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

1992

Bretz, Sarah E., Hashem Akbari, Arthur H. Rosenfeld, and Haider Taha."Implementation of solar-reflective surfaces: materials and utility programs." (1992) 67. DOI

Akbari, Hashem, and Osman Sezgen."Analysis of energy use in building services of the industrial sector in California: two case studies."Energy and Buildings 19 (1992) 133-141. DOI

Akbari, Hashem, Susan Davis, Sofia Dorsano, Yu Joe Huang, and Steven Winnett."Cooling Our Communities: A Guidebook on Tree Planting and Light-Colored Surfacing." (1992) 245.

Taha, Haider, David J. Sailor, and Hashem Akbari."High-albedo materials for reducing building cooling energy use." (1992). DOI

Akbari, Hashem, and Haider Taha."The impact of trees and white surfaces on residential heating and cooling energy use in four Canadian cities."Energy 17 (1992) 141-149. DOI

1991

Taha, Haider, Hashem Akbari, and Arthur H. Rosenfeld."Heat island and oasis effects of vegetative canopies: micro-meteorological field-measurements."Theoretical and Applied Climatology 44 (1991) 123-138. DOI

1990

Huang, Yu Joe, Susan Davis, and Hashem Akbari."A guidebook for the control of summer heat islands."1990 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings 4 (1990) 79-85.

Akbari, Hashem, Arthur H. Rosenfeld, and Haider Taha."Summer heat islands, urban trees, and white surfaces."Proceedings of the 1990 ASHRAE Winter Conference (1990).

Huang, Yu Joe, Hashem Akbari, and Haider Taha."The wind-shielding and shading effects of trees on residential heating and cooling requirements."Proceedings of the ASHRAE Winter Conference (1990) 11-14.

1988

Taha, Haider, Hashem Akbari, Arthur H. Rosenfeld, and Yu Joe Huang."Residential cooling loads and the urban heat island—the effects of albedo."Building and Environment 23 (1988) 271-283. DOI

Akbari, Hashem, Mashuri Warren, Anibal T De Almeida, Deborah J. Connell, and Jeffrey P. Harris."Use of energy management systems for performance monitoring of industrial load-shaping measures."Energy 13 (1988) 253-263. DOI

1987

Akbari, Hashem, Yu Joe Huang, Haider Taha, and Arthur H. Rosenfeld."The potential of vegetation in reducing summer cooling loads in residential buildings."Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology 26.9 (1987) 1103-1116. DOI

Akbari, Hashem, Diego Samano, Atila Mertol, Fred S. Bauman, and Ron C. Kammerud."The effect of variations in convection coefficients on thermal energy storage in buildings Part II — Exterior massive walls and simulations."Energy and Buildings 10.1 (1987) 29-47. DOI

1986

Akbari, Hashem, Diego Samano, Atila Mertol, Fred S. Bauman, and Ron C. Kammerud."The effect of variations in convection coefficients on thermal energy storage in buildings Part I - Interior partition walls."Energy and Buildings 9 (1986) 195-211. DOI

1984

Borgers, Tom R., and Hashem Akbari."Free convective turbulent flow within the trombe wall channel."Solar Energy 33.3-4 (1984) 253-264. DOI

1979

Akbari, Hashem, and Tom R. Borgers."Free convective laminar flow within the trombe wall channel."Solar Energy 22.2 (1979) 165-174. DOI