UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new book co-edited by Rahman Azari, associate professor of architecture at Penn State, offers a variety of perspectives and first-hand experiences from scholars and experts in building science and technology on using various research methods — from simulation-based to experimental methods — in answering the key research questions of the field.

Azari, who is also the director of the RE2 Lab in the Stuckeman School’s Hamer Center for Community Design, co-edited “Research Methods in Building Science and Technology” with Hazem Rashed-Ali, associate professor and associate dean of research and innovation at Texas Tech College of Architecture. It has been published by Springer Nature. 

The book covers various methods of data collection and analysis, including measurement-based methods in which data is collected by measuring properties and their variations in ‘actual’ physical systems, simulation-based methods that work with ‘models’ of systems or processes, and data-driven methodologies in which data is collected via measurement or simulation to identify and examine the associations and patterns.

The application of these methods is explored within specific areas of building science and technology, including window systems, building enclosure, energy performance, lighting and daylighting, computational fluid dynamics, indoor and outdoor thermal comfort, and life cycle environmental impacts.

More information on “Research Methods in Building Science and Technology” can be found on the Springer website: link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-73692-7.