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Research

Join research that’s shaping the future of sustainable engineering. At the US-ASEAN Green Building Hub, students work alongside faculty and global partners to develop innovative solutions for energy-efficient buildings, resilient infrastructure, renewable energy, and low-carbon construction—gaining hands-on experience while making a real-world impact.

Hempcrete & Hemp Brick in Thailand

Objectives:

The project aims to support the development and applications of Thailand-sourced hempcrete by achieving the following three objectives:

  • Explore the use of different binder materials such as Thailand-sourced clay and lime and investigate their impact on hempcrete performance.
  • Analyze the performance of hempcrete created from hemp hurds sourced from Thailand and various binder materials by conducting laboratory tests. Key performance characteristics that will be examined include thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, and water permeability.
  • Spread knowledge about hempcrete to various stakeholders, including students, hemp farmers, and processors.

Impact of Greenwall on Building Energy Use and Urban Heat Island

Objectives:

The project aims to support the design and construction of greenwalls in Indonesia by achieving the following major objectives:

  • Investigate the thermal performance of greenwall based on field measurements. The green wall and the associated irrigation system are to be built on the east wing of the building for the Department of Architecture and Planning, GMU.
  • Investigate the potential of wide application of greenwalls to improve the microclimate in large cities based on modeling and simulation.

Outcome:

Passive Building Design for Kampungs

Objectives:

This project aims to comprehensively study the demography of Indonesian housing and develop a low-cost, affordable prototype that emphasizes energy efficiency and occupants’ comfort by incorporating passive design strategies. Specifically, the project has the following objectives:

  • Study existing housing patterns and understand the needs of the Indonesian people. This includes analyzing the current state of residential housing, identifying key challenges, and exploring the requirements and preferences of the population.
  • Develop a base-case prototype that reasonably represents the characteristics and features of typical Indonesian housing, based on findings from a comprehensive literature review.
  • Upgrade the base-case prototype using passive design strategies.
  • Conduct simulations and obtain results for the specific prototype design.

Outcome:

Thesis

Pavan Kumar Amarakonda 2024. Applying passive design strategies to improve thermal comfort and energy efficiency for low-income housing in Indonesia. Master Thesis. University of North Carolina at Charlotte.