Built Environment

We are reimagining how buildings and cities are designed to create a more resilient, energy-efficient, and low-carbon built environment.

Research Themes

Design

Materials

Building systems

Urban and regional planning

Adaptive reuse

Resiliency and efficiency

Featured Work

wind and solar energy storage

Balancing Distributed Energy Resources with Grid Demand

GIS researchers developed improved communication between commercial smart inverters and meters to replace cost-prohibitive remote terminal units, allowing better integration of smaller distributed energy resources into energy services markets.
Partners: New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and AVANGRID Inc.

solar panel energy station

Microgrid Implementation Modeling

GIS researchers created a model to simulate a microgrid’s performance in terms of distributed generation, storage, and load. The simulation uncovered ways to promote mutually beneficial collaboration between microgrid owners and utility companies.
Partners: New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Rochester Gas & Electric

image of book on table

Climate Adaptation and Resilience across Scales 

A GIS researcher developed guidance for professionals for adapting the built environment to a changing climate in order to provide a better understanding of climate change impacts, vulnerability, and resilience across scales of the built environment.

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building meters, wires, utility boxes

Training Program for Building Energy System Operators

GIS developed a pilot training program for industrial building operators for building energy optimization and controls re-tuning.
Partners: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NY MEP), and Pacific Northwest Lab

library stacks of books on red shelves

Energy Efficiency and Pollutants in Buildings

GIS researchers investigated how pollutant levels change as a result of energy-saving strategies in collections spaces.
Partner: National Endowment for the Humanities

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discarded old television sets

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) for Circular Economy Product

GIS researchers designed and conducted an LCA to consider strategic uses of discarded television panel glass as a substitute for concrete pozzolan to reduce the environmental impact of one of the most common materials in the built environment.
Partners: Staples Inc., Urban Mining Northeast LLC, and Electronic Recyclers International (ERI)

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female researcher working on solar panels in lab

World-Class Facilities

Our facilities cover over 84,000 square feet, and include large industrial high bays, labs, testbeds, and conference spaces.

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