Urban Building Energy, Sensing, Controls,
Big Data Analysis and Visualization

Advancing Intelligent and
Sustainable Built Environments

Where Urban Systems, Building Science,
and Technology Converge

UrbSys Lab advances interdisciplinary research shaping the future of urban and building systems through energy performance, smart sensing, intelligent controls, big data analysis, and visualization. By integrating advanced analytics and emerging technologies, the lab develops innovative solutions for more sustainable, adaptive, and intelligent built environments.

Research Excellence
in Numbers

For more than two decades, UrbSys Lab has advanced research at the intersection of building science, artificial intelligence, sensing, energy systems, and smart cities. Our work transforms interdisciplinary research into real-world solutions for more sustainable and intelligent built environments.

Research Publications

Featured Books & Publications

Explore featured books and publications in sustainable and intelligent built environments.

Explore Publications & Patents

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The Hierarchy of Energy in Architecture: Emergy Analysis

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Smart Cities:
Foundations, Principles, and Applications

What We Do

Our specialized laboratories provide the foundation for cutting-edge research in building performance, energy efficiency, and environmental sensing. Explore the Fenestration Lab and Field Lab, where we develop, test, and validate innovative technologies in controlled laboratory settings and real-world environments.

FENESTRATION lab

FIELD lab

Fenestration
Lab

Room 3102, 1480 Inner Rd, Antevy Hall
College of Design, Construction & Planning,
University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611

The Fenestration Lab is equipped with a comprehensive suite of advanced instruments that support high-precision research on building envelope systems, fenestration technologies, and indoor environmental performance.

The laboratory enables both fundamental and applied research through state-of-the-art equipment for thermal performance and heat transfer measurements, environmental monitoring, fenestration testing, optical and spectral analysis, and human–computer interaction. These capabilities support the development and evaluation of innovative materials, components, and technologies for high-performance and energy-efficient buildings.

Field Lab

Real-world Testing for Smarter Building Technologies

The Field Lab provides a full-scale outdoor research facility for evaluating the real-world thermal and energy performance of buildings and building components.

The site consists of three identical test buildings, enabling simultaneous baseline and experimental studies for direct performance comparison. The facility is equipped with systems for window heat transfer measurements, whole-building energy monitoring, and indoor and outdoor environmental sensing.

Each test building is designed to be disassembled and reoriented, allowing researchers to investigate the effects of building orientation, envelope configurations, and environmental conditions under realistic field conditions.

This facility bridges the gap between laboratory experiments and real-world applications, providing a flexible platform for validating innovative building technologies under actual environmental conditions.