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

2016

Hoffmann, Sabine, Eleanor S Lee, Andrew McNeil, Luis L Fernandes, Dragan Vidanovic, and Anothai Thanachareonkit."Balancing daylight, glare, and energy-efficiency goals: An evaluation of exterior coplanar shading systems using complex fenestration modeling tools."Energy and Buildings 112 (2016) 279-298. DOI

Hou, Jing, Yisheng Liu, Yong Wu, Nan Zhou, and Wei Feng."Comparative study of commercial building energy-efficiency retrofit policies in four pilot cities in China."Energy Policy 88 (2016) 204 - 215. DOI

Chen, Yuche, and Alan K Meier."Fuel consumption impacts of auto roof racks."Energy Policy 92 (2016) 325 - 333. DOI

Yu, Xinqiao, Da Yan, Kaiyu Sun, Tianzhen Hong, and Dandan Zhu."A Comparative Study on Energy Performance of Variable Refrigerant Flow Systems and Variable Air Volume Systems in Office Buildings."Applied Energy (2016).

Singer, Brett C, Brennan Less, William W Delp, Andrew D Brooks, Sebastian Cohn, and Brian Finn."A Field Study of Wall Furnace Venting and Coincident Exhaust Fan Usage in 16 Northern CA Apartments." (2016).

Sun, Kaiyu, and Tianzhen Hong."A Simulation Approach to Estimate Energy Savings Potential of Occupant Behavior Measures."Energy and Buildings (2016).

Herrlin, Magnus, and Randall C Cole."Air Management in Small Data Centers." (2016).

Chen, Yixing, Xuan Luo, and Tianzhen Hong."An Agent-Based Occupancy Simulator for Building Performance Simulation." (2016).

Regnier, Cynthia, Paul A Mathew, Alastair Robinson, Peter Schwartz, and Travis Walter."Beyond Widgets – Systems Incentive Programs for Utilities."ACEEE (2016).

Granderson, Jessica, and Guanjing Lin."Building Energy Information Systems: Synthesis of Costs, Savings, and Best-practice Uses."Energy Efficiency (2016).

Singh, Reshma, Paul A Mathew, Jessica Granderson, Rohini Srivastava, and Yash Shukla."Caring for the Energy Health of Healthcare Facilities U.S.– India Joint Center for Building Energy Research and Development (CBERD)." (2016).

Mathew, Paul A, Nancy Wallace, Elena Alschuler, and Leonard Kolstad."Commercial mortgages: An underutilized channel for scaling energy efficiency investments?."ACEEE (2016).

Less, Brennan, Iain S Walker, and Sara Ticci."Development of Smart Ventilation Control Algorithms for Humidity Control in High-Performance Homes in Humid U.S. Climates." (2016).

Daken, Abigail A, Alan K Meier, and Douglas G Frazee."Do Connected Thermostats Save Energy?."2016 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2016).

Lee, Eleanor S, Luis L Fernandes, Samir Touzani, Anothai Thanachareonkit, Xiufeng Pang, and Darryl J Dickerhoff."Electrochromic Window Demonstration at the 911 Federal Building, 911 Northeast 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon." (2016).

Mathew, Paul A, Philip Coleman, Nancy Wallace, Paulo Issler, Lenny Kolstad, and Robert Sahadi."Energy Factors in Commercial Mortgages: Gaps and Opportunities." (2016).

Berdahl, Paul H, Sharon S Chen, Hugo Destaillats, Thomas W Kirchstetter, Ronnen M Levinson, and Michael A Zalich."Fluorescent Cooling of Objects Exposted to Sunlight - The Ruby Example."Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 157 (2016) 312-317. DOI

Mills, Evan."Green Residential Appraisals in the United States Context: Challenges and Opportunities."Journal of Sustainable Real Estate (2016).

Chan, Wanyu R, Randy L Maddalena, J Chris Stratton, Toshifumi Hotchi, Brett C Singer, Iain S Walker, and Max H Sherman."Healthy Efficient New Gas Homes (HENGH) Pilot Test Results." (2016).

Liang, Xin, Tianzhen Hong, and Geoffrey Qiping Shen."Improving the accuracy of energy baseline models for commercial buildings with occupancy data."Applied Energy (2016).

D'Oca, Simona, Stefano P Corgnati, Anna Laura Pisello, and Tianzhen Hong."Introduction to an occupant behavior motivation survey framework." (2016).

Zhang, Rongpeng, and Tianzhen Hong."Modeling and Simulation of Operational Faults of HVAC Systems Using Energyplus." (2016).

Liang, Xin, Tianzhen Hong, and Geoffrey Qiping Shen."Occupancy data analytics and prediction: a case study." (2016).

Meier, Alan K, and Quentin Aillot."Permanent Electrical Loads in New Homes."ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2016).

Less, Brennan, and Iain S Walker."Smart Ventilation Control of Indoor Humidity in High Performance Homes in Humid U.S. Climates."ASHRAE (2016).