Research Overview

The Sustainable Urban Systems Lab, led by Dr. Patrick Kastner at Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture (SoA), focuses on developing innovative tools and methodologies to estimate performance indicators of buildings and cities. Our mission is to empower urban decision-makers with software tools that place sustainability at the forefront of their profession.

We challenge the conventional practice of making performance-related decisions only very late in the architectural and urban design process—which we believe prevents optimal outcomes. By developing surrogate models that accelerate traditionally time-consuming simulations through machine learning, our goal is to provide real-time, actionable feedback for architects, urban designers, and policymakers. We also explore opportunities for inverse design that allow users to define desired outcomes and work backward to identify optimal urban and architectural solutions.

Our software tools engage many urban decision-makers. We address critical urban issues such as microclimate assessment (including thermal comfort and urban heat islands), adaptation to a changing climate (including heat waves), natural ventilation, mobility and walkability, urban building energy. We actively contribute to the MS and PhD in Architecture curriculum at the SoA, with a concentration in High Performance Building.

Our projects integrate sustainability considerations seamlessly into urban decision-making processes by interfacing with commonly used CAD and GIS software such as Rhino, Revit, QGIS, ArcGIS, and web-based platforms. More recent projects cover areas like nation-wide walkability assessments, game theory applications in neighborhood dynamics, and the intersection of neuroscience with architecture and urbanism.