The CAD Research Center (CADRC) was established in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design in 1987 to provide a coordinated focus for on-going interdisciplinary research activities in the field of 'distributed, cooperative computing systems'. Past and current CADRC projects have produced advanced tools, prototype demonstration models, and end-user products of collaborative decision support systems utilizing expert systems, blackboard control strategies, client-server interfaces, distributed semantic networks, and relational database management systems.

 

The Evelyn and Harold Hay Fund was established at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in the early 1990s to support research and teaching related activities of students and faculty in the areas of passive solar building design and water in architecture. Mr. Harold Hay, a chemist and inventor, began his work with Cal Poly architecture and engineering faculty in the mid-1970s when his innovative Skytherm House was built in Atascadero, CA. This house was recognized in the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial and has yet to be surpassed for its outstanding performance in passive solar heating and cooling through the use of movable insulation and water bags on the roof, appropriately named a "roof pond" system. Through the generous gift of Mr. Hay and his late wife, Evelyn, Cal Poly has revitalized research and teaching interests to promote the scientific and design-oriented study of passive solar architecture including water as a building material to modulate interior temperatures.

 

 

The Renewable Energy Institute (REI) is a non-profit organization established to promote teaching, research, development, and community service in solar and renewable energy technologies and sustainable community infrastructure. Its teaching and research programs are of an applied and interdisciplinary nature involving students, faculty, staff and off-campus persons from the fields Agriculture, Architecture, Science and Engineering. The Institute is engaged in the collection, development, and dissemination of information and research about renewable energy and sustainability for the improvement of environmental quality, economics, and human life.