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

2023

Liu, Jingjing, Lili Yu, Rongxin Yin, Mary Ann Piette, Marco Pritoni, Armando Casillas, and Peter Schwartz."Factors Influencing Building Demand Flexibility." (2023). DOI

2022

Liu, Jingjing, Rongxin Yin, Lili Yu, Mary Ann Piette, Marco Pritoni, Armando Casillas, Jiarong Xie, Tianzhen Hong, Monica Neukomm, and Peter Schwartz."Defining and applying an electricity demand flexibility benchmarking metrics framework for grid-interactive efficient commercial buildings."Advances in Applied Energy 8 (2022) 100107. DOI

2020

Gerke, Brian F., Giulia Gallo, Sarah Josephine Smith, Jingjing Liu, Shuba V. Raghavan, Peter Schwartz, Mary Ann Piette, Rongxin Yin, and Sofia Stensson."The California Demand Response Potential Study, Phase 3: Final Report on the Shift Resource through 2030." (2020). DOI

Brown, Richard E., Peter Schwartz, Bruce Nordman, Jordan Shackelford, Aditya Khandekar, Neal Jackson, Anand Prakash, Srijit Ghosh, and Erik Page."Developing Flexible, Networked Lighting Control Systems That Reliably Save Energy in California Buildings." (2020). DOI

2019

Schwartz, Peter, Brian F. Gerke, Jennifer Potter, Alastair Robinson, David Jagger, Kelly Sanders, Yao-Yung Wen, Jasmine Shepard, and Teddy Kisch."The Value Proposition for Cost-Effective, Demand Responsive-Enabling, Nonresidential Lighting System Retrofits in California Buildings." (2019).

2018

Regnier, Cynthia, Paul A. Mathew, Alastair Robinson, Peter Schwartz, Jordan Shackelford, and Travis Walter."Beyond Widgets: Validated Systems Energy Savings and Utility Custom Incentive Program Systems Trends."2018 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2018). DOI

Gerke, Brian F., Jennifer Potter, Peter Schwartz, Alastair Robinson, David Jagger, Jasmine Shepard, Teddy Kisch, and Adel Suleiman."Driving Adoption of Demand-Responsive Commercial Lighting with a Clarified Value Proposition: Site Level Energy Savings and Cost-Benefit Analysis."2018 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2018).

Gallo, Giulia, Brian F. Gerke, Jingjing Liu, Mary Ann Piette, Peter Schwartz, and Peter Alstone."Mobilizing the Anti-Duck Brigade: Technology and Market Pathways for Load-Shifting Demand Response in California."2018 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2018). DOI

Regnier, Cynthia, Paul A. Mathew, Alastair Robinson, Peter Schwartz, Jordan Shackelford, and Travis Walter."Energy Cost Savings of Systems-Based Building Retrofits: A Study of Three Integrated Lighting Systems in Comparison with Component Based Retrofits." (2018).

2017

Robinson, Alastair, Paul A. Mathew, Cynthia Regnier, Peter Schwartz, Jordan Shackelford, and Travis Walter."California Publicly‐Owned Utilities (POUs) – LBNL ‘Beyond Widgets’ Project Task‐ambient lighting and occupancy‐based plug load control System Program Manual ." (2017).

Alstone, Peter, Jennifer Potter, Mary Ann Piette, Peter Schwartz, Michael A. Berger, Laurel N. Dunn, Sarah Josephine Smith, Michael D. Sohn, Arian Aghajanzadeh, Sofia Stensson, and Julia Szinai."Demand Response Potential for California SubLAPs and Local Capacity Planning Areas: An Addendum to the 2025 California Demand Response Potential Study - Phase 2." (2017).

Regnier, Cynthia, Paul A. Mathew, Alastair Robinson, Jordan Shackelford, Peter Schwartz, and Travis Walter."Xcel Energy – LBNL ‘Beyond Widgets’ Project Workstation Specific Lighting with Daylight Dimming Controls System Program Manual." (2017).

2016

Alstone, Peter, Jennifer Potter, Mary Ann Piette, Peter Schwartz, Michael A. Berger, Laurel N. Dunn, Sarah Josephine Smith, Michael D. Sohn, Arian Aghajanzadeh, Sofia Stensson, and Julia Szinai."2015 California Demand Response Potential Study - Charting California's Demand response Future: Interim Report on Phase 1 Results." (2016).

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

2008

Rubinstein, Francis M., Dmitriy Bolotov, Mark S. Levi, Kevin Powell, and Peter Schwartz."The Advantage of Highly Controlled Lighting for Offices and Commercial Buildings."2008 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, August 17-22, 2008 (2008) 063901(1-5).