University of Washington Center Integrated Design Lab

The Center for Integrated Design is operated by the Department of Architecture in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. The Center is a self-sustaining service that includes interdisciplinary faculty, staff, students, professional collaborators and partner organizations. The mission of the Center is to discover solutions that overcome the most difficult building performance barriers, and to meet the building industry’s goals of moving towards radically higher performing buildings and healthy urban environments. The Center for Integrated Design is composed of the Integrated Design Lab (IDL) which conducts research and provides technical assistance to building owners, designers, and operators; and the Discovery Commons which serves a platform for advocacy and education about high-performance built environments that serve the health of people and the planet.

The core activities of the IDL are: discovery through research, guidance through technical assistance, and education and outreach. The IDL has formed strategic alliances with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, utility partners, and leading design teams to realize the world’s highest performing buildings. Our expertise lies in identifying design opportunities and providing assistance and methodologies for the realization of the most ambitious project goals. This includes goal setting, energy strategy development, daylighting design guidance/simulation and whole building energy modeling. Our team works with design, ownership, and operations teams on new construction and deep renovation projects with an emphasis on commercial, education, and healthcare facilities.