As we count down the days until the start of a new decade, it’s a good time to reflect on this year’s events, including ones that have increased our sense of urgency for environmental concerns. Here at CBE, our research team is celebrating number of important milestones along our path to improve the way buildings are designed, operated and occupied. In this blog post we highlight some of our accomplishments from 2019, and thank the many CBE partners and others who have contributed to our successes.
We have enjoyed significant growth in our industry consortium, welcoming six new partners and bringing our membership to 50 companies. We are excited about the prospects for working with our growing set of members, who provide insight on what practitioners need to create high performing spaces and resilient buildings. New members joining in 2019 are: CallisonRTKL, HMC Architects, KieranTimberlake, Lear Corporation, McKinstry, and Red Car Analytics. Our members also elected new leadership, with Partner Chair Andy Reilman and Partner Vice-Chair Isabelle Lavedrine, who hope to increase CBE’s impact.
We have created powerful new tools for CBE’s members and the industry at large, expanding our robust set of design resources:
- We launched a Fan Design Tool, based on extensive CBE research, that helps designers tailor ceiling fan layouts based on critical design factors.
- We launched an improved version of the CBE Rad Tool, an interactive web-based tool for the early design of high thermal mass radiant systems.
- We also piloted a Biophilia module for the CBE occupant survey.
We have been active in publishing and sharing our results through industry and academic events:
- We presented our work at over 30 events, including keynote presentations, international conferences, workshops, ASHRAE committees, and more. We also released a video to highlight our center’s work.
- We published over 40 papers and articles on a wide range of topics related to energy and indoor environments; these are featured on our publication list.
- We received three best paper awards from Building and Environment, as well as co-authoring the best review paper of 1998-2007 from Energy and Buildings.
- We announced results of the 13th annual Livable Buildings Award; the winners showcase excellence in occupant satisfaction and building performance.
We secured new funding, including grants from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop new ways to gather, analyze and monetize data from commercial buildings, yielding energy cost savings and more comfort for building users.
We also made important progress on several key research topics. In the spring, we completed our multi-year study on radiant systems, and co-sponsored an event on this topic in coordination with our October membership meeting. We also reported on shorter term studies on measuring the effects of wildfire smoke on indoor environments, and a new study on the impacts of view on mood and cognitive performance. Finally, we will soon complete our multi-year project on smart ceiling fans and communicating thermostats.
We continue to be enthusiastic about opportunities to collaborate with our industry partners and numerous research affiliates, and we are grateful for the many contributions that are critical to our success. On behalf of our entire group here at CBE, we thank you for your support and participation, and send you best wishes for the holidays and new year!