Projects on Occupant-Centric Control, Behaviour, and Demand Response
Development of household-level energy-related occupant behaviour models for demand-side management applications (NSERC Alliance with Hydro-Québec and Concordia University): Develops empirical models of household behaviour to improve the design and effectiveness of utility demand-side management programs.
Occupant-centric demand-side management methods toward smart grid-interactive buildings (NSERC Discovery Grant): Develops building control methods that enable flexible, occupant-aware grid interaction.
Occupant-centric control development for multi-occupant spaces (FRQnet with Concordia University (lead), Université Laval, University of Waterloo): Develops control strategies that account for heterogeneous comfort preferences in shared indoor environments.
Occupant-centric building decarbonization (CFREF Volt-Age with Concordia University (lead)): Investigates how occupant-aware control can accelerate electrification and emissions reduction.
Occupant-centric control algorithms for mixed-mode buildings in cold climates (NSERC Alliance with National University of Singapore): Develops algorithms coordinating natural ventilation and mechanical systems under cold-climate conditions. [COMPLETE]
Field implementation and assessment of a novel demand-controlled ventilation algorithm for multiple-zone VAV AHU systems (NSERC Alliance with Texas A&M University): Implements and evaluates advanced ventilation control in a real multi-zone VAV system. [COMPLETE]
Implementation of novel occupant-centric control strategies in commercial buildings (NSERC Alliance with BrainBox AI, Concordia University (lead)): Deploys and evaluates occupant-aware control strategies within a commercial control platform. [COMPLETE]
Zone-level demand-controlled ventilation to support post-COVID reopening challenges (NRC Contract): Develops ventilation strategies balancing indoor air quality and energy use. [COMPLETE]
A Wi-Fi-based occupancy sensing, modelling, and simulation method to ensure COVID-19 ventilation and social distancing norms at workplaces (NSERC Alliance with Sensible Building Science and Cisco): Uses Wi-Fi sensing to estimate occupancy and support ventilation and distancing strategies. [COMPLETE]
HVAC supervisory control, optimization, and automation
A unified advanced supervisory control framework for commercial building HVAC systems (NSERC Alliance with Delta Controls & Concordia University): Develops a general supervisory control layer integrating optimization and diagnostics into building automation systems.
Integrating smart energy management solutions into building automation systems (NSERC Alliance with Delta Controls): Embeds advanced analytics and control logic into operational building automation systems. TURBO Building Analytics
Next-generation fault detection, evaluation, and correction algorithms for HVAC control systems (NSERC Alliance with CopperTree Analytics): Develops scalable algorithms for continuous fault detection and correction.
Development of datasets, inverse models, and methods for adaptive fault detection and diagnostics in commercial buildings (NSERC Discovery Grant): Creates data-driven models and methods for automated fault detection across portfolios.
Advancing data-driven building energy management and optimization methods and tools (NRC Contract): Develops practical analytics and optimization tools for building operators.
Deriving near-optimal control policies for small commercial buildings without a building automation system (NRC Contract): Develops lightweight optimization-based control for buildings without centralized BAS.
Development of data-driven operation and maintenance methods for next-generation DND buildings (NRC Contract): Develops performance analytics for next-generation high-performance buildings.
Surrogate energy models for remote continuous envelope characterization (NRC Contract): Uses surrogate models to infer envelope performance from operational data. [COMPLETE]
Remote auditing of building energy systems through inverse modelling (NRC Contract): Uses inverse models to estimate system performance and identify inefficiencies without site visits. [COMPLETE]
Energy end-use disaggregation and operation optimization for large commercial buildings (NRC Contract): Separates whole-building energy into end uses to support targeted optimization. [COMPLETE]
Data analysis and modelling for anomaly detection and remote auditing of building energy systems (NRC Contract): Develops automated methods for detecting abnormal operation in building data. [COMPLETE]
Benchmarking operation of commercial buildings through text-mining maintenance work orders (NSERC Engage with Bentall GreenOak) : Uses natural language processing to extract performance indicators from maintenance logs. [COMPLETE]
Next-generation actionable building energy performance metrics, data analytics, and visualization: an open-source platform (NRCan Contract): Develops open tools for benchmarking, visualizing, and interpreting building performance data. Framework Software [COMPLETE]
Development of algorithms for remote building envelope characterization (NRC Contract): Estimates envelope thermal properties from building automation data. [COMPLETE]
Building surface temperature measurement system (NSERC RTI Carleton lead Cynthia Cruickshank): Develops instrumentation for measuring envelope surface temperatures. [COMPLETE]
Decarbonization, grid interaction, and energy systems transition
Development and demonstration of an HVAC-driven electricity demand management platform for large commercial and institutional buildings (Ontario Early Researcher Award): Demonstrates HVAC-based demand flexibility for peak reduction and grid support.
GHGe reduction playbook (NRC Contract): A GenAI-based software tool for developing building performance simulation–based retrofit decision support.
Data-driven decarbonization of health care buildings (NSERC Alliance with EllisDon, Concordia University): Applies analytics and control strategies to reduce emissions in healthcare facilities.
Making Ontario buildings smart: driving adoption through scalable technology advances and novel business strategies (Ontario Research Fund with Toronto Metropolitan University (lead) and partners): Addresses technical and market barriers to smart building adoption.
Housing, social, and policy-oriented analytics
Investigation of overheating mitigation in social housing dwellings (NRC Contract – Carleton lead Liam O’Brien): Studies overheating risks and mitigation strategies in vulnerable housing.
A Safe and Affordable Place to Call Home: a multidisciplinary longitudinal outcomes analysis of the National Housing Strategy (CMHC/SSHRC with Carleton lead Liam O’Brien): Tracks long-term social, economic, and energy outcomes of housing policy interventions.
Analysis of municipal building permit data to identify energy-related physical attributes of the housing market (NRC Contract): Uses permit data to characterize housing stock energy attributes. [COMPLETE]
Occupant-centric housing design and retrofit pathways for sustainable, equitable, and resilient pandemic recovery (NFRF): Identifies retrofit and design strategies that improve resilience, equity, and indoor environmental quality under pandemic and post-pandemic conditions. [COMPLETE]