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Person: Hyun Woo "Chris" Lee

Energy & Sustainability in Construction (ESC) Lab

The Energy and Sustainability in Construction (ESC) Lab promotes energy efficiency and sustainability (EES) in the built environment through the development of sustainable design, innovative project delivery practices, and risk-based financial models for EES investments. Our work focuses on integrating advanced financial analysis, project development, and management strategies to enhance the delivery of energy-efficient buildings and sustainable infrastructure.
Through innovative solutions, the ESC Lab addresses complex challenges in current project development practices that slow the transition toward a more sustainable society. Our research spans a wide range of critical areas, including commercial energy retrofits, community solar projects, green datacenters, healthy commercial buildings, and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. By tackling these pressing issues, the ESC Lab is at the forefront of driving transformative changes in the built environment.

Financial and Management Questions that Lead to Sustainable Solutions

The ESC Lab targets to help project stakeholders evaluate the risks and rewards of energy efficiency and sustainability (EES) investments by addressing some of the industry’s most pressing financial and management challenges, including:

  • What policies, financing mechanisms, and project delivery systems best support the advancement of EES?
  • How can we categorize and accurately model the unique risks associated with EES investments?
  • What analytical modeling methods can be applied to ensure the effective implementation of EES measures in projects?
  • How can we optimize investment strategies to balance environmental benefits with financial returns?
  • What best practices can enhance stakeholder engagement and collaboration to drive successful EES project outcomes?

Pursuing Innovative Solutions to Energy Efficiency and Sustainability

The ESC Lab has developed a series of analytical models and evaluation practices that facilitate the effective delivery of energy-efficient commercial buildings and sustainable infrastructure, including:

  • Cost and power demand model for electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure
  • Conceptual cost and carbon estimating model for mass timber structure
  • Energy-Related Risk Management in Integrated Project Delivery
  • Phased Investment for Energy Retrofit (PIER)
  • Energy Retrofit Loan Analysis Model (ERLAM)
  • An optimized portfolio analysis for community-based photovoltaic investment

ESC Research Funders and Selected Projects:

  • UW Clean Energy Institute: “Equitable Public Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Expansion—From the Tribal Community Perspective”
  • King County Metro–Sound Transit–Seattle City Light: “Electrified Mobility Hubs: A Blueprint for the Future of Transit Infrastructure”
  • UW Global Innovation Fund: “Mitigating Effects of Future Pandemics with the Use of Risk-Responsive Building Codes: A Developing Country Framework”
  • King County Metro: “Evaluation of a Public/Private Partnership (P3) Model for Bus Base Electrification”
  • UW CBE INSPIRE Fund: “Investigating the Health Requirements and Risk-Responsiveness Criteria in Office Building Codes for Mitigating COVID-19 and Future Airborne Diseases”
  • UW CBE INSPIRE Fund: “Investigating Energy Justice in Washington State in Terms of Photovoltaic (PV) Systems and Electric Vehicle (EV) Chargers”
  • Google: “A Proposal to Grow a Greener Data Center with Google”
  • UW Population Health: “Economic Impact of Office Workplace Transformation due to COVID-19: How Can Buildings and Surrounding Areas Recover?”
  • UW Transportation: “UW Transportation Electrification and Solar Study”
  • RERI–LBNL–DOE: “Effect of Energy Benchmarking and Disclosure on Office Building Marketability”
  • Pankow–Skanska–Oregon DEQ: “Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for Low Carbon Construction Commercial Office Building MEP & Interiors Data”
  • BE Innovation: “Impact of Energy Benchmarking and Disclosure on the Performance of Office Buildings”

Selected Journal Publications:

  • Min, Y. and Lee, H.W. (2024). “Adoption Inequalities and Causal Relationship between Residential Electric Vehicle Chargers and Heat Pumps.” ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 04024025.
  • Min, Y. and Lee, H.W. (2024). “Quantifying Clean Energy Justice: Impact of Solarize Programs on Rooftop Solar Disparities in the Pacific Northwest.” Sustainable Cities and Society, 105287.
  • Shang, L., Dermisi, S., Choe, Y., Lee, H.W., and Min, Y. (2023). “Assessing the Office Building Marketability Before and After the Implementation of Energy Benchmarking and Disclosure Policies – Lessons Learned from Major US Cities.” Sustainability, 15(11), 8883.
  • Min, Y. and Lee, H.W. (2023). “Characterization of Vulnerable Communities in Terms of the Benefits and Burdens of the Energy Transition in Pacific Northwest Cities.” Journal of Cleaner Production, 135949.
  • Min, Y., Lee, H.W., and Hurvitz, P.M.  (2023). “Clean Energy Justice: Different Adoption Characteristics of Underserved Communities in Rooftop Solar and Electric Vehicle Chargers in Seattle.” Energy Research and Social Science, 96(1), 102931.
  • Su, S., Li, X., Zhu, C., Lu, Y., and Lee, H.W. (2021). “Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment: A Review of Research for Temporal Variations in Life Cycle Assessment Studies.” Environmental Engineering Science, 38(11).
  • Droguett, B. X. R., Huang, M., Lee, H.W., Simonen, K., and Ditto, J. (2020). “Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Tenant Improvements Over the Building Lifetime: Estimating Material Quantities and Embodied Carbon for Climate Change Mitigation.” Energy and Buildings, 226, 110324.
  • Ho, C., Lee, H.W., and Gambatese, J. (2020). “Application of Prevention through Design (PtD) to Improve the Safety of Solar Installations on Small Buildings.” Safety Science, 125, 104633.
  • Gomez Cunya, L.A., Fardhosseini, M.S., Lee, H.W., and Choi, K. (2020). “Analyzing Investments in Flood Protection Structures: A Real Options Approach.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 43(2), 101377.
  • Shang, L., Lee H.W., Dermisi, S., and Choe, Y., (2020). “Impact of Energy Benchmarking and Disclosure Policy on Office Buildings.” Journal of Cleaner Production, 250, 119500.
  • Shakouri, M., Lee, H.W., and Kim, Y.-W. (2017). “A Probabilistic Portfolio-based Model for Financial Valuation of Community Solar.” Applied Energy, 191(1), 709-726.
  • Shakouri, M. and Lee, H.W. (2016). “Mean-Variance Portfolio Analysis Data for Optimizing Community-based Photovoltaic Investment.” Data in Brief, 6(1), 840-842.\

Current and Former Lab Members:

  • Abdul-Razak Alidu
  • Byungju Jeon
  • Chitika Vasudeva
  • Yohan Min
  • Matt Wiggins
  • Novi T.I. Bramono
  • Yong-Hyuk Oh
  • Chuou Zhang
  • Jonghyeob Kim
  • Wenqi Zhu
  • Julie Knorr
  • Zhila Mohammady

 

Center for Education and Research in Construction

The Center for Education and Research in Construction (CERC) is a locus of research, scholarship and discovery in the University of Washington’s Department of Construction Management and allied disciplines of architecture, engineering and real estate. Focused on the people and practices of a dynamic, innovative construction industry, CERC develops new concepts and innovative solutions as well as improves methodologies for design, construction and operations. 

With labs focused on Safety and Health, Project Delivery and Management, Virtual Design and Construction, Infrastructure Development, and Sustainable Built Environments, the CERC faculty are not only experts and researchers in a wide array of topics, but also lead the field in translating that expertise into excellent construction education practices and pedagogy to train tomorrow’s construction professionals.

CERC develops and delivers continuing education for professionals within the built environment disciplines. Examples of past and ongoing partnerships include those with Skanska and the National Electrical Contractors Association. In addition, the Center supports the Department of Construction Management (CM) by hosting meetings of the program’s advisory council (CIAC), graduate and undergraduate classes, and teaching laboratories.  

With generous support from the local construction industry, the Department of Construction Management took on an ambitious project to develop a research and education center at the old naval base at Sand Point located in Magnuson Park, Seattle, WA near the University of Washington’s main campus. The facility features more than 25,000 square feet of space on two levels, providing a home for the Center for Education and Research in Construction.

Labs associated with CERC include:

  • PDM Lab
  • LCR Lab
  • ESC Lab
  • CTOP Lab
  • SHARE Lab

CTOP Lab supports the Internet of Things (IoT) project, studying devices which are increasingly a standard component of buildings. As these sensors are connected to the internet and networked to building technology (such as heating and lights), they introduce potential security vulnerabilities. Although technical solutions exist to counter security issues, implementation of these solutions are often impeded by the challenges that an organization’s Information Technology (IT) staff and a building’s Operations and Maintenance (O&M) staff have when they work closely together and share their knowledge about computer security and how buildings operate. These difficulties arise from different ways of working and different points of view about how technology works. These challenges, in combination with a policy environment that rarely regulates IoT devices, increases risk, leaving buildings vulnerable to attack.

This project will address these challenges by studying two critical areas: (1) how O&M and IT groups currently share their knowledge and skills in order to improve IoT security and (2) how public policies and an organization’s own rules regarding privacy and security impact how IT and O&M collaborate. The results of this study will generate knowledge around how IT and O&M professionals can work more effectively together to improve the security of our nation’s buildings and offer insights into how public policy may affect professional cybersecurity collaboration to manage IoT risk.

This project is a joint venture of the Communication, Technology, and Organizational Practices (CTOP) Lab as well as the Cyber-BE lab.

Hyun Woo “Chris” Lee

Hyun Woo “Chris” Lee is a PD Koon Endowed Associate Professor in the Department of Construction Management (CM). Prior to joining the CM Department in January 2016, he spent 3.5 years as an Assistant Professor at Oregon State University, and 7 years in the U.S. and Korean construction industries as field engineer, project engineer, and estimator. He received his B.S. in Architectural Engineering from Seoul National University in 1999, and his M.S. and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004 and 2012, respectively.

Prof. Lee’s research interests center on developing models to identify, quantify, and mitigate various risk factors inherent in the development of energy-efficient commercial buildings and sustainable infrastructures. His research is currently focused on 3 types of risk factors: (1) financial risks associated with sustainability and energy-efficiency investments, (2) worker safety risks associated with sustainable design features, and (3) design-related risks due to project complexity.

Since 2012, Prof. Lee has led or been involved in 20 research projects (a combined value of over $1.5M), funded by various organizations including Washington State, Google, the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Currently, he has 5 on-going projects with a combined value of over $400,000. 

As of October 2020, Prof. Lee has published 33 peer-reviewed journal papers in top-quality journals such as Applied Energy, Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, Automation in Construction, and Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. In addition, he has co-authored 24 peer-reviewed conference papers and 14 technical reports.