Center for the Built Environment: Membership FAQs

What are the advantages of membership?

Members have the opportunity to direct research in areas relevant to their core businesses while avoiding the cost of in-house facilities and staff, or professional consultant fees. At our Executive Sessions (the Friday morning portion of Advisory Board meetings) members guide the development of CBE’s research portfolio, and approve project scopes and budgets.
Members’ investments are greatly leveraged with research grants from institutional and governmental sources. Member fees are often used as seed funding to procure outside co-funding, and many of CBE’s core research projects have become self-sustaining in this manner.
Consortium members have access to internal reports released only to the consortium members. Members may also comment on draft versions of findings likely to be included in publications and industry-wide standards.
CBE’s membership include leaders in the building industry, and participation provides ample networking and marketing opportunities, allowing members to build alliances with diverse sectors of the building industry.
Participation in CBE also provides training opportunities for members, expanding members’ organizational knowledge bases, helping them to better serve their clients and customers, and helping them keep abreast of industry trends.
Many industry members are actively involved with our research, co-authoring papers and publications, and directly influencing industry-wide standards and perceptions. CBE’s research frequently involves members’ completed projects and/or products, which provides members with rigorous, objective feedback that is viewed as having a high level of credibility in the industry.

What is the nature of specialized research tools, facilities and staff that members have priority access to?

Members have access to several research tools developed by CBE for the study of building and systems performance, including:

CBE’s Occupant IEQ Survey; members may implement up to four free surveys per year, with access to the survey database of over 35,000 occupant responses. CBE has conducted occupant surveys in hundreds of buildings designed and/or operated by Industry Partners. The results of these surveys have been used to tracking facilities management, testing design strategies, and for publicity purposes.
CBE’s Advanced Human Thermal Comfort Model, which allows users to analyze comfort implications of numerous variables, including HVAC system configuration, room layout, facade configuration, and occupant variables. (This model has been used extensively by the automobile industry for product development, and has been specially configured for similar product development in buildings.)
UFAD Cost Analysis Model, which may be used to study detailed cost implications resulting from building, HVAC, and TI options, for a variety of commonly used UFAD system options, and in comparison to overhead systems.
UFAD Cooling Airflow Design Tool, provides system designers with tools to determine cooling airflow requirements in interior and perimeter spaces with stratified temperatures.
CBE's Building Commissioning Cart, designed and fabricated by CBE, provide include special capabilities for studying stratified temperatures in buildings with UFAD or DV systems.
Industry members may make arrangements to use CBE’s research facilities, including a full-scale underfloor plenum facility, a controlled environment chamber, a boundary layer wind tunnel, and a sky simulator. Each of these facilities has extensive instrumentation and data acquisition equipment. Additional facilities include instrumented “thermal mannequins,” indoor environmental measurement carts, and desktop “weather stations.”
Industry members have access to research staff and faculty who are recognized experts in building performance, thermal comfort, field study and laboratory investigations. CBE faculty, staff and graduate students frequently assist industry members with urgent questions related to project design, building operations, and system diagnostics. Our research staff has also conducted a number of field studies of CBE members’ local projects, collecting data relevant to our research, at the same time providing members’ development teams with valuable feedback on system and product operations.

Are there any opportunities to jointly develop research concepts? How do partners suggest new projects?

We have a number of projects that were initiated by industry partners. We them to contact us with their suggestions approximately two months before our April or October board meeting. For example, our partners at Stantec asked CBE to pursue research on radiant cooling systems. We worked with them to develop a scope of work, and this was approved by the industry partners in April of 2005. We new completed the first phase of this work in April 2006, and issued an internal report with our findings. This project in now continuing on its second phase of work.

Are there any opportunities to have newly developed concepts and completed projects tested?

CBE has a long history of working with members to assist in the development of new research concepts, and we eagerly seek new opportunities for this type of collaboration. Some notable past projects include:

CBE assisted Carrier in the development of a new UFAD diffuser to be supplied for a 1.5M s.f. project in Hong Kong, conducting chamber tests of the product prototype.
We worked with Steelcase to test airflow performance of workstation panels of various heights and configurations.
CBE collaborated with Johnson Controls, conducting chamber and field studies of their Personal Environmental Modules (PEMs).
For the development of the new EnergyPlus model for UFAD, CBE conducted extensive chamber tests of floor diffusers from Industry Partners Price Industries and York (now a Johnson Controls brand).
CBE has conducted its Occupant IEQ Survey in hundreds of buildings owned, operated, and/or designed by industry partners. We have developed specialized modules (sets of questions) for research collaborations related to green buildings, acoustics, and other IEQ topics.

What are some of the reasons justifying investment as cited by current members?

Members frequently cite participation in CBE industry advisory board meeting as a key benefit of membership. We also get a great deal of positive feedback on the value of CBE’s research presentations, special workshops, and detailed internal reports. Members have also benefited by recruiting graduates from our program, who have been involved in industry-relevant research as part of their education. Many of these graduates now hold positions of substantial responsibility with member firms.

What is the general yearly calendar of events for members?

The major events are CBE’s Industry Advisory Board meetings that occur typically during the third week of April and October. Each meeting consists of an all-day Plenary Session on Thursday, and each member firm may bring up to seven participants. In these sessions we present project updates and findings for all of our projects with recent findings, with time for member feedback and networking. Members provide written evaluation for each project presented.

On the following Friday morning we hold an Executive Session, attended by two primary representatives from each member firm. In April the members review, comment, and approve the research project scopes and budgets for the fiscal year. In October the members propose and discuss research topics for the next year. In recent years we have also held special workshops on the Wednesday before the board meeting.

In addition to these regularly scheduled meetings, we have on-going on collaborations with a number of CBE member representatives, who meet with us to review progress, provide feedback, and/or to participate on technical advisory committee meetings.

What is the investment members are asked to make and how is it structured?

CBE’s standard annual membership fee is $35,000. We have a second membership level ($12,000 annually, or a team may share the 35K membership) which applies only to architecture, engineering, or construction firms. The fee applies to CBE’s fiscal year, April 1-May 31, and is due April 1, or by special arrangement to suit members’ accounting cycles. Members may also join mid-year in October, for one-half the of the standard membership fee.


Membership Benefits of Membership Membership FAQs Become a Member Board Meeting Logistics		Frequently Asked Questions Here we provide a list of commonly asked questions about membership.
		What are the advantages of membership? Members have the opportunity to direct research in areas relevant to their core businesses while avoiding the cost of in-house facilities and staff, or professional consultant fees. At our Executive Sessions (the Friday morning portion of Advisory Board meetings) members guide the development of CBE’s research portfolio, and approve project scopes and budgets. Members’ investments are greatly leveraged with research grants from institutional and governmental sources. Member fees are often used as seed funding to procure outside co-funding, and many of CBE’s core research projects have become self-sustaining in this manner. Consortium members have access to internal reports released only to the consortium members. Members may also comment on draft versions of findings likely to be included in publications and industry-wide standards. CBE’s membership include leaders in the building industry, and participation provides ample networking and marketing opportunities, allowing members to build alliances with diverse sectors of the building industry. Participation in CBE also provides training opportunities for members, expanding members’ organizational knowledge bases, helping them to better serve their clients and customers, and helping them keep abreast of industry trends. Many industry members are actively involved with our research, co-authoring papers and publications, and directly influencing industry-wide standards and perceptions. CBE’s research frequently involves members’ completed projects and/or products, which provides members with rigorous, objective feedback that is viewed as having a high level of credibility in the industry. What is the nature of specialized research tools, facilities and staff that members have priority access to? Members have access to several research tools developed by CBE for the study of building and systems performance, including: CBE’s Occupant IEQ Survey; members may implement up to four free surveys per year, with access to the survey database of over 35,000 occupant responses. CBE has conducted occupant surveys in hundreds of buildings designed and/or operated by Industry Partners. The results of these surveys have been used to tracking facilities management, testing design strategies, and for publicity purposes. CBE’s Advanced Human Thermal Comfort Model, which allows users to analyze comfort implications of numerous variables, including HVAC system configuration, room layout, facade configuration, and occupant variables. (This model has been used extensively by the automobile industry for product development, and has been specially configured for similar product development in buildings.) UFAD Cost Analysis Model, which may be used to study detailed cost implications resulting from building, HVAC, and TI options, for a variety of commonly used UFAD system options, and in comparison to overhead systems. UFAD Cooling Airflow Design Tool, provides system designers with tools to determine cooling airflow requirements in interior and perimeter spaces with stratified temperatures. CBE's Building Commissioning Cart, designed and fabricated by CBE, provide include special capabilities for studying stratified temperatures in buildings with UFAD or DV systems. Industry members may make arrangements to use CBE’s research facilities, including a full-scale underfloor plenum facility, a controlled environment chamber, a boundary layer wind tunnel, and a sky simulator. Each of these facilities has extensive instrumentation and data acquisition equipment. Additional facilities include instrumented “thermal mannequins,” indoor environmental measurement carts, and desktop “weather stations.” Industry members have access to research staff and faculty who are recognized experts in building performance, thermal comfort, field study and laboratory investigations. CBE faculty, staff and graduate students frequently assist industry members with urgent questions related to project design, building operations, and system diagnostics. Our research staff has also conducted a number of field studies of CBE members’ local projects, collecting data relevant to our research, at the same time providing members’ development teams with valuable feedback on system and product operations. Are there any opportunities to jointly develop research concepts? How do partners suggest new projects? We have a number of projects that were initiated by industry partners. We them to contact us with their suggestions approximately two months before our April or October board meeting. For example, our partners at Stantec asked CBE to pursue research on radiant cooling systems. We worked with them to develop a scope of work, and this was approved by the industry partners in April of 2005. We new completed the first phase of this work in April 2006, and issued an internal report with our findings. This project in now continuing on its second phase of work. Are there any opportunities to have newly developed concepts and completed projects tested? CBE has a long history of working with members to assist in the development of new research concepts, and we eagerly seek new opportunities for this type of collaboration. Some notable past projects include: CBE assisted Carrier in the development of a new UFAD diffuser to be supplied for a 1.5M s.f. project in Hong Kong, conducting chamber tests of the product prototype. We worked with Steelcase to test airflow performance of workstation panels of various heights and configurations. CBE collaborated with Johnson Controls, conducting chamber and field studies of their Personal Environmental Modules (PEMs). For the development of the new EnergyPlus model for UFAD, CBE conducted extensive chamber tests of floor diffusers from Industry Partners Price Industries and York (now a Johnson Controls brand). CBE has conducted its Occupant IEQ Survey in hundreds of buildings owned, operated, and/or designed by industry partners. We have developed specialized modules (sets of questions) for research collaborations related to green buildings, acoustics, and other IEQ topics. What are some of the reasons justifying investment as cited by current members? Members frequently cite participation in CBE industry advisory board meeting as a key benefit of membership. We also get a great deal of positive feedback on the value of CBE’s research presentations, special workshops, and detailed internal reports. Members have also benefited by recruiting graduates from our program, who have been involved in industry-relevant research as part of their education. Many of these graduates now hold positions of substantial responsibility with member firms. What is the general yearly calendar of events for members? The major events are CBE’s Industry Advisory Board meetings that occur typically during the third week of April and October. Each meeting consists of an all-day Plenary Session on Thursday, and each member firm may bring up to seven participants. In these sessions we present project updates and findings for all of our projects with recent findings, with time for member feedback and networking. Members provide written evaluation for each project presented. On the following Friday morning we hold an Executive Session, attended by two primary representatives from each member firm. In April the members review, comment, and approve the research project scopes and budgets for the fiscal year. In October the members propose and discuss research topics for the next year. In recent years we have also held special workshops on the Wednesday before the board meeting. In addition to these regularly scheduled meetings, we have on-going on collaborations with a number of CBE member representatives, who meet with us to review progress, provide feedback, and/or to participate on technical advisory committee meetings. What is the investment members are asked to make and how is it structured? CBE’s standard annual membership fee is $35,000. We have a second membership level ($12,000 annually, or a team may share the 35K membership) which applies only to architecture, engineering, or construction firms. The fee applies to CBE’s fiscal year, April 1-May 31, and is due April 1, or by special arrangement to suit members’ accounting cycles. Members may also join mid-year in October, for one-half the of the standard membership fee.
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