Built Environment
Built Environment research seeks to transform design, construction, and building operational practices to advance high-performance buildings that are more comfortable for people, require less carbon and energy to construct and maintain, and enhance the health and productivity of occupants.
Specific areas of research emphasis at WSU include:
- occupant comfort (thermal and visual)
- adaptive behaviors
- energy efficiency
- high-performance buildings
- human-building interfaces and controls
- management of human satisfaction and behaviors
Personnel
Pouria Bahmani
Assistant Professor
Hongtao Dang
Assistant Professor
Julia Day
Assistant Professor
Director, ID+CL
Associate Director, CMEC
Director, ID+CL
Associate Director, CMEC
Shelby Ruiz
Research Engineer
Projects
Publications
- Multi-Domain Comfort and Environmental Control in Senior Living: Lessons from Older Adult Perspectives Ruiz, S., Day, J., 2025. Multi-Domain Comfort and Environmental Control in Senior Living: Lessons from Older Adult Perspectives, Building and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.113558
- Equitable, ethical, and environmental approaches to building control interfaces Orthel, B. D., & Day, J. K. (2023). Equitable, ethical, and environmental approaches to building control interfaces. Interiors, 13(1), 61–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/20419112.2024.2336342
- Ten questions concerning occupant-centric control and operations Nagy, Z., Gunay, B., Miller, C., Hahn, J., Ouf, M. M., Lee, S., Hobson, B. W., Abuimara, T., Bandurski, K., André, M., Lorenz, C. L., Crosby, S., Dong, B., Jiang, […]
- Communication breakdown: Energy efficiency recommendations to address the disconnect between building operators and occupants Ruiz, S., Day, J. K., Govertsen, K., Kane, M. (2022). Communication Breakdown: The Disconnect between Building Operators and Occupants. Energy Research and Social Science, 91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102719
- Communication Breakdown: The Disconnect between Building Operators and Occupants Ruiz, S., Day, J. K., Govertsen, K., & Kane, M. (2022). Communication Breakdown: The Disconnect between Building Operators and Occupants. Energy Research and Social Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102719
- Toward a user-centered built environment Agee, P., O’brien, W., Day, J., & Brackley, C. (2020). Toward a user-centered built environment. Science and Technology for the Built Environment, 26(9), 1163–1164. https://doi.org/10.1080/23744731.2020.1810380
- Behavior, energy use impacts and occupant comfort. A review of select human-building interfaces and their relationship to human behavior, energy use and occupant comfort Day, J., McIlvennie, C., Brackley, C., Tarantini, M., Piselli, C., Hahn, J., O’Brien, W., Schweiker, M., Subashini Rajus, V., De Simone, M., Baun Kjærgaard, M., Schlüter, A., Peng, Y., Fajilla, […]
- Seeing is believing: an innovative approach to post-occupancy evaluation Day, J.K., Ruiz, S., O’Brien, W. et al. Seeing is believing: an innovative approach to post-occupancy evaluation. Energy Efficiency 13, 473–486 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-019-09817-8
- Oh behave! Survey stories and lessons learned from building occupants in high-performance buildings Day, J., & O’Brien, W. (2017). Oh behave! Survey stories and lessons learned from building occupants in high-performance buildings. Energy Research & Social Science, 31, 11-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.05.037