© 2008 Center for Environmental Design Research                                                                                                                                         

Center for Environmental Design Research (CEDR)'s mission is to foster research in environmental planning and design. Such research is aimed at increasing the factual content of planning and design decisions and at promoting systematic approaches to design decision making.

The scope of environmental planning and design is broad, ranging from the local environments of people within buildings to region-wide ecosystems, from small details of building construction to large-scale urban planning, from the history of the built environment to the design process itself.

Building science is the largest of CEDR’s programs. Its mission is to increase the scientific knowledge used in building design and operation. At Berkeley, building science specializes in environmental aspects of design—how to provide comfortable, healthy and productive conditions for the occupants in economical and energy-efficient buildings.

Research and technology transfer projects in the physical planning and design of urban spaces involve many CED faculty from various departments. CEDR manages and edits Places. It is the main journal in the U.S. principally focused on urban design and has served Berkeley faculty and students well as a publication outlet.

Chancellor Birgeneau goes head to head with CEDR director, Ed Arens; Mech. Engineering professor, Paul Wright: and Will Watts, an engineering student discussing the technologies that save and conserve energy.    more...

Among the 2007 winners of the campus Sustainability Award is CEDR’s director Ed Arens. Edward was recognized for integrating the topic of environmental sustainability in all of his building-design teachings.                    more...