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

Publications By Research Area

2015

Yan, Da, William O'Brien, Tianzhen Hong, Xiaohang Feng, H. Burak Gunay, Farhang Tahmasebi, and Ardeshir Mahdavi."Occupant Behavior Modeling for Building Performance Simulation: Current State and Future Challenges."Energy and Buildings 107 (2015) 264-278. DOI

Hong, Tianzhen, Simona D'Oca, William J. N. Turner, and Sarah C. Taylor-Lange."An Ontology to Represent Energy-related Occupant Behavior in Buildings Part I: Introduction to the DNAs Framework."Building and Environment 92 (2015) 764-777. DOI

Hong, Tianzhen, Kaiyu Sun, Rongpeng Zhang, Ryohei Hinokuma, Shinichi Kasahara, and Yoshinori Yura."Development and validation of a new variable refrigerant flow systemmodel in EnergyPlus."Energy and Buildings 117 (2015). DOI

Hong, Tianzhen, Simona D'Oca, Sarah C. Taylor-Lange, William J. N. Turner, Yixing Chen, and Stefano P. Corgnati."An Ontology to Represent Energy-Related Occupant Behavior in Buildings. Part II: Implementation of the DNAS framework using an XML schema."Building and Environment 94.1 (2015) 196-205. DOI

Taylor, Margaret, C. Anna Spurlock, and Hung-Chia Yang."Confronting Regulatory Cost and Quality Expectations: An Exploration of Technical Change in Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards." (2015).

D'Oca, Simona, and Tianzhen Hong."Occupancy Schedules Learning Process Through a Data Mining Framework."Energy and Buildings 88 (2015) 395-408. DOI

Hong, Tianzhen, Hongsan Sun, Yixing Chen, Sarah C. Taylor-Lange, and Da Yan."An occupant behavior modeling tool for co-simulation."Energy and Buildings (2015).

Agyeman, Yaw O., and Harley Barnes."Project Manager’s Guide to Managing Impact and Process Evaluation Studies." (2015).

Agyeman, Yaw O.."Steady Hand at the Wheel: Using an Incremental, Systematic Approach to Promote an Evaluation Culture in a Federal Organization."International Energy Program Evaluation Conference (2015).

2014

Payne, Christopher T., H.Y. Iris Cheung, and Emily Fisher."Evolution of Energy Efficiency Programs Over Time: The Case of Standby Power."2014 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2014).

2013

Zhu, Dandan, Tianzhen Hong, Da Yan, and Chuang Wang."A Detailed Loads Comparison of Three Building Energy Modeling Programs: EnergyPlus, DeST and DOE-2.1E."Building Simulation 6.3 (2013) 323-335. DOI

Hong, Tianzhen, Hung-Wen Lin, Wen-Kuei Chang, Liping Wang, William J. N. Turner, Da Yan, Dandan Zhu, Xin Zhou, Chuang Wang, Chen Peng, and Xiaoxin Ren."Building Performance Simulation." (2013).

Taylor, Margaret, and K. Sydny Fujita."Accounting for Technological Change in Regulatory Impact Analyses: The Learning Curve Technique." (2013).

Fujita, K. Sydny, and Margaret Taylor."Accounting for Innovation in Energy Efficiency Regulation."European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (2013).

Hong, Tianzhen, and Hung-Wen Lin."Occupant Behavior: Impact on Energy Use of Private Offices."ASim 2012 - 1st Asia Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association (2013).

Zhu, Dandan, Da Yan, Tianzhen Hong, and Chuang Wang."Comparison of Building Energy Simulation Programs: Dest, EnergyPlus and DOE-2." (2013).

Payne, Christopher T., Andrew R. Weber, and Abby Semple."Energy-efficient Public Procurement Best Practice in Program Delivery SEAD Initiative Procurement Working Group." (2013).

Malone, Elizabeth L., Richard C. Diamond, Amy K. Wolfe, Tom Sanquist, Christopher T. Payne, and Jerry Dion."Sustainable Behavior."Sustain: "Implementing Sustainability: The Behavioral-Institutional Dimension" Spring/Summer 2013.28 (2013) 28-32.

Hong, Tianzhen, William J. N. Turner, and Cheng Li."The Two-Day CERC-BEE Forum on Building Integrated Design and Occupant Behavior: Presentations and Summary." (2013).

2012

Fujita, K. Sydny, and Margaret Taylor."Achieved and Potential Energy Savings through Energy Efficient Procurement." (2012).

Taylor, Margaret, and K. Sydny Fujita."The Path to Savings: Understanding the Federal Purchase of Energy-Consuming Products." (2012).

Taylor, Margaret, and K. Sydny Fujita."Program Potential: Estimates of Federal Energy Cost Savings from Energy Efficient Procurement." (2012).

Weber, Andrew R., and Christopher T. Payne."Linking Resources and Structures: Increasing the Effectiveness of Energy Efficient Government Procurement Programs." (2012).

Taylor, Margaret, and K. Sydny Fujita."Who Buys What? Understanding Federal Procurement of Energy Efficient Products."American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (2012).

Taylor, Margaret, K. Sydny Fujita, Larry L. Dale, and James E. McMahon."An Exploration of Innovation and Energy Efficiency in an Appliance Industry."European Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy (2012).