This research group seeks to influence building-industry practices and improve the environmental quality of buildings by providing new technical information to the building industry (among other strategies). Current research topics include:

• climate data for the design and assessment of alternative cooling technologies in California
• alternatives to compressive cooling in California transition zones (and related technology transfer)
• evaporative cooling in nonresidential buildings
• evaluation tools for short-term chiller performance
• design tools for predicting air motion in naturally ventilated buildings
• comparative evaluation of daylighting/energy simulation software for California

A Department of Energy site which allows you to read about other communities that have discovered the benefits of sustainable development; locate technical and financial resources that can help your community plan and carry out sustainable development projects; and access model codes and ordinances other communities have used to implement sustainable development.

The Center is the State of Florida's energy research center, and is administered by the University of Central Florida. The Center's Web site provides links to design assistance, listings of continuing education programs, and numerous research reports on building systems and other energy technologies.

The International Building Performance Simulation Association is a non-profit international society of building performance simulation researchers, developers and practitioners, dedicated to improving the built environment.

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) performs extensive testing of lighting fixtures (such as downlights and exit signs), and also publishes reports that help specifiers understand various lighting technologies. LRC also provides technical support to the U.S. EPA’s Green Lights program and its partner companies.

The LRC site features Lighting Futures (a quarterly newsletter on lighting technology developments), a searchable catalog of lighting publications, specifications, and other lighting resources.

The National Lighting Product Information Program (NLPIP) is part of LRC. All NLPIP publications can be downloaded free of charge in .pdf format. Searchable databases containing manufacturer-specific performance data for electronic ballasts and compact fluorescent lamps also will be available.

UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
www.aud.ucla.edu/energy-design-tools

UCLA's Department of Architecture and Urban Design offers several downloadable energy design software tools, including:

• Solar-5.5, which displays 3-D plots of hourly energy performance
• Climate Consultant, which produces graphs of climate data
• SOLAR-2, which plots sunlight penetrating through windows of all types.