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Posted On: October 12th 2026, 08:23 pm
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Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Kun-Hao Yu has received a multiyear award from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop energy-efficient building panels that are installed with robotic assistance.
The project, “3D-Printed Siding and Human-Robot Collaboration for High-Performance Retrofits,” will support the development of a prefabricated, carbon-sequestering concrete siding system for home energy retrofits, while pairing the new material with a collaborative human-robot installation process. The goal is to improve building performance while making retrofits faster, more efficient, and safer for construction workers.
New York has an estimated 5.3 million single-family homes, more than half of which were built before 1960. The state also has a substantial stock of older multifamily buildings, creating significant opportunities for energy-efficiency retrofits. Yu’s project will test the 3D-printed panels in the lab, comparing how they perform against conventional wall assemblies. The team will also conduct field testing at the Building Envelope Systems Test (BEST) Facility, an on-campus testbed used to evaluate building performance in real-world conditions. Finally, they plan to complete a full-scale dormitory retrofit on Syracuse University’s South Campus.
“Our prior work showed that 3D-printable concrete can be designed to increase carbon uptake through both material formulation and the geometric freedom enabled by 3D printing,” explains Yu. “This NYSERDA project takes the next step by integrating that material into a complete building-envelope retrofit system and pairing it with robot-assisted installation. The goal is to demonstrate how these technologies can work together at building scale and help create more energy-efficient, lower-carbon retrofit solutions for New York.”
#SyracuseU 🍊
The project, “3D-Printed Siding and Human-Robot Collaboration for High-Performance Retrofits,” will support the development of a prefabricated, carbon-sequestering concrete siding system for home energy retrofits, while pairing the new material with a collaborative human-robot installation process. The goal is to improve building performance while making retrofits faster, more efficient, and safer for construction workers.
New York has an estimated 5.3 million single-family homes, more than half of which were built before 1960. The state also has a substantial stock of older multifamily buildings, creating significant opportunities for energy-efficiency retrofits. Yu’s project will test the 3D-printed panels in the lab, comparing how they perform against conventional wall assemblies. The team will also conduct field testing at the Building Envelope Systems Test (BEST) Facility, an on-campus testbed used to evaluate building performance in real-world conditions. Finally, they plan to complete a full-scale dormitory retrofit on Syracuse University’s South Campus.
“Our prior work showed that 3D-printable concrete can be designed to increase carbon uptake through both material formulation and the geometric freedom enabled by 3D printing,” explains Yu. “This NYSERDA project takes the next step by integrating that material into a complete building-envelope retrofit system and pairing it with robot-assisted installation. The goal is to demonstrate how these technologies can work together at building scale and help create more energy-efficient, lower-carbon retrofit solutions for New York.”
#SyracuseU 🍊
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