High Performance Building Lab

The High Performance Building Lab (HPBL) is a convergent assemblage of research groups housed in the School of Architecture, College of Design at Georgia Tech. Our goal is to disruptively transform design analysis of existing and new energy flows, in and in-between buildings. We operate at the scale of architecture, urban design, and planning practices through applied research, and by developing sustainable design workflows and metrics. The HPBL attracts qualified students with a background in architecture, design, and technology, and/or engineering. The focus is on the development and application of advanced design technology for the built environment. Students take basic courses in architecture, energy, and the environment, as well as electives in engineering disciplines, along with courses that apply these subjects to buildings. We aim to continuously contribute to the rigorous exploration of sustainability in architecture and inventing the next state of the art in building technology.

HPBL Curriculum

Research Groups

Greyscale icon demonstrating an aerial inspection of a building's envelope.

Aerial Diagnostics

Focusing on the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for analytical applications in the built environment.

A greyscale icon of a cube with an interior graph to measure the space.

Building Science

Concentrating on the interdisciplinary research of physical phenomena in the built environment.

Living Systems

Investigating various active architectural systems that can be integrated on or within the building envelope.

A greyscale icon of a window and a shadow cast from the window.

Natural Lighting

Investigating the art & science of adding daylighting techniques to enhance indoor built environment experiences.

Greyscale icon of a street block showing a building and a road.

Neighborhood Analytics

Exploring how we discuss & understand the performance of urban territories, their structures, and inhabitants.

Performance Informatics

Investigating representations of built environment interrelated and nested data.

Select Peer-reviewed Journal Publications

Bayomi, N., Nagpal, S., Rakha, T., and Fernandez, J. (2020) “Building Envelope Modeling Calibration using Aerial Thermography,” Energy and Buildings, 110648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110648

El Masri, Y. and Rakha, T., “A scoping review of non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques in building performance diagnostic inspections.” Construction and Building Materials, 265, 1205422 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.120542

Rakha, T., & El Kontar, R. (2019). Community energy by design: A simulation-based design workflow using measured data clustering to calibrate Urban Building Energy Models (UBEMs). Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 46(8), 1517-1533. https://doi.org/10.1177/2399808319841909

Rakha, T., & Gorodetsky, A. (2018). Review of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) applications in the built environment: Towards automated building inspection procedures using drones. Automation in Construction, 93, 252-264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2018.05.002

Select Peer-reviewed Conference Publications

El Masri, Y and Rakha, T. (2020) “Review of Non-Destructive Techniques (NDTs) for Building Diagnostic Inspections” In Proceedings of the 2020 Building Performance Analysis Conference and SimBuild, 29 September – 01 October, Chicago: USA (Virtual).

Panagoulia, E. and Rakha, T. (2020) “Performance Analytics through Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Retrofitting Design: Towards a Graph-based Data-to-Decisions Framework” In Proceedings of In Proceedings of the 35th International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture (PLEA), 1-3 September, A Coruña: Spain (Virtual).

Pilet, T. and Rakha, T. (2020) “A Building Envelope Characterization Workflow for In-Situ Thermal Performance Assessment” In Proceedings of the 2020 Building Performance Analysis Conference and SimBuild, 29 September – 01 October, Chicago: USA (Virtual).

Sherif, T. and Rakha, T. (2020) “Simulating False Sensing Impacts for Diverse Occupancy Patterns and Behaviors on Heating and Cooling Energy Consumption in US Residential Buildings.” In Proceedings of the 2020 Building Performance Analysis Conference and SimBuild, 29 September – 01 October, Chicago: USA (Virtual).

Teaching: A Process of Learning by Doing

Learning is the essence of advancement, and for the training of built environment students in advanced environmental systems and studios the HPBL envisions a classroom that is neither static nor unidirectional; it is an accessible, interactive and open-sourced “living lab.” We employ state-of-the-art simulation tools we develop and use in research to be used by students as a means for understanding building performance. Attending a research university, such as Georgia Tech, gives the students a chance to be at the heart of knowledge as it unfolds, and that is why we aim to integrate research concerns into courses: to enrich the process of learning, and put students at the forefront of discovery.

The HPBL participates in variety of studios, courses and seminars at Georgia Tech, including courses such as:

Example of Fall 2020 work from the Sustainability Studio co-taught by Tarek Rakha and Michael Gamble. — Nourhan Elsayed, Devanshi Kesaria and Arti Verma

ARCH 6072 Design + Research Studio: Students in the HPB MS in Architecture program collaborate with design students by employing state-of-the-art environmental performance simulation tools to inform their collaborative designs. The design and performance integration happen through the use of advanced, research-based frameworks as experiential learning methods that enhance energy and comfort in built environment design.

Example fall 2020 course output regarding building energy modeling. — Hala Alfalih, Erin Heidelberger and Vitor Leite

ARCH 6226 Building Physics Modeling: This course teaches how Building Performance Simulation (BPS) informs sustainable and energy efficient architectural design. For fall 2020, we focused on developing simulations for underrepresented communities and built environment vulnerabilities, as our contribution to a scholastic discourse for justice and equity.

Example fall 2020 course output of a graphic showing energy use intensity. — Natalia Chavez, Niket Joshi, Sevda Babalou

ARCH 6241 Building Simulation in Design Practice: Practitioners are invited to teach this course that builds up the theoretical and practical understanding of collaborative multi-performance building analysis in design practice. For spring 2020, instructors from Perkins+Will taught computational techniques to help designers generate a large space of design options, simulate a variety of building performances, and make informed design decisions in a systematic framework.

Example fall 2020 course output in the form of journal entries about Construction and Building Materials and Performance Analytics through BIM. — Quoted Journals and Conferences

ARCH 6226 Inquiry in Building Performance: This course introduces students to the methods and background for conducting advanced investigations in the field of high performance built environments. The outcome of such inquiry is a comprehensive literature review research paper focusing on a topic of interest of the individual student’s choice within the realm of building performance research.

Community

Current and past students in the HPBL have been typically enrolled in the MS and PhD programs in Architecture at Georgia Tech. However, research synergies with the BSArch, MArch and MSUD can be (and are continuously) established. For information about joining the HPBL, please contact the lab director.

Email Lab Director

Lab Director: Dr. Tarek Rakha

Dr. Rakha leads the lab as an architect, building scientist, and educator who is passionate about built environment performance. His research is funded by entities such as the United States Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). He was recognized by the International Building Performance Simulation Association – USA (IBPSA-USA) through the Emerging Contributor award. Dr. Rakha was also recognized as an educator by the institute’s Student Recognition of Excellence in Teaching: Class of 1934 Award. He serves on the board of the International Symposium on Simulation in Architecture and Urban Design (SimAUD). Before joining Georgia Tech in 2019, Dr. Rakha earned his Ph.D. from MIT and was architectural design and building technology faculty at Syracuse University.

Faculty Profile