Patrick Smith is a Research Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Building Research at the University of Minnesota. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in Music, Mathematics and Physics from Carleton College and both a Masters in Architecture and a Masters in Science: Sustainable Design from the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. Previous to his current appointment, Smith worked in precision tool manufacturing, at several architecture firms in the Twin Cities, as a graduate teaching assistant in the College of Design and as a graduate research assistant for the CSBR.
His research experience includes sustainable building policy development, utility auditing and performance evaluation, sustainable building guideline evaluation and development, sustainable building metrics, building performance benchmarking and evaluation, the implementation of life cycle analysis in green building guidelines, and writing for the Minnesota Sustainable Housing Initiative web site. Other interests include housing and energy policy, transportation network efficiency, and the interaction between development patterns and the policies of building codes and zoning regulations. He currently teaches Architecture 4521: Environmental Technology in the undergraduate architecture program. His current work is primarily involved with program development and participant assistance in the B3 and SB 2030 programs, and piloting improved building delivery methods to enable improved energy efficiency.