When we think about sustainable buildings, the conversation often revolves around advanced construction materials, efficient HVAC systems, or perhaps net-zero certifications. But for Dr. Kathryn Hinkelman, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the future of high-performance buildings and resilient communities goes beyond individual structures and may draw inspiration from nature itself.
As a researcher in sustainable systems engineering, Hinkelman is pioneering a unique approach to modeling building performance where buildings gain efficiencies by clustering in networks to mimic ecological systems, where energy is shared like nutrients in a forest, and design decisions are informed by both rigorous simulation tools and inspiration from nature.
Joining the faculty at UVM in the fall of 2024, Hinkelman has established the Sustainable Energy and Environments (SEE) Laboratory to explore the intersection of built and natural environments in order to “design and deploy innovative energy system technologies that are sustainable, resilient, and equitable.”
Her lab in the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (CEMS) is a natural extension of her PhD dissertation, “Modelica Modeling and Ecosystem Biomimicry of District Energy Systems,” which was recently awarded the prestigious Godfried Augenbroe Award by the International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA) that recognizes an outstanding PhD thesis on the topic of building performance simulation.
"With research, I realized I could go beyond one building at a time and influence thousands by developing new modeling tools and standards that can be incorporated into energy codes and engineering practice."
– Assistant Professor Kathryn Hinkelman
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Founded to advance the science of building performance simulation, IBPSA promotes the use of advanced computer-based modeling techniques to aid in the design, operation, or management decision-making process with building performance-related concerns.
Hinkelman’s work, both professionally and academically, has long been connected with IBPSA and its mission. “They focus on developing modeling standards and tools that help engineers all over the world design better performing buildings,” she explains. Through her involvement with IBPSA, Hinkelman continues to contribute to efforts that unify previously siloed modeling practices into common platforms and languages.
Hinkelman earned her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Denver, followed by a master’s at UC Berkeley, where her interests began to shift toward the built environment. Her master’s project—co-designing sustainable, culturally responsive buildings with the Pinoleville Pomo Nation in Northern California—crystallized her belief that buildings can and should enhance daily life and wellbeing.
That experience, combined with several years in industry as a building systems engineer, laid the foundation for her PhD work, which aimed to bridge theory, practice, and policy. “With research, I realized I could go beyond one building at a time and influence thousands by developing new modeling tools and standards that can be incorporated into energy codes and engineering practice,” she says.
Hinkelman’s dissertation explored simulation tools that support community-scale thermal energy systems—not just individual buildings, but networks of them. Her research used an object-oriented, equation-based language modeling language called Modelica, which is specifically designed to simulate complex physical systems.
“You can think of it as a toolkit,” she explains. “We templatize physical models and control logic into modules that can be reused and calibrated for different buildings or districts.” These models can simulate everything from HVAC systems to thermal networks and even digital twins—virtual replicas of physical systems that enable real-time analysis and control.
Perhaps the most innovative component of Hinkelman’s work is her integration of biomimicry—drawing design inspiration from nature—into the modeling process. Traditionally, biomimicry has involved replicating an organism’s biological features as a model for technological design, as with a robot’s means of locomotion. But Hinkelman’s approach is systems-level: rather than a single organism, she looks to ecosystems—forests, reefs, and the intricate interdependencies within them—for guidance on how to build resilient, efficient energy systems.
One method she has adapted is Ecological Network Analysis (ENA)—a framework ecologists use to study energy and material flows in ecosystems. By translating this to the domain of engineered energy systems, she could analyze metrics like system redundancy, adaptability, and network cycling. “It provides us with a new lens to design energy networks, not just for efficiency, but for resilience—how well they can respond to disturbances,” she explains.
With The SEE Lab, Hinkelman looks to integrate computational modeling and simulation methods with bio-inspired design and life cycle assessment (LCA) to address the complex energy system challenges facing our society. Her team includes both undergraduate and graduate students and is focused on providing hands-on learning that connects students directly with industry and community partners. “Our students aren’t just running simulations,” she says. “They’re designing the energy systems of the future—right here in Vermont.”
Along with the recognition from IBPSA, Hinkelman’s research has gained impressive funding support this summer with a recent $200,000 NSF Award for an Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) project titled Towards Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Energy Hub Systems. This two-year project aims to develop a simulation framework that integrates LCA with systems modeling to evaluate the environmental impacts of renewable energy hubs more accurately. The funding will also be used for the development of an open-source platform and interactive teaching module to support research and education in sustainable energy systems.