Overview

The Sustainable Energy and Environments Laboratory aims to develop clean, resilient, and equitable energy systems at the nexus of built and natural environments to support the well-being of humans and ecosystems.

Our research advances fundamental scientific knowledge in thermo-fluid sciences and system-level design via computational modeling and simulation methods while delivering innovative energy system technologies for society. Our expertise includes energy system modeling (buildings, districts, cities), system-level bio-inspired design (i.e., ecosystem biomimicry), and environmental life cycle assessment (LCA).

Several of our modeling tools and software are open-source and have been integrated into major software ecosystems as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s next generation simulation tools for building and community energy systems and controls, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Modelica Buildings Library and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s URBANopt Advanced Analytics Platform. Please see our papers and tools pages for examples across these exciting research avenues.

Overview of SEE Research across 1) thermo-fluid sciences, 
             2) modeling and simulation, and 3) design innovation with societal impact.
             External funding is provided by the U.S. NSF, DOE, and ASHRAE.

Active Projects
sponsor: U.S. National Science Foundation
tags: life cycle assessment, modelica, co-simulation, FMI, dynamic modeling, energy hubs
sponsor: Vermont Space Grant Consortium; Vermont NASA EPSCoR Faculty Research Grant Program
tags: life cycle assessment, graph theory, reliability modeling, life support, environmental control
sponsor: UVM Faculty Start-Up
tags: modelica, optimization, multi-energy systems, energy hub, flexibility, self-sufficiency

Past Projects