Building Systems

House frame.

Researchers are improving the energy efficiency and environmental performance of building systems.

Challenges being addressed

Expand all

Advanced Technologies for Agricultural Building Systems

Implementing green construction and smart technology into agricultural building systems.

Cold Climate Housing Program

Promotes the idea of the "house as a system." Learn more about the Cold Climate Housing Program

Dairy Cow Heat Stress

Assessing new analysis tools to assess whether different management practices and alternative energy sources can effectively help reduce heat stress on dairy cows.

Guidelines for Healthy and Safe Animal Production Building Systems

Developing animal production building performance guidelines that increase animal productivity, reduce energy consumption, are cost competitive and enable food safety and security.

NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership

The NorthernSTAR team is one of 10 national teams selected by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to accelerate the development and adoption of advanced building energy technologies and practices in both new and existing homes.

The team uses a systems-guided approach to solve energy, comfort, moisture, and indoor air quality issues in the next generation of houses in cold climates.

Learn more about the NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership.

Residential Ground Source Heat Pump Study

Evaluating residential ground source heat pumps (GSHP) to use in-situ performance measurements from 35 Minnesota homes to better characterize the energy efficiency, emissions, and life-cycle costs of residential GSHP systems.