Architectural Engineering

Materials Metamorphosis

Susan Glairon — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 20:41:38 +0000

Materials Metamorphosis Susan Glairon Thu, 07/17/2025 - 14:41

At ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ’s Living Materials Lab, Professor Wil Srubar is developing “bioblocks” made from microalgae that use sunlight, seawater and carbon dioxide to grow carbon-negative limestone—offering a sustainable alternative for use in concrete, cement and other building materials.

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Gregor Henze honored as IBPSA fellow for building simulation research

Susan Glairon — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 21:12:31 +0000

Gregor Henze honored as IBPSA fellow for building simulation research Susan Glairon Tue, 07/08/2025 - 15:12

Professor Gregor Henze of ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ's Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering has been named a fellow of the International Building Performance Simulation Association, one of the highest honors in the field. Building performance simulation uses detailed computer models to evaluate how buildings perform under varying conditions, in terms of energy use, carbon emissions and heating and cooling efficiency.

“Receiving this honor is a deeply satisfying affirmation that the community values my contributions to both the science and art of building performance simulation, as well as my efforts to educate the next generation of researchers in the field,” Henze said.

Henze was selected for his pioneering work in model predictive control, which uses mathematical models to predict building system behavior and optimize energy use and comfort; simulation model development, which involves creating and improving mathematical models to explore how buildings respond to factors like weather, utility price signals or occupancy; and building-to-grid integration, which connects buildings to the power grid so the former can respond to electric grid system needs, such as reducing usage during peak times. He is also recognized for his international leadership in research and education.

Charles Kutscher, a Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) fellow and former director of the Buildings and Thermal Systems Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), said in the nomination letter that Henze’s knowledge of building energy modeling and his ability to educate and encourage young staff made him an invaluable contributor to NREL’s building science research efforts.

“I was especially impressed by Professor Henze’s broad knowledge of the international research underway and how he applied that knowledge to the modeling of fifth generation district heating and cooling networks,” Kutscher said, referring to advanced urban energy systems which integrate renewable energy and recover waste heat. “His research resulted in many groundbreaking papers on this leading edge technology.”

Henze is widely recognized for advancing simulation tools and techniques that improve energy efficiency, comfort and grid responsiveness in buildings and urban energy systems. His research portfolio includes more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and spans topics such as advanced building control, data science for energy and buildings, energy flexibility and novel district heating and cooling networks.

Henze is also a co-founder and chief scientist at QCoefficient, Inc., a startup that creates technologies that help buildings proactively manage their energy use in real time to better integrate with the electric grid system operations.

He will be formally recognized in August at the Building Simulation 2025 conference in Brisbane, Australia.

Henze was selected for his groundbreaking work on smart energy control systems, advanced building simulation tools and technologies that connect buildings to the power grid. He is also recognized for his global leadership in research and education.

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Symposium advances structural engineering toward zero carbon

Susan Glairon — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 21:46:14 +0000

Symposium advances structural engineering toward zero carbon Susan Glairon Mon, 07/07/2025 - 15:46

Susan Glairon

��ý�Ļ��Ʒ's Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and the Structural Engineering Institute co-hosted a symposium June 26-27 focused on advancing the structural engineering profession toward zero carbon.

The event, which drew 166 participants to ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ’s campus, marked an industry-wide step toward cutting emissions tied to building materials like steel and concrete, said Assistant Teaching Professor Jay Arehart, the organizer of the event.

“Bringing together people from 65 different companies shows that sustainability isn’t limited to just a few firms—it reflects collective action across the structural engineering profession to drive toward zero carbon,” Arehart said.

Towards Zero Carbon 2025: Summit & Symposium explored design practices and materials that reduce embodied carbon—the greenhouse gases emitted during the production, transport and disposal of building materials. Achieving “zero carbon" means balancing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted with the amount removed from the atmosphere, resulting in no net emissions.

Arehart said he believed it was the largest gathering to date of structural engineers focused on embodied carbon reductions.

Teaching Professor Jay Arehart organized the event,
which attracted 166 participants.

Alexis Feitel, PE, an embodied carbon innovation and technical director with KL&A Structural Engineers in Golden, said KL&A’s entire “Team Carbon” and the company’s CEO attended the event.

“It boosted our embodied carbon technical training and energized us to progress toward zero carbon,” he said.

Utsav Dahal, a ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ PhD student in architectural engineering, said he decided to attend the symposium after taking a life cycle assessment class with Arehart.

“As someone who believes in sustainability—even in mechanical systems—I wanted to learn more about embodied carbon,” said Dahal, whose research focuses on building energy efficiency and the impact of retrofitting existing buildings.

Dahal said the symposium was enriched by the real-world insights from industry professionals, and that he would “definitely recommend this event” to others, noting that carbon reduction is a shared goal across all construction disciplines.

“There’s still a lot to learn,” Dahal added.

The event, which drew 166 participants to ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ’s campus, marked an industry-wide step toward cutting emissions tied to building materials like steel and concrete.

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Four civil and architectural engineering undergraduates win college awards

Susan Glairon — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 18:56:44 +0000

Four civil and architectural engineering undergraduates win college awards Susan Glairon Mon, 04/21/2025 - 12:56

Each of these civil and architectural engineering undergraduates received an award recognizing excellence in one of four areas: community impact, global engagement, academics or research.

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Two department projects funded by the Climate Innovation Collaboratory

Susan Glairon — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 17:18:11 +0000

Two department projects funded by the Climate Innovation Collaboratory Susan Glairon Mon, 04/21/2025 - 11:18

Two department projects funded by the Climate Innovation Collaboratory, an ongoing alliance between Deloitte Consulting LLP and ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ, will develop tools to reduce carbon: one for optimizing data center energy storage, led by Associate Professor Kyri Baker, and one for evaluating local materials in cement, led by Associate Professor Mija Hubler.

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As AI explosion threatens progress on climate change, these researchers are seeking solutions

Susan Glairon — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 22:19:18 +0000

As AI explosion threatens progress on climate change, these researchers are seeking solutions Susan Glairon Fri, 04/18/2025 - 16:19

Associate Professor Kyri Baker, of civil, environmental and architectural engineering, and Professor Bri-Mathias Hodge, of electrical, computer & energy engineering, propose that strategically located data centers with energy storage could operate entirely on clean energy.

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Students' building designs presented at Expo

Susan Glairon — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 15:38:51 +0000

Students' building designs presented at Expo Susan Glairon Tue, 04/15/2025 - 09:38

Susan Glairon

Meet Dana Majer, C6C design team member

What did you learn that will help in your future career?

Our senior design capstone project brought together everything we’ve learned over the past four years—from technical skills to teamwork, to communication, to project management. Collaborating with a team of six, we not only applied our engineering knowledge, but also honed our ability to communicate ideas clearly, listen actively and work effectively as a group. Writing proposals and presenting our work added another layer of professionalism. Seeing our final building and product come together affirmed how these skills will translate directly into our future careers—which is really exciting!

What did you enjoy most about this class?

I enjoyed collaborating with my peers. It was incredibly rewarding to share the excitement of completing our deliverables and presenting our ideas. Spending so many hours together brought us closer, and the camaraderie made the experience even more memorable!

Why are you participating in Expo?

We’ve presented to engineering professionals and faculty. Sharing our work with the broader public will be a new and exciting experience.

��ý�Ļ��Ʒ’s architectural engineering capstone students took on a challenge to design a 20,000-square-foot student support building. Their mission? Create a space for the Business Field on the university's main campus that fosters connection—housing student services, graduate offices, study areas and meeting rooms—while helping to frame the Business Field as a welcoming gateway to campus.

Six student teams tackled the same prompt and delivered six very different designs. They'll present their work to the CU and Boulder communities during the Engineering Projects Expo 2025, held April 25 at the CU Indoor Practice Facility.

The university has no current plans to use the students’ designs to construct the building, but that wasn't the point, said Jay Arehart, an assistant teaching professor and faculty director for architectural engineering. The project mirrors real-world constraints and expectations, offering students a hands-on experience in turning ideas into concrete solutions, he said.

Arehart leads the senior design class, emphasizing its pivotal role in his students' education. In earlier courses, students focus on designing individual systems, such as steel structures, he said. However, the senior design class challenges them to integrate these components into a single, cohesive building.

Assistant Teaching Professor Jay Arehart

"They're having to problem solve and work to balance the design objective of multiple disciplines," Arehart said. "They need to think about the lighting design, the cost of the different systems, the sustainability impacts. The class is about putting a whole building together holistically, not just designing a system in isolation."

During the capstone class, a panel of industry professionals gave feedback on students’ technical presentations at three key points during the academic year. Expo, he said, offers students a chance to present their work to a broader, less technical audience.

"Expo is a chance to give an elevator pitch about their design and not get deep in the weeds," he said. "Instead, they're zooming out and thinking, 'What does this project mean for this person asking questions?'"

Learn more about our undergraduate architectural engineering program

Architectural engineers focuses on the design and construction of safe and sustainable buildings. They are creative problem solvers meeting the challenges of energy needs, building systems and community planning. While architectural engineers work with architects, they are engineers – not architects.

Team 1: Unified Engineers

Cindia Denova Garduno, Ammar Alqallaf, Colin Finnerty, Yousef Alqallaf, Daniela Brown and Jassim Almossallam

Description

To support the growth and dynamic needs of CU’s student community, the Student Success Center serves as a cornerstone of campus life-architecturally rooted by the iconic Flatirons and the surrounding Brutalist architectural style of the Engineering Center. Designed as a LEED Gold-performing faculty, it provides occupants with a comfortable indoor environment achieved through sustainable practices that align with CU Campus carbon reduction goals. The Student Success Center provides student-tailored spaces such as classrooms, meeting rooms, study spaces and a light-filled atrium that fosters collaboration, academic success and inclusivity.

Team 2: KWT Team 2024

Sarah AlRubaie, Maha Madooh, Sherifa Aldharman, Maryam Alfeeli and Sadan Almukhtar

Description

Our building design creates a welcoming and functional community space that seamlessly blends aesthetics. The structure features a dynamic mix of traditional and modern elements, including a large glass curtain wall that maximizes daylighting and enhances visual connectivity between interior and exterior spaces. The sloped roof design and varying volumes help define different program areas while supporting passive solar strategies. Unique to our solution is the emphasis on openness and accessibility highlighted by multiple entry points, outdoor seating and a transparent atrium that invites collaboration and engagement. Our group’s goal was to foster inclusivity, promote natural light use and prioritize energy efficiency, resulting in a design that serves both environmental and social functions.

Team 3: C6C Design

Dana Majer, Macy Will, Ryleigh Taylor, Alex Pentecost, Lars Chang and Josh Kilareski.

Description

Our 25,000-square-foot Student Success Center includes 10 classrooms, a variety of study spaces, an open atrium and an interior and exterior roof terraces to support students, staff and visitors. The design blurs the boundaries between the building and site, instructing and learning and tradition and advancement. The team worked to achieve LEED Platinum and low embodied carbon by considering a multitude of factors, including indoor air quality, materiality and optimized energy usage.

Team 4: Kuwait

Alaa Alnajar, Yaqoub Salem, Nourah AlTaher, Sarah Aldhafiri, Deema Alhouli, Shekhah Alkhudhari

Description

Our 22,000-square-foot Student Success Center is designed to assist a variety of learning and interaction styles. The building includes 14 classrooms, four meeting rooms and two open study spaces. The exterior building maintains a modern aesthetic while using ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ's characteristic sandstone to link the structure to the architectural identity of the university. Large glazing lets in natural light and provides stunning views of the Flatirons, providing a stimulating setting for students. The elevated bridge linking the two wings of the Student Success Center is a major distinguishing feature of our design, offering easy access between areas and improving the general user experience. The building's bold geometry, open circulation and careful integration of indoor and outdoor areas reflects our project objectives to promote student success, enhance community and honor the natural and architectural character of ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ.

Team 5: Trussworthy Engineers

Brayden Gurien, Rebeca Perez, Kai Cunha, Cami Campbell, Maja Sakiewicz, Caroline Mumm

Description

The TRUS Building at the University of Colorado Boulder blends adaptability, sustainability and innovation through an integrated design process to meet the evolving needs of students and staff. Energy-efficient systems and sustainable materials used in the building align with ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ’s long-term environmental goals, including LEED Gold certification and carbon reduction. Unique features like curved entrances, a central atrium and large windows framing stunning views of the Flatirons create a strong connection between the built environment and its natural surroundings. The TRUS Building also promotes inclusivity with all-gender restrooms, ADA-compliant facilities and wellness spaces. Designed for future expansion, it will remain a functional, innovative space for decades, offering a forward-thinking solution to the university’s needs.

Team 6: Six-Pack Drill Thrillers

George Kurz, Jason Pelzel, Gianni Carbonaro, Erik Eisenrich, Dominick Gomez, Kale Dohrman

Description

The Center for Learning and Innovation (CLI) Building is a proposed 21,000- square-foot classroom building with a central atrium branching to three stories of classrooms, offices and study spaces. The central atrium is a unique addition to the CU vernacular, providing a communal space promoting the intermixing of students. Steel columns rise from the ground 48 feet into the air and connect into the steel beams that support elevated concrete slabs on each story. Additionally, an overhang on the east end provides cover from the elements for students waiting for the CU buses on Regent Drive. The CLI’s structural systems will primarily be made with recycled steel where applicable and fly ash concrete to reduce the carbon footprint. Each classroom and building zone feature its own heat pump and temperature controls, ensuring maximum thermal comfort in each space any time of year. The lighting design features efficient and tasteful fixtures that improve the efficiency of the building and support the health of students.

Team 7

Sanbebablic Alnaser

Description

Our goal was to design a building that blends with campus buildings and achieves LEED Gold certification. The building was planned with privacy and flexibility spanning three floors. The ground floor consists of 5,000-square-feet of south and west-side classrooms to accommodate 30 to 55 students, a 1,000-square-foot study room and an 800-square-foot lobby and reception space for easy access to the facilities. The second-floor accommodates 5,000-square-feet of classroom space for small groups, 1,500-square-feet of faculty office space and 500-square-feet of meeting rooms. The third floor has quiet study spaces with 1,500-square-feet and 4,000-square-feet for senior faculty and administrative offices and 500-square-feet of large meeting rooms. The structure is constructed using a reinforced concrete frame system for strength, flexibility and economy.

Seven teams from the architectural engineering capstone class presented their 20,000-square-foot student support building designs at the 2025 Engineering Projects Expo.

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Wil Srubar’s lab is full of living materials

Susan Glairon — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 00:29:05 +0000

Wil Srubar’s lab is full of living materials Susan Glairon Mon, 03/03/2025 - 17:29

Wil Srubar's aim is to break the reliance on fossil fuels in concrete production by developing a nature-inspired alternative that eliminates the need for fossil fuels and significantly reduces carbon emissions.

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��ý�Ļ��Ʒ researchers harness nature to create living optical materials

Susan Glairon — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 15:20:21 +0000

��ý�Ļ��Ʒ researchers harness nature to create living optical materials Susan Glairon Tue, 01/21/2025 - 08:20

Susan Glairon

Photo caption: Optical image of living microlenses. Engineered microbes focus light that pass through a thin layer of glass that forms on their surface. Courtesy of Lynn Sidor, Meyer Lab, University of Rochester.

��ý�Ļ��Ʒ’s Living Materials Laboratory played a key role in studying tiny bioglass lenses that were designed to form on the surface of engineered microbes, a scientific breakthrough that could pave the way for groundbreaking imaging technologies in both medical and commercial applications.

The project, led by the University of Rochester and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was inspired by the enzymes secreted by sea sponges that help them grow glass-like silica shells. The shells are lightweight, durable and enable the sea sponges to thrive in harsh marine environments.

“By engineering microbes to display these same enzymes, our collaborators were able to form glass on the cell surface, which turned the cells into living microlenses,” said Wil Srubar, a coauthor of the paper and professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and the Materials Science and Engineering Program. “This is a terrific example of how learning and applying nature’s design principles can enable the production of advanced materials.”

Professor Wil Srubar

Using imaging and X-ray techniques, ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ researchers analyzed the silica, also known as “bioglass,” and quantified the amount surrounding different bacterial strains. The ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ researchers demonstrated that bacteria engineered to form bioglass spheres contained significantly higher silica levels than non-engineered strains. Combined with optics data, the results confirmed that bacteria could be bioengineered to create bioglass microlenses with excellent light-focusing properties.

Microlenses are very small lenses that are only a few micrometers in size—about the size of a single human cell and designed to capture and focus or manipulate light into intense beams at a microscopic scale. Because of their small size, microlenses are typically difficult to create, requiring complex, expensive machinery and extreme temperatures or pressures to shape them accurately and achieve the desired optical effects.

The small size of the bacterial microlenses makes them ideal for creating high-resolution image sensors, particularly biomedical imaging, allowing sharper visualization of subcellular features like protein complexes. In materials science, these microlenses can capture detailed images of nanoscale materials and structures. In diagnostics, they provide clearer imaging of microscopic pathogens like viruses and bacteria, leading to more accurate identification and analysis.

The University of Rochester contributed to this report.

��ý�Ļ��Ʒ’s Living Materials Laboratory contributed to groundbreaking research showing how engineered microbes can create bioglass microlenses, paving the way for advanced imaging technologies in medicine and materials science.

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Optical image of living microlenses. Engineered microbes focus light that pass through a thin layer of glass that forms on their surface. Photo courtesy of Lynn Sidor, The Meyer Lab, University of Rochester.

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Three department-affiliated teams awarded $125K each in Lab Venture Challenge

Susan Glairon — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 19:57:32 +0000

Three department-affiliated teams awarded $125K each in Lab Venture Challenge Susan Glairon Wed, 11/20/2024 - 12:57

Susan Glairon

Three professors from the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering were among 10 teams of University of Colorado Boulder faculty, researchers and graduate student innovators awarded $125,000 each in this year’s Lab Venture Challenge (LVC).

This year, 14 teams of University of Colorado Boulder faculty, researchers and graduate student innovators competed for a combined $1.25 million in startup funding grants. Judges from ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ’s entrepreneurial network heard Shark-Tank-style pitches across two nights, one for innovations in biosciences and another for physical sciences and engineering.

LVC supports projects that address a commercial need, have a clear path to a compelling market and have strong scientific support. The LVC grants are funded by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) Advanced Industries Program, as well as Venture Partners at ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ and the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund.

Professor Mark Hernandez, Emmalee Biesiada, a postdoctoral associate in the Hernandez Aerobiology Laboratory, and Steve Hughes, CEO of SteriO3, won in the biosciences division for their work on Peroxide Enhanced Germicidal Irradiation (PEGI) technology, which quickly inactivates microbial contaminants at low temperature. With LVC funding, the team plans to develop compact, portable sterilization systems for medical instruments, including those made with 3D-printed materials.

“I look forward to overseeing the progression of PEGI from the laboratory into real-world applications in emergency medicine,” Biesiada said.

The team envisions the portable sterilization technology being used by emergency medical technicians and paramedics, as well as by disaster response agencies like the Red Cross. Biesiada, who developed the technology during her doctoral studies at ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ, said the team has also been in communication with Army and Navy groups interested in using PEGI for surgical instrument sterilization in combat field medicine. Additionally, the technology has potential applications in veterinary medicine for on-site treatment of animals that cannot be easily transported to a clinic, she said.

Professor Gregor Henze, along with Galen Williams and Gerry Conroy, received the award for Whisper Energy, a wireless, battery-free sensor fusion platform tailored for small to medium-sized commercial buildings. Using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and machine learning, Whisper Energy aims to significantly reduce energy consumption by providing real-time data to optimize energy use and reduce emissions. Developed with a $2 million ARPA-E grant, the technology promises cost-effective sensing of occupancy and indoor environmental conditions, low-cost energy and emission savings in buildings that have been historically difficult to retrofit.

“The award will allow further refinement of the technology, tailoring it to new use cases, and building a series of prototypes for demonstration purposes,” Henze said.

Assistant Professor Tony Straub and Kian Lopez, a chemical engineering PhD student, won for their startup OsmoPure Technologies, which is developing a membrane for advanced water treatment.The technology uses pressure-driven distillation, rather than heat, to produce high-purity water with 10 times greater energy efficiency. The startup has been developing its technology for water recycling systems on NASA-crewed space missions. LVC funding will enable them to expand into ultrapure water systems for semiconductor manufacturing and other industrial applications.

Three professors — Mark Hernandez, Gregor Henze and Tony Straub — were each awarded $125,000 with their researchers and graduate student innovators in this year’s Lab Venture Challenge for University of Colorado Boulder faculty start-ups.

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Architectural Engineering

Materials Metamorphosis

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Gregor Henze honored as IBPSA fellow for building simulation research

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Symposium advances structural engineering toward zero carbon

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Four civil and architectural engineering undergraduates win college awards

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Two department projects funded by the Climate Innovation Collaboratory

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As AI explosion threatens progress on climate change, these researchers are seeking solutions

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Students' building designs presented at Expo

What did you learn that will help in your future career?

What did you enjoy most about this class?

Why are you participating in Expo?

Team 1: Unified Engineers

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Team 2: KWT Team 2024

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Team 3: C6C Design

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Team 4: Kuwait

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Team 5: Trussworthy Engineers

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Team 6: Six-Pack Drill Thrillers

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Team 7

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Wil Srubar’s lab is full of living materials

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����������ý�Ļ���Ʒ researchers harness nature to create living optical materials

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Three department-affiliated teams awarded $125K each in Lab Venture Challenge

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��ý�Ļ��Ʒ researchers harness nature to create living optical materials