The US Department of Energy (US DOE) has announced a $560,296 grant to a SyracuseCoE Platinum Partner Syracuse University-led project to develop a “Virtual Design Studio.” The project will help building designers evaluate architectural and mechanical options in order to maximize the energy savings of residential and commercial buildings, while ensuring healthy, comfortable, and productive indoor environments. The project–formally the “Integrated Computer Simulation Environment for Performance-Based Design of Very-Low Energy and High IEQ Buildings”–is led by Jensen Zhang of Syracuse University’s LC Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science and Michael Pelken of Syracuse University’s School of Architecture. The project is being developed in collaboration with SyracuseCoe Patron CDH Energy, the Florida Solar Energy Center, and SyracuseCoE. For the full story, click here.