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

2008

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

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.

Sherman, Max H."Summary of Workshop: Barriers to Energy Efficient Residential Ventilation." (2008).

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

O'Donnell, James, Marcus Keane, and Vladimir Bazjanac."Utilisation of Whole Building Energy Simulation Output to Provide Optimum Decision Support for Building Managers."SimBuild 2008 (2008).

2007

Drumheller, S. 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.

Wang, Liping, and Nyuk Hien Wong."The impacts of facade and ventilation strategies on indoor thermal environment for a naturally ventilated residential building in Singapore."Building and Environment 42.12 (2007) 4006-4015.

Sanchez, Marla C, Carrie A Webber, Richard E Brown, and Gregory K Homan."2008 Status Report - Savings Estimates for the ENERGY STAR Voluntary Labeling Program." (2007).

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

Fridley, David, Nathaniel T Aden, Nan Zhou, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory."China’s Building Energy Use." (2007).

Wang, Liping, and Nyuk Hien Wong."A convenient coupled simulation method for thermal environment prediction in naturally ventilated buildings."2nd PALENC conference and 28th AIVC conference, 27-29 September (2007).

Gu, Lixing."A Simplified Hot Water Distribution System Model (DOE-2)."Proceedings of the Building Simulation 2007 (2007).

Pedersen, Curtis O."Advanced Zone Simulation in EnergyPlus: Incorporation of Variable Properties and Phase Change Material (PCM) Capability."Proceedings of the Building Simulation 2007 (2007).

Gu, Lixing."Airflow Network Modeling in EnergyPlus."Proceedings of the Building Simulation 2007 (2007).

Trcka, Marija, Michael Wetter, and Jan Hensen."Comparison of Co-Simulation Approaches for Building and HVAC/R System Simulation."Proceedings of the Building Simulation 2007 (2007).

Trcka, Marija, Michael Wetter, and Jan Hensen."Comparison of co-simulation approaches for building and HVAC/R system simulation. ."Proceedings of the 10th IBPSA Conference (2007) 1418-1425.

Monfet, Danielle, Radu Zmeureanu, Roland Charneux, and Nicolas Lemire."Computer Model of a University Building Using the EnergyPlus Program."Proceedings of the Building Simulation 2007 (2007).

Wang, Liping, and Julie Gwilliam."Discussion of strategies for UK zero energy building design."2nd PALENC conference and 28th AIVC conference, 27-29 September (2007).

Papa, Renata Pietra, Patricia Romeiro da Silva Jota, and Eleonora Assis."Energy Index Evaluation of Buildings in Function of the External Temperature."Proceedings of the Building Simulation 2007 (2007).

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.

Bourdoukan, Paul, Etienne Wurtz, Maurice Spérandio, and Patrice Joubert."Global Efficiency of Direct Flow Vacuum Collectors in Autonomous Solar Desiccant Cooling: Simulation and Experimental Results."Proceedings of the Building Simulation 2007 (2007).

Holder, Amara L, Donald Lucas, Regine Goth-Goldstein, and Catherine P Koshland."Inflammatory response of lung cells exposed to whole, filtered, and hydrocarbon denuded diesel exhaust."Chemosphere 70 (2007) 13-19.

Hollmuller, Pierre, Joyce Carlo, Martin Ordenes, Fernando Westphal, and Roberto Lamberts."Potential of Buried Pipes Systems and Derived Techniques for Passive Cooling of Buildings in Brazilian Climates."Proceedings of the Building Simulation 2007 (2007).