How buildings are made and how they are controlled is the realm of Building + Environmental Technology.

There are many possible subareas of research within this specialization. They include materials and construction, structural systems, lighting and daylighting, acoustics, heating and air-conditioning, energy conservation, sustainable design, and intelligent buildings. Typically, research in these areas requires physical testing of building components, computer simulation of systems performance, and statistical evaluation.

In recent years, faculty research in building and environmental technology has focused on heating and air conditioning, lighting and daylighting, sustainable materials and materials behavior, structural form optimization, energy conservation, sustainable design, and intelligent buildings. Excellent research facilities are available for the conduct of research in these areas.

Building + environmental technology courses in the College are augmented by course work in other University units. Typical cognate courses include heat transfer, thermal-dynamics, industrial ecology, and statistics.