary Ann Piette."Linking measurements and models in commercial buildings: A case study for model calibration and demand response strategy evaluation." (2014).

2013

Piette, Mary Ann, Richard E Brown, Phillip N Price, Janie Page, Jessica Granderson, David Riess, Stephen Czarnecki, Girish Ghatikar, and Steven Lanzisera."Automated Measurement and Signaling Systems for the Transactional Network." (2013).

Romankiewicz, John, Min Qu, Chris Marnay, and Nan Zhou."International Microgrid Assessment: Governance, INcentives, and Experience (IMAGINE)."the European Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s 2013 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency (2013).

2012

Piette, Mary Ann, Jessica Granderson, Michael Wetter, and Sila Kiliccote."Responsive and Intelligent Building Information and Control for Low-Energy and Optimized Grid Integration."ACEEE 2012 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, August 12-17, 2012 (2012).

Piette, Mary Ann, Jessica Granderson, Michael Wetter, and Sila Kiliccote."Intelligent Building Energy Information and Control Systems for Low-Energy Operations and Optimal Demand Response."IEEE Design and Test of Computers 29.4 (2012) 8-16. DOI

2009

Granderson, Jessica, Junqiao Han Dudley, Sila Kiliccote, and Mary Ann Piette."Chilled Water Storage System and Demand Response at the University of California at Merced."9th International Conference for Enhanced Building Operations, November 17-18, 2009 (2009).

Rubinstein, Francis M, Girish Ghatikar, Jessica Granderson, David S Watson, Paul Haugen, and Carlos Romero."Barrier Immune Radio Communications for Demand Response." (2009).

2008

Rubinstein, Francis M, Dmitriy Bolotov, Mark S Levi, Kevin Powell, and Peter Schwartz."The Advantage of Highly Controlled Lighting for Offices and Commercial Buildings."2008 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, August 17-22, 2008 (2008) 063901(1-5).

Walker, Iain S, and Alan K Meier."Residential Thermostats: Comfort Controls in California Homes." (2008).

2006

Kiliccote, Sila, Mary Ann Piette, David S Watson, and Glenn D Hughes."Dynamic Controls for Energy Efficiency and Demand Response: Framework Concepts and a New Construction Case Study in New York."2006 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2006).

2004

Xu, Peng, Philip Haves, Mary Ann Piette, and James E Braun."Peak Demand Reduction from Pre-Cooling with Zone Temperature Reset in an Office Building."2004 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2004).