Structures and Environmental Technologies Lab (SET), College of Architecture + The Arts, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA. SET Structures and Environmental Technologies Lab. Leadership role in developing, planning, proposing and securing the SET lab ‐ an applied research, design and educational facility for advancing knowledge in the area of environmental and structural technologies and design. Project Team PI’s and Co-Directors: Thomas Spiegelhalter, Shahin Vassigh. Department Chair: John Stuart; Deans: Adam Drisin, Brian Schriner.

The EU Research Collaboration Initiatives for new materials & new production technologies, Department DITAC, University of Chieti, Pescara“ G. D’Annunzio”; Department IDEA, University of Chieti, Pescara“G. D’Annunzio”, Italy; Department PRICOS, University of Chieti – Pescara“G. D’Annunzio”, Italy; University of Leipzig, Applied Science, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture (Lewitzki-Spiegelhalter), Germany with USC, L.A., USA

Sustainable Infrastructure Assessment, and Near-Term Action Master-Plan for the Island of Catalina, Southern California,. Project size: 194.19 km2. Clients: Sustainability Action Group Catalina Island, PI Infrastructure: Dr. M. Bernstein, PI Avalon Buildings: T. Spiegelhalter.

US-China Workshop for Cyber Enabled, User Oriented, Interoperability Modeling for Engineering Sustainable Built Environments,Beijing. NSF Award #: 1207807 and 1242177. (12/11-11/13). PI: Yong X. University of North Texas; Tao, CO-PI’s and SI’s: Yi Jiang, Tsinghua University, China; Khee Poh Lam, Architecture, CMU; Thomas Spiegelhalter, Architecture, FIU; Yimin Zhu, FIU; William Tolone, UNC; Hongwei Tan, Tongji University, China; Rick Nader, UNT; Da Yan (Workshop manager) Tsinghua University, China; Mirsad Hadzikadic, UNCCU, Carol Menassa, WISC, Richard Feiock, FSU, Kun Deng, Prabir Barooah, Ingman Stan, Yiding Cao, Dave Cartes

The purpose of the workshop was to develop a research agenda centered on bottlenecks in engineering, software and social sciences, forming a nexus of critical issues impeding wider application of net-zero-energy (NZE) building technology. Achievements from the existing research and development initiatives and best-practices from U.S. and China provide a foundation for robust future collaboration among the next generation of energy-engineering researchers from both countries as the top energy consumers and CO2 emitters on the global scale.


An Open-Source Integrated Computing Infrastructure to Support the Life Cycle Design and Engineering of High Performance Building. FIU-CEC Seed Grant Award (Project ID: 800000879): Case Study - FIU-SIPA campus building. Interdisciplinary Research: FIU-PI: Shu-Ching Chen, SCIS; Co-PI’s: Thomas Spiegelhalter, ARC; Yimin Zhu, CM; Scott Graham, SCIS Steve Luis, SCIS; Nezih Pala, ECE; Shahin Vassigh, ARC

Environmental Management System Implementation (EMS) and Post-Occupancy-Monitoring at the School of Architecture, USC, 2010 and 2030 Sustainability Initiative, Los Angeles, USC-FFEII Applied Research Grant. In progress

Solar Decathlon China Competition. Joint Project of Tsinghua University (THU), Beijing, in China and Florida International University, Miami, USA. Advisory Faculty: FIU Department of Construction Management: Yimin Zhu; FIU-Architecture: M. Nepochemie, Thomas Spiegelhalter; FIU. FIU Department of Electrical Engineering: N. Pala; FIU Department of Mechanical Engineering: Chen-Xia Lin.Source: US DOE, National Energy Administration China (Subcontract through Tsinghua University)

DOE/ NREL Solar Decathlon 2011 Competition. Application Phase Sustainability Graduate Spring Studio 2010 Submission (Phase 2) (With students and faculty in architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, Mechanical engineering, civil/environmental engineering, construction management, and journalism) Principal Investigator: Marilys R. Nepomechie, Co-Principal Investigators: Camilo Rosales, Thomas Spiegelhalter, Shahin Vassigh, Roberto Rovira, Sarah Sherman, Yong Tao, Girma Bitsuamlak, Yimin Zhu. November 2009 –December 2011. Grant: $100,000. Total Solar Decathlon House Cost incl. travelling, accommodation: approximate $750,000

Multihabitable Modular Units Smart Technology (MUST), Research Application Collaboration of nine EU-Universities for new materials & new production technologies. Coordination: DiTAC, Pescara. Joint research effort: DITAC, University of Chieti, Pescara, G. D’Annunzio; Department IDEA, D’Annunzio”; Department PRICOS, Italy; HTWK Leipzig, Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture. PI’s: T. Spiegelhalter, W. Lewitzki, Project status: pending


The EU URBACT Program for the re-development of cities and neighborhoods towards energy efficient housing models. Collaboration with Prof. Gianmichele Panarelli, DiTAC (Department of Technologies for the Built Environment) at the University of Pescara, Italy http://urbact.eu/projects/sudest/organisation/members/university-of-pescara.html

Numerous post-occupancy building monitoring research projects for the European Building Energy Passport Certification Process in Germany

USC-Urban Initiative Policy Briefing Award for the project “Towards Sustainable Urban Housing Bridging The Gap Between Community Design and Adaptable Technology”, USA

Research and Realization Project Solar-Zero-Fossil-Energy-Building Prototype Development for Designing, Engineering and Building a Self-Sufficient Solar-Plus-Energy-Building as a Testing and Demons-tration Facility in L.A., Exposition Park, Seed funding by DOE and NREL, USA http://www.usc.edu/dept/architecture/SbPr/index.html

USC-Undergraduate Research Fund (SURG) Solar-Zero-Fossil-Energy-Building-Development-Project, USA

Post-Occupancy-Monitoring-Solar-Thermie, PV and Low-Energy-Performance-Evaluation, Building Energy Passport, Solar Town Houses, Freiburg, Germany

Post-Occupancy-Monitoring-Solar-Thermie, PV and Low-Energy-Performance-Evaluation, Building Energy Passport, Solar Town Houses, Freiburg, Germany

USC-Urban Iniative Research Grant: Sustainable Housing. Bridging the Gap Between Community Design and Adaptable Technology, USA

USC-Solar-Zero-Fossil-Energy-Prototype-Development for a solar powered live/work environment, Exposition Park Los Angeles, Southern California, USA

National Research and Realization Project "Solar Decathlon" for Designing, De-veloping and Building a Self-Sufficient Solar-Plus- Energy-House on the National Mall with interactive Demonstration Systems, Washington, D.C. 2002, Sponsoring: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, EPA, BP and others; Coordination of interdisciplinary Architecture, Engineering, Design, and HCI Human Computer Interaction students and professionals

International Solar City Program Frame-work for Sustainable Communities for Pittsburgh / USA, IEA-Task 30, ISES Sub-task-A: Solar City Community Strate-gies and sustainable urban infrastructure development and dissemination Sub-task-B: Sustainable targets, baseline studies, and scenario building Sub-task-C: Urban renewable energy tech-nology, systems and industry development

Cooperation in the Intelligent Workplace, a Living Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University, Plug and Play Technologies, Or-ganizational Flexibili ty, Technological Adap-tability, Sustainability, Advanced Materials, HVAC, Interior Interface & Infrastructure Design, Lighting and Telecommunication Components

Participation in the U.S. - traveling exhibition of the Copper-Hewitt-National Design Museum New York and Washington DC, "Under The Sun –An Outdoor Exhibition” (Contribution Solar Architecture Sculpture): Under the sun is made possible by BP Solar, BP America and Science Across The World, U.S. Department to Outdoor exhi-bition of Light - Introduction To Building Inte-grated Photovoltaic of Energy, U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency and others

Project "Built school environment interiors", project for teachers to show the experimental development of ecological acceptable products and building cons-tructions in the built school environ-ment, academy of the Architect Organization of Hessian Rolf Toyka and Wüstenrot-Foun-dation, Klett publishing house Stuttgart, test run at Hessian schools until 1998, Germany

Research leader in the research “Develop-ment project of applications in solar energy systems” in cooperation with Fraunhofer's Institute for Solar Energy Sys-tems Leipzig-Freiburg (Promoted Research Project by the Saxon Ministry of State, Germany, §350.000 US)

Cooperation with the "Italiana Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II, Diparti-mento Di Progettazione Urbana", Sezione Tecnologia e ambiente Arch. Carlo Truppi in the research project "The Transfer Techno-logy (M.U.R.S.T.) – Architecture and Light-ness (Architettura e leggerezza)", Published by Maggioli Editore, Naples, Italy, 1998

Research Project “Intelligent Buildings” at University of Kaiserslautern, Department of architecture, town & environmental planning and civil engineering, Published by Pub-lishing House Juergen Haeuser, Darmstadt, Germany,

Paul Cejas Initiative Research Grant “No Architectural School Left Behind – NET-Zero Energy and Water Masterplan.”Whole tropical building climate analysis, 3D-parametric-algorithmic scenario modelling and master planning for the transformation of the PCA to a tropical efficient Net-Zero Energy and Water Building complex. PI: Thomas Spiegelhalter; Research Assistant: Rufino Gil

Thomas Spiegelhalter has realized research demonstration work in Europe and the US in numerous contextualsolar, zero-fossil-energy, passive and low-energy building realizations projects; large-scale sustainability master planning and consultancies, redevelopment projects for abandoned post-industrial architectures and landscapes, engineered suspension bridges, preservation, and revitalization projects.

Many of his completed projects have been published in International anthologies of European and American Architecture such in "Contemporary European Architects, Volume V," 1997, Building a New Millennium 1999-2000", both Benedict Taschen Publisher, in "Solar Architecture for Europe, Publisher Birkhäuser, 1996, in "The Architectural Review, on "Ecology and Architecture,” in 1998, in“Architectural Record- "DESIGN VANGUARD AWARD 2003 or in the monograph "Adaptable Technologies - Le tecnologie adattabili nelle architetture di Thomas Spiegelhalter” by Franco Angeli Publisher, Rome, in 2008.

Spiegelhalter includes in his master planning, research, and consultation projects multiple sustainability measurement criteria systems such as the ISO 9000/14000 standards, IEA Solar City, the European Building Energy Performance Certificate Methodology, the World GBC, UK BREEAM, CASBEE, DNGB, Energy Star, Cascadia, and the USGBC LEED rating systems.

Since 1990, he has worked with numerous EU and US Universities to research on multi-disciplinary ecological engineering projects in Europe and in the US. As a result of his 20 years of design and built work, professional consulting, awarded research, teaching, Spiegelhalter has received 52 prizes, awards, and honors in European and US sustainability competitions individual and in collaboration with landscape architects, and engineers.

He lectured and contributed at over hundred international conferences, design charettes, exhibitions, and workshops about Environmental Design in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Australia since 1989. He was a professor of the Center of Building Performance, and Diagnostics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and Cass Gilbert Visiting Professor for Innovations in Sustainable Solar and Renewable Energy in Architecture, University of Minnesota, Center for Sustainable Building Research, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He was awarded with a tenured University professorship at the University of Hanover and at the University of Applied Science, Leipzig in 1992, and he was an assistant professor at the University of Kaiserslautern, all in Germany. He was a DAAD-visiting professor at the University of Houston and a visiting professor at the Universidad del Desino in San Jose, Costa Rica. Since 2003, he is teaching and researching at the University of Southern California, Sustainability Systems Integration Design Studios, Thesis, and courses on “Sustainability in the Environment: Infrastructures, operative Landscapes and Buildings”, and “Architectural Sustainability Tools and Methods”.


Emerging Workflows, Techniques, and Design Protocols for Carbon-Neutral Buildings. Session Topic Chair and Call for Peer Reviewed Research Papers at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the U.S. Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture under the topic “GLOBALIZING ARCHITECTURE / Flows and Disruptions.” Co-chairs: John Stuart, Florida International University & Mabel Wilson, Columbia University. Location: Miami Beach, FL, USA, April 2014.