Biosketch
Dr. Daniel Castro-Lacouture is Associate Professor of Building Construction in the College of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology. His current research centers on defining and implementing performance evaluation protocols for technology innovation in the built environment, such as sustainable construction materials and alternative sources of energy. He received a BSc in Civil Engineering from Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia, in 1994, an MSc in Construction Management from The University of Reading, UK, in 1999 and a PhD from the School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University in 2003. Professor Castro-Lacouture worked as Assistant Professor of Construction Engineering and Management at Ohio University from 2003 to 2006. He is a Registered Professional Engineer, and has worked in project engineering and management at Drummond Limited in Colombia from 1995 to 1998.   

Educational Background
2003 - Ph.D., Construction Engineering and Management, Purdue University
1999 - MSc., Construction Management, University of Reading
1994 - BSc., Civil Engineering, Universidad de Los Andes

Fields

• Energy Systems for Buildings
• Material Procurement

Research Ambitions
My overall area of interest consists of defining and deploying evaluation protocols for technology innovations in the built environment. I intend to continue addressing relevant problems in the construction industry, such as the uncertainty of adopting innovative technologies which are intended to improve energy efficiency and construction processes. My focus will be on innovative technologies for sustainable construction, which concentrates on the feasibility of state-of-art fuel cells or net-zero bioenergy alternatives for residential construction, as well uses for material selection and energy system retrofitting.  

Research Groups/Labs
Affiliated to the Digital Building Laboratory.


Recent Publications
Journal Articles

• Ospina-Alvarado, A. and Castro-Lacouture, D. (2010). “Holistic Analysis of Fuel Cells for Residential Construction in the Rural United States,” Construction Innovation: Information, Process, Management, Vol. 10 No. 1, p. 60-74.
• Juan, Y-K., Roper, K.O., Castro-Lacouture, D., and Kim. J.H. (2010). “Optimal Decision Making on Urban Renewal Projects,” Management Decision, Vol. 48 No. 2, p. 207-224.
• Juan, Y-K., Castro-Lacouture, D., and Roper, K. (2010). “A Hybrid Decision Support Approach Based on Multiple Objectives and Resources for Assessing the Relocation Plan of Dangerous Hillside Aggregations,” European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 202 No. 1, p. 265-272.
• Castro-Lacouture, D., Süer, G.A., Gonzalez-Joaqui, J., and Yates, J.K. (2009). “Fuzzy Mathematical Models for Construction Project Scheduling with Time, Cost, and Material Restrictions,” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE, Vol. 135 No. 10, p. 1096-1104.
• Castro-Lacouture, D. and Roper K. (2009). “Renewable Energy in US Federal Buildings,” Facilities, Vol. 27 No. 5, p. 173-186.
• Castro-Lacouture, D. Sefair, J.A., Florez, L., and Medaglia, A.L. (2009). “Optimization Model for the Selection of Materials Using a LEED-based Green Building Rating System in Colombia,” Building and Environment, Vol. 44 No. 6, p. 1162-1170.
• Juan, Y-K., Perng, Y-H., Castro-Lacouture, D. and Lu, K-S. (2009). “Housing Refurbishment Contractors Selection Based on a Hybrid Fuzzy-QFD Approach,” Automation in Construction, Vol. 18 No. 1, p. 139-144.
• Augenbroe, G., Castro-Lacouture, D., and Ramkrishnan, K. (2009). “Decision Model for Energy Performance Improvements in Existing Buildings,” Journal of Engineering Design and Technology, Special Issue on Green Construction, Vol. 7 No. 1, p. 21 – 36.
• Juan, Y-K., Kim. J.H., Roper, K., and Castro-Lacouture, D. (2009). “Genetic Algorithm-Based Decision Support System for Housing Condition Assessment and Refurbishment Strategies,” Automation in Construction, Vol. 18 No. 1, p. 394-401.
• Castro-Lacouture, D., Ospina-Alvarado, A.M., and Roper, K.O. (2008) “AEC+P+F Integration with Green Project Delivery and Lean Focus,” Journal of Green Building, Vol. 3 No. 4, p.  154-169.
• Tatari, O., Castro-Lacouture, D., and Skibniewski, M.J. (2008). “Performance Evaluation of Construction Enterprise Resource Planning Systems,” Journal of Management in Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 24 No. 4, p. 198-206.
• Garner, B., Richardson, K., and Castro-Lacouture, D. (2008). “Design-Build Project Delivery in Military Construction: Approach to Best Value Procurement,” Journal for the Advancement of Performance Information and Value, Vol. 1 No. 1, p. 33-47.
• Castro-Lacouture, D. and Ramkrishnan, K. (2008). “Fuzzy Logic Method for Measuring Building Quality,” Journal of Quality, Vol. 15 No. 2, p. 117-129.
• Tatari, O., Castro-Lacouture, D., and Skibniewski, M.J. (2007). “Current State of Construction Enterprise Information Systems: Survey Research,” Construction Innovation: Information, Process, Management, Vol. 7 No. 4, p. 310-319.
• Bosscher, P., Williams II, R. L., Bryson, L. S., and Castro-Lacouture, D. (2007). "Cable-Suspended Robotic Contour Crafting System,” Automation in Construction, Vol.17 No. 1, p. 45-55.
• Castro-Lacouture, D., Medaglia, A.L., and Skibniewski, M.J. (2007). “Supply Chain Optimization Tool for Purchasing Decisions in B2B Construction Marketplaces,” Automation in Construction, Vol. 16 No. 5, p. 569-575.
• Medaglia, A.L., Cohen, M., and Castro-Lacouture, D. (2006). “Optimizing B2B Transactions Using the Marketplace Competitive Analyzer,” International Journal of Management Science and Engineering Management, Vol. 1 No. 1, p. 37-46.
• Castro-Lacouture, D. and Skibniewski, M.J. (2006). “Implementing a B2B e-Work System to the Approval Process of Rebar Design and Estimation,” Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 20 No. 1, p. 28-37.

Book Chapters

• Castro-Lacouture, D. (2009). “Construction Automation,” in Handbook of Automation, Shimon Nof (Ed.), Berlin: Springer.

• Ospina-Alvarado, A.M., Castro-Lacouture, D., and Roper, K.O.  (2010). “Relationship Between AEC+P+F Integration and Sustainability,” in Industrialised, Integrated, Intelligent Sustainable Construction (I3CON), Ian Wallis, Lesya Bilan, Mike Smith and Abdul Samad Kazi (Eds.), London: BSRIA and I3CON.

Recent Funded Projects

• August 2008 - July 2011, Pricipal Investigator - Construction Sciences Research Foundation - “BIM Enabled Approach to Scheduling and Cost Automation”
• August 2008 - July 2010, Co-Principal Investigator Hyung-Seok Jeong and Javier Irizarry - Oklahoma Transportation Center - “Evaluation of Construction Strategies for PCC Pavements”
• August 2006 - August 2009, Co-Principal Investigator with G. Botte and S. Miller - National Science Foundation (PATH Program) - “Feasibility of Developing Self Sustainable-Ammonia Power Houses”
• September 2007 - September 2008, Co-Principal Investigator with J. Irizarry and C. Arboleda - Georgia Department of Transportation - “Constructability and Scheduling of PCC Pavements”

Recent Courses

• BC 8000 – Ph.D. Seminar, Spring 2011.
• COA 8833 – Special Topics: Zero Energy Housing: Design, Simulation and Feasibility, Spring  2011, Spring 2010, Fall 2008.
• BC 3600 – Construction Cost Management, Fall 2006 – 2010.
• BC 8823 – Special Topics: Advanced Cost Management, Spring 2010.
• BC 6025 – Construction Management, Spring 2010, Fall 2009, Spring 2009.
• BC8813 – Special Topics: Sustainable Energy in A/E/C, Fall 2009
• BC8823/CEE8813 – Special Topics: Construction Best Practices, Fall 2008
• BC 6650 – Advanced Project Management,  Spring 2008

Dissertations Supervised

• Valerie Riecke-Smith, “Impact to Alternative Contracting Methods Using Multivariate Models in the Regulatory Environment,” Ph.D. Dissertation, College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, graduated August 2008.
• Angelica Ospina-Alvarado, “Unified Framework for Construction Project Integration and its Asssociation with Project Performance,” Ph.D. candidate, College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, expected to graduate 2011.
• Marcel Granier-Phelps, “Feasibility of Fuel Cells for Residential Applications” Ph.D. student, College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, expected to graduate 2013.

Current PhD Students

• Angelica Ospina-Alvarado
• Marcel Granier-Phelps
• Laura Florez-Perez