Policy analysis, evaluating federal and state energy and building programs and policies, and producing policy white papers is one of the main foci of the Building Technologies Program. Written for a variety of public, policymaker, building industry, and scientific audiences, all of our policy research and publications are available for download by clicking on the appropriate topic heading.
Through the Building Technologies Program, the goal of the Earth Systems Program is to reduce the negative impact of the built environment on the natural environment and to promote buildings that contribute to human well-being. By creating more energy efficient, sustainable and healthy buildings we can simultaneously reduce our CO2 output and improve human quality of life.
The Building Technologies Program advocates for the creation of building codes, standards and guidelines that push for greater energy efficiency in both commerical and residential buildings. These codes and standards must be easily measurable on a standard metric, be continually updated to reflect the latest technological developments and be easily understood by builders, designers, buyers and all other relevant stakeholders.
Energy efficiency retrofits to and weatherization of our nation's existing housing stock is essential to reducing our energy use and CO2 emissions. Equally as important, weatherization retrofits result in houses that are safer, healthier and less expensive to operate. The publications below elaborate upon the necessity of considering residential energy efficiency retrofits to be a key component of any energy efficiency initative or program.
"The training practices of the building industry remain almost entirely unchanged from the early 1900s. However, there is significant opportunity to improve these training practices through the appliation of the latest learning technologies, including video games and virtual worlds (VWs). FAS has completed a pilot on VW training for building inspectors and continues to explore opportunities to improve buildings and energy training, outreach, and education through cutting edge technology.
Based on our work in China, Turkey, Afghanistan, and the Gulf Coast of the United States, FAS has developed processes and policies to improve the way disaster relief housing is procured. The goal of our work in this area is to improve the quality, efficiency, sustainability, and usefulness of disaster relief housing in order to promote rebuilding, stability, and security in post-disaster areas.