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

2024

Satre-Meloy, Aven, Nuria Casquero-Modrego, Iain S Walker, and Brennan Less."Reducing the Cost of Home Energy Upgrades in the US: An Industry Survey."Journal of Building Engineering, October, 110939 (2024). DOI

Walker, Iain S, Brennan Less, Nuria Casquero-Modrego, Cara Lozinsky, and Michael D Sohn."The Impact of Simplified Window and Exhaust Fan Assumptions on Model- Based Predictions of Inter-Zonal Air Flow and Contaminant Transport in Multifamily Buildings."Proceedings of the 44th AIVC Conference, Dublin, Ireland. (2024).

Less, Brennan, Iain S Walker, Sean Murphy, and Eric Fournier."Electrical Service Panel Capacity in California Households with Insights for Equitable Building Electrification."Proceedings of the ACEEE Summer Study 2024. ACEEE, Washington, DC (2024).

Less, Brennan, and Iain S Walker."HVAC Heat Pump Upgrades and their Impact on Household Maximum Power Demand."Proceedings of the ACEEE Summer Study 2024. ACEEE, Washington, DC (2024).

Casquero-Modrego, Nuria, M Venkatraman, and Iain S Walker."The Costs of Decarbonizing Multifamily Buildings in DACs and Rural Areas."2024 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings. American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) (2024). DOI

Zhao, Haoran, Wanyu R Chan, Chrissi Antonopoulos, Eric Martin, Paul Francisco, Iain S Walker, and Brett C Singer."Mechanical Ventilation and IAQ in Recently Constructed US Homes."Indoor Air 2024 (2024).

Walker, Iain S, Brennan Less, Cara Lozinsky, David M Lorenzetti, Nuria Casquero-Modrego, and Michael D Sohn."Compartmentalization and Ventilation System Impacts on Air and Contaminant Transport for Multifamily Buildings."International Journal of Ventilation. (2024). DOI

Zhao, Haoran, Iain S Walker, William W Delp, and Brett C Singer."Performance and usage of mechanical residential kitchen ventilation."ASHRAE Winter 2024 (2024).

2023

de Mesquita, P. Jacob Bueno, Nuria Casquero-Modrego, Iain S Walker, Brennan Less, and Brett C Singer."Quantifying the Potential Health Impacts of Unvented Combustion in Homes – A Meta-Analysis."43rd AIVC-11th TightVent & 9th Venticool Conference, 4-5 October 2023, Copenhagen (2023).

Walker, Iain S, Nuria Casquero-Modrego, and Brennan Less."Challenges and Opportunities for Home Decarbonization." (2023).

2022

Casquero-Modrego, Nuria, WR Chan, Brennan Less, and Iain S Walker."Getting to Scale for Decarbonizing Homes in the US: An Industry Survey."SBE22Delft - Innovations for the Urban Energy Transition: Preparing for the European Renovation Wave (2022). DOI

Walker, Iain S, Brennan Less, David M Lorenzetti, Michael D Sohn, and Nuria Casquero-Modrego."Compartmentalization and Ventilation System Impacts on Air and Contaminant Transport for a Multifamily Building."Buildings XV Conference (2022).

Less, Brennan, Nuria Casquero-Modrego, and Iain S Walker."Home Energy Upgrades as a Pathway to Home Decarbonization in the US: A Literature Review."Energies (2022). DOI

Walker, Iain S, Brennan Less, and Nuria Casquero-Modrego."Pathways to Home Decarbonization."Proceedings of the 2022 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings. (2022).

Walker, Iain S, Brennan Less, Nuria Casquero-Modrego, and Leo I Rainer."The Costs of Home Decarbonization in the US."Proceedings of the 2022 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings. (2022).

Zhao, Haoran, Iain S Walker, Michael D Sohn, and Brennan Less."A Time-Varying Model for Predicting Formaldehyde Emission Rates in Homes." (2022). DOI

Walker, Iain S, Brennan Less, David M Lorenzetti, and Michael D Sohn."Analysis of Zoned Residential Ventilation Systems."AIVC/ASHRAE IAQ 2020 Conference (2022).

Kolsch, Benedikt, Iain S Walker, Woody Delp, Bjorn Schiricke, and Bernhard Hoffschmidt."Comparison of Airflow and Acoustic Measurements for Evaluation of Building Air Leakage Paths in a Laboratory Test Apparatus."AIVC/ASHRAE IAQ 2020 Conference (2022).

Walker, Iain S, and Benedikt Kolsch."Reducing Wind Sensitivity for Blower Door Testing."AIVC/ASHRAE IAQ 2020 Conference (2022).

Walker, Iain S, Brennan Less, and Nuria Casquero-Modrego."Carbon and Energy Cost Impacts of Electrification of Space Heating with Heat Pumps in the US." (2022). DOI

2021

Walker, Iain S, Brennan Less, David M Lorenzetti, and Michael D Sohn."Development of Advanced Smart Ventilation Controls for Residential Applications."Energies (2021). DOI

Walker, Iain S, Paul Francisco, and Eric Werling."Reducing COVID-19 Transmission in Homes."Building Performance (2021).

Less, Brennan, Iain S Walker, and Nuria Casquero-Modrego."Emerging Pathways to Upgrade the US Housing Stock: A Review of the Home Energy Upgrade Literature." (2021).

Chan, Wanyu R, Brennan Less, and Iain S Walker."DOE Deep Energy Retrofit Cost Survey." (2021).

Singer, Brett C, Wanyu R Chan, William W Delp, Iain S Walker, and Haoran Zhao."Effective Kitchen Ventilation for Healthy Zero Net Energy Homes with Natural Gas." (2021).