Research Centers and Institutes

UB has several centers and institutes focused on sustainability topics.

UB boasts several centers and institutes that focus on understanding challenges to creating sustainable societies as well as proposing solutions to these challenges, while reinforcing the university’s core research mission. From finding ways to preserve and protect the Great Lakes to designing more sustainable communities, UB-affiliated centers and institutes are changing lives and saving the environment.

UB RENEW (Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water) Institute is university-wide and interdisciplinary, focusing on complex energy and environmental issues, as well as the social and economic ramifications. It helps develop and coordinate innovative research, education and outreach programs. 

The Regional Institute seeks to serve the communities of the Buffalo Niagara region by bringing faculty and urban design students together with local governments, community based organizations and citizens in general to make better places and stronger communities. Its projects include the WNY Environmental Alliance, the Robert Moses Parkway, Sustainable Futures (Costa Rica).

UB’s Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA) is dedicated to making environments and products more usable, safer and healthier in response to the needs of an increasingly diverse population. The center’s activities are based on the philosophy of inclusive design.