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Center for Sustainable Building Research
Working to transform the built environment in ways that provide for the ecological, economic, and social needs of the present without compromising those of the future.
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May 2013 New Efficient Windows Collaborative web site launched A newly revised web site and Window Selection Tool that assists designers, builders and homeowners to select energy efficient windows for residential buildings has been launched at www.efficientwindows.org. The web site was developed by Kerry Haglund and John Carmody of CSBR and is funded through Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the US Department of Energy. A similar web site with the Façade Design Tool for windows in commercial buildings was launched last year at http://www.commercialwindows.umn.edu.
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April 2013 SB2030 Advisory Group Meeting held at University of Minnesota CSBR and its partners presented the latest developments on the SB2030 and other related sustainability programs at the University of Minnesota. The Advisory Group for the project consists of representatives from government, utilities, the nonprofit sector, design professions and the construction industry. A new web site with a case study database will be launched in June 2013.
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April 2013 Second Annual SB2030 Training Class Completed As part of the SB2030 program, 38 participants completed the ten-week, 40-hour AIA+2030 Professional Series Training TMcourse at the University of Minnesota. The class included architects, designers, engineers and other construction industry professionals.
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March 2013 Foundation Design Handbook web site launched A new web site has been launched at Oak Ridge national Laboratory with the latest information on the design of basements, crawl spaces and slab-on-grade foundations for residential buildings. CSBR staff John Carmody, Garrett Mosiman and Dan Handeen developed the handbook with Pat Huelman of the Cold Climate Housing Program. This handbook is a major nationally-known resource building on work begun in the 1980s. A second phase of the handbook with enhanced construction details is nearly complete and will be launched this fall.
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December 2012 CSBR holds two stakeholder workshops Two stakeholder meetings were held in December 2012 to discuss the future direction of the Center for Sustainable Building Research at the University of Minnesota. The first workshop included invitees from within the University of Minnesota and the second included representatives from government, the nonprofit sector, the design professions and the construction industry.
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November 2012 John Carmody, James Lutz and Liliana Ninaquispe Romero present Haiti project work at PLEA Conference In a paper entitled, “Two Designs for Sustainable Communities in Haiti,” the authors describe work undertaken in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake for two sustainable communities in Haiti. The first, Santo, a new community for 500 families near Léogâne, the epicenter of the 2010 earthquake, completed construction of Phase I of its master plan in early 2012. The second, the reconstruction of the Delmas 32 neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, is in the advanced stages of planning.
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August 2012
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June 2012
Jonee Kulman Brigham will make a presentation of "Art, Story, and Infrastructure: A Model for Experiential Interconnection in Environmental Education" at the Minnesota Association of Environmental Education Conference, June 21, 2012, Itasca, MN. The presentation will describe the "Downstream/Upstream" project (currently on exhibit at the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library) and the "System Journey" Curriculum Model Framework that is based on Downstream/Upstream. The place-based approach reveals a student's specific water infrastructure and is interdisciplinary, incorporating participatory public art and transformative journey design to enliven and personalize environmental curriculum.
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February 2012
As a teacher I think about transformation as a process of entering new states of being and am struck by its power particularly as I witness it in the classroom. The world of education – of teaching and learning – has an implicit goal of transformation...." Read more at: uminntilt.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/teaching-for-transformation. |
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February 2012
Patrick Smith and Rolf Jacobson, both Research Fellows at the CSBR, will be presenting at the 2012 Duluth Energy Design Conference & Expo, February 21- 22. Pat's presentation will focus on the analysis of utility bills for determining and tracking energy performance in multifamily buildings, using several local affordable housing developments as case studies. Rolf's presentation will investigate the characteristics of several types of high-performance residential building envelopes, including SIP panels, ICFs, and advanced framing with spray foam. Issues discussed will include R-value, moisture performance, thermal bridging, and life cycle environmental impacts.
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January 2012
The Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR), in conjunction with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), the Alliance to Save Energy and the U.S. Department of Energy, officially launched www.commercialwindows.org - a state-of-the-art website that provides critical information and performance data on the energy efficiency, interior environment, and technical considerations that influence commercial window design decisions. Read full press release.
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January 2012
EnergyScoreCards Minnesota is seeking multifamily building owners to receive up to two years of free access to the EnergyScoreCards tool—an online service to help reduce utility spending and consumption of multifamily building. This opportunity is available in select utility service territories. Participants will also receive information about energy savings programs and opportunities. The goal of the two-year pilot project is to understand the impact of utility benchmarking - comparing building performance with similar buildings—and tracking energy and water use over time at multifamily buildings.
22 owner/managers with more than 8,700 units of housing expressed interest in our first week—join them! To learn more about the project or enroll in the program, visit the project website at www.energyscorecardsmn.com or download a flyer here.
The project is a partnership between Minnesota Housing, Minnesota Green Communities, University of Minnesota Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR), the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE), and EnergyScoreCards™—an online energy management tool for multifamily buildings. It is funded by grants from Xcel Energy and Minnesota Housing.
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November 14 and 15, 2011
The NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership is pleased to host two experts meetings on November 14 and 15, 2011 from 8:30am - 4:00pm. The meetings will bring together experts from Building America teams and other related programs and research activities will gather together to share information and determine future research issues and needs.
November 14: Windows Options for New and Existing Homes, 140 Nolte, University of Minnesota
November 15: Foundations: Research Results and Builder's Handbook Review, University Hotel Minneapolis (formerly Radisson)
Please register for one or both sessions.
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Saturday, November 5, 2011
Sponsored by the Center for Sustainable Building Research and the Metropolitan Design Center, this one-day conference will include presentations on local sustainable neighborhood projects at UMORE Park in Rosemount, the University District Alliance, The Ford Plant Site in St. Paul, and the Eco-Village in north Minneapolis. International Speakers 12:30 - 1:45pm
Cost: Free but Registration required
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October 2011
On Wednesday, October 26, from 2:30-6:00 pm, over forty students from eight different colleges will be sharing their sustainability research at the Student Sustainability Symposium sponsored by Institute on the Environment (IonE). To register or learn more about the event. Jonee Kulman Brigham, who is also a Liberal Studies Student at the U will be sharing the progress of research on an Institute on the Environment Mini Grant, "Art, Story and Infrastructure: A Model for Experiential Interconnection in Environmental Education."
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September 16, 2011
The Efficient Windows Collaborative (EWC) will be exhibiting at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, October 4-7, 2011 in Toronto, Canada. The EWC will be in booth T-9 in the South Building. Come visit if you are attending Greenbuild.
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September 7, 2011
Fourteen University of Minnesota faculty from 13 departments and eight colleges and schools have been named resident fellows of IonE. Representing a broad range of disciplines, the new fellows join 32 others in taking on the task of building bridges across disciplines to solve environmental challenges. They begin their three-year appointments with IonE this month. Read entire press release. |
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CSBR begins search for a new Director.
CSBR Founding Director
John Carmody will be retiring in December 2013. Initial review of applications will begin November 1, 2013.