Overview
The University of Washington’s Center for Integrated Design (UW CID) is a Research Center operated by the Department of Architecture in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. Its research organization, the Integrated Design Lab (IDL), is a self-sustaining lab that includes interdisciplinary faculty, staff, students, professional collaborators, and partner organizations.
Our mission is to discover solutions that overcome the most difficult building performance barriers, and to meet the building industry’s goals of moving towards radically higher performing buildings and healthy urban environments. We advance our mission through interconnected research, technical assistance, and professional educational and tour programs.
What We Do
Discovery Through Research
The Integrated Design Lab carries out research to advance knowledge and policies that support the healthiest and highest performing buildings and cities. It measures and analyzes modeled and actual building performance data so as to influence the building industry’s understanding of how to radically improve the design and operation performance of buildings. Our performance research includes energy efficiency, daylighting, electric lighting, occupant energy use behavior, human health and productivity in buildings, and advanced building management systems.
Guidance Through Technical Assistance
The Integrated Design Lab transfers the findings of its research through guidance and technical assistance to leading building industry partners. As consultants to project teams across North America, the IDL provides guidance through its advanced modeling and monitoring capabilities in building energy use, integrated lighting, daylighting, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems. These advanced design and engineering skills are transferred to building industry partners through the delivery of radically more sustainable buildings and communities.
Dissemination Through Education and Outreach
The Integrated Design Lab connects its discoveries and the transformative knowledge of others to the building industry and public through education. These offerings include classes, workshops, focus-group meetings, leadership forums, and exhibits of breakthrough technologies intended to transform the market for the highest performing buildings by reaching out and educating current and future leaders on meeting 21st century building performance challenges with the knowledge and policies that favor renewable and regenerative buildings, neighborhoods and cities.
Outcomes
The Integrated Design Lab helps transform the built environment through:
Cities and Buildings
Advance the built environment to deep-green, high performance as the industry norm.
Markets
Achieve the triple bottom line; make it profitable to develop high performance buildings and healthy communities that do no harm to people or the planet.
Policies
Advance awareness and public support for policies that favor high performance buildings, renewable energy, and regenerative built environments.
People
Coalesce knowledge to spark creativity and innovation; to prepare the building industry with the knowledge, skills, and resources to transform the built environment.
