Tianzhen Hong

Tianzhen Hong

Dr. Tianzhen Hong is Senior Scientist and Deputy Director for Research with the Building and Industrial Energy Systems Division of LBNL. His research employs interdisciplinary approaches to explore technologies, behavioral dimensions, and AI (generative AI, Machine Learning, robotics) supporting the planning, design and operation of energy efficient and demand flexible buildings across scales. He is an IBPSA Fellow and an ASHRAE Fellow. He is a Highly Cited Researcher and the Executive Editor of the Energy and Buildings journal. Dr. Hong is an expert in building performance modeling and simulation. He leads the LBNL effort of EnergyPlus. He led two building energy software CBES and CityBES winning the R&D 100 Award in 2019 and 2022.

Contact Information

Phone: 510-926-9702

Education

Building Performance Simulation, PhD, Tsinghua University, 1994
HVACR Engineering and Technologies, B.Eng. Tsinghua University, 1991
Applied Mathematics, B.Sc. Tsinghua University, 1991

Awards

Spot: Erin Harbin, Tianzhen Hong, Joshua Kace, Kaiyu Sun, Peter Therkelsen -  May 17th 2023

For outstanding planning and execution of the 2023 BTUS Strategic Retreat

2022 R&D 100 Award: City Buildings, Energy, and Sustainability (CityBES) Web Tool for Climate Change Strategies -  August 22nd 2022

Buildings generate 39% of global CO2 emissions, but evaluating and prioritizing cost-effective technical solutions for individual buildings at city scale poses a significant challenge for city stakeholders. CityBES is a free, powerful modeling and analysis tool that enables quick and quantitative assessments of actionable recommendations for decarbonizing buildings and improving their thermal resilience against extreme weather at the urban scale. CityBES builds upon open city datasets, international data standards, the powerful EnergyPlus simulation engine, a library of mitigation and adaptation measures, and 3D-GIS visualization to inform decision making on city buildings, energy, and sustainability.

eta.lbl.gov/news/rd-100-awards-honor-lab-innovations

2019 R&D 100 Award: Commercial Building Energy Saver -  October 30th 2019

The Commercial Building Energy Saver (CBES), a software toolkit that enables equitable access to building deep retrofit and zero-net energy strategies for these buildings, won a 2019 R&D 100 Award in the software/services category.

The development team includes Berkeley Lab researchers Sang Hoon Lee, Xuan Luo, Kaiyu Sun, Tianzhen Hong, Cynthia Regnier, Mary Ann Piette (all pictured left to right), Yixing Chen, Rongpeng Zhang, Sarah C. Taylor-Lange, and Philip Price. The project was supported by the California Energy Commission and the Department of Energy.

Journal and Editorial Board Memberships

Energy and Buildings (2016 to present), Editor
Applied Energy (2017 to present); Building and Environment (2014-2019); Building Simulation (2013 to present); Advances in Applied Energy (2022-), Buildings and Cities (2022-), Building Performance Simulation (2024-present), Editorial Board

Publications

2025

2024

2023

2020

2019

2017

2015

2014

2013

2012

2010

2009