CUNY Building Performance Lab

CUNY is the nation’s largest public university and plays a critical role in supporting the sustainability of the built environment through research, continuing education, and industry collaboration. Since 2006, the CUNY Institute for Urban Systems’ Building Performance Lab has promoted high-performance building operations for existing commercial and public real estate.

In the area of workforce education:

BPL is the leading provider of Building Operator Certification training in the nation. With the support of the New York State Energy Research and Development Association (NYSERDA) and the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), BPL has trained over 2,000 building operators and engineers — representing municipal, commercial, and hospital facilities — in the energy-saving BOC curriculum. In addition, BPL offers a 5-week course on Building Re-Tuning, an innovative protocol for energy optimization and monitoring to improve building performance. For the commercial property management level, BPL and the Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute developed an online certificate program in Advanced Energy Performance with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy.

In the area of professional development:

BPL runs a successful internship program that has trained 100+ CUNY students for careers in building systems, energy management, and property services. In addition to hands-on experience, students have the opportunity to get intensive training through our annual Energy Boot Camp program. In 2012, we launched the Energy Data Lab, an initiative with the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) that puts students to work analyzing and modeling the energy performance of retrofits in City facilities.

In the area of research:

A major focus of BPL’s work is the effective utilization of Building Automation Systems. BPL researchers developed BASAT, the Building Automation Systems Assessment Tool that is now available in prototype for market testing. CCNY is a member of the Sustainably Integrated Buildings and Sites (SIBS) Center, a National Science Foundation Industry/University Collaborative Research Center, and CIUS/BPL serves as its representative.