USGBC Issues Research Grants

Words: Bronzella Cleveland

SeptemberOctober 2008
Industry News

USGBC Issues Research Grants

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced the recipients of its 2008 Green Building Research Fund grants, a program created to spur research that will advance sustainable building practices. The USGBC committed $2 million to the program, while the Research Fund is generating more than $1 million in matching funds and leveraging additional activities and partnerships. The council says a quarter of the fund is dedicated to research on occupant impacts in K-12 schools.

“The portfolio of research projects address a range of critical environmental needs in the building industry, encompass diverse approaches and proposed outcomes, and are well distributed geographically across the U.S.,” said Gail Brager, chair of USGBC’s Research Committee.

Research topics covered each of the five categories of environmental performance that are addressed within the LEED green building certification system. Grants ranging from $90,000 to $250,000 were awarded to the 13 research teams.

The research projects selected for funding include:

  • A Green Roof Energy Calculator
  • An Open Source Searchable Database to Assess the Impact of Environmental Strategies on Outcomes in Healthcare Facilities
  • Design for Reuse Primer
  • Development and Implementation of a New Protocol for Testing the Ability of Building Materials to Passively Reduce Indoor Ozone and Its Reaction Products
  • HVAC Control Algorithms for Mixed-Mode Buildings
  • Improvement of Porous Pavement System for onsite Stormwater Management
  • Integrated Building Water Management (IBWM) Modeling – A Proposed Tool for LEED Assessment & Education
  • Investigating Opportunities for Improving Building Performance Through Simulation of Occupant and Operator Behavior
  • Multi-Variate Study of Stormwater BMPs
  • Quantifying the Impact of Daylight and Electric Lighting on Student Alertness, Performance and Well-being in K-12 Schools
  • The Evaluation of Green School Building Attributes and Their Effect On the Health and Performance of Students and Teachers in NY State
  • Transportation Energy Intensity Index
  • Using a New Application of Existing Monitoring Technology to Quantify the Relationship between Classroom Ventilation and Student Performance

”The selected proposals drive knowledge, policies, tools and technologies and inspire corresponding industry and government-wide action,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of USGBC. MD

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