Liam O’Brien

Professor in Building Engineering

• B.Eng. Aerospace (Ryerson), M.A.Sc. Aerospace Engineering (Toronto), Ph.D. Building Engineering (Concordia)
• 5208 Canal Building, Carleton University
• 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6
• Email Liam O’Brien

• Visit the Website

Prof. O’Brien’s mailbox is located in room 3432 C.J. Mackenzie Building, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6 Canada

Research Interests

• Design for building occupants and behaviour
• Building performance – comfort and energy
• Smart buildings and big data
• Building field studies and post-occupancy evaluations
• Building simulation, design, and data visualization
• High performance solar buildings
• Building automation systems
• Daylighting and solar control
• Urban form and solar energy access
• Facilities management

Research Lab

The Delta Controls Lab provides a portal to the wealth of information carried by the Canal Building’s building automation system (BAS), including energy use, thermal comfort, lighting/daylighting, indoor air quality, heating, cooling ventilation, and green roof performance.

Opportunities: Graduate Student Openings

Graduate students (MASc or PhD) with a background in heat transfer, thermodynamics, programming, energy systems, and/or building science/physics are needed to pursue research in the following topics.

Please contact Prof. O’Brien if you have the above background and are interested in researching these topics. Co-supervision by another professor in CEE or another department (e.g., Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) is also a possibility.

The right candidates will be given the opportunity to work on important problems with significant impact on industry, the opportunity to work with industry partners, and competitive compensation.

Teaching Assignments 2025-2026

• ACSE 2001/ENVE 1001 Architecture and the Environment
• ACSE 3105/ENVE 4105 Green Building Design
• CIVE/ENVE/ACSE 4918 Design Project

Previous Teaching Assignments

• ECOR 1055 Introduction to Engineering Disciplines I
• ECOR 4995 Professional Practice
• BLDG 5101 Introduction to Building Engineering
• ENVE 1001 Architecture and the Environment
• ENVE 4105 Green Building Design
• ENVE 4106/5104 Indoor Environmental Quality
• ENVE 4107 Building Services Engineering
• ENVE/ACSE 4918 Design Project
• ENVE 5704 Research methods for Building Energy