The National Science Foundation has presented a University research team with a $2 million grant to produce "smart building" energy systems, focusing on reducing energy use.
Computer Science Prof. Kamin Whitehouse, the principle investigator for the grant, said the team is working to develop a technology that can recognize its occupants' identities and locations. By allowing the building to employ heating and cooling only when necessary, this feature could improve the energy costs related to those operations.
"If you want to apply heating and cooling to a person, you might do it differently if you notice that the father is in the kitchen versus the child being in the nursery," Whitehouse said.
Sensory technology is key in the implementation of the technology. According to the project's website, preliminary results using data from eight homes indicate that this approach can save 28 percent of Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning energy with only $25 in sensors.
"It will influence a lot of new technology and integration of new technology in architecture," Asst. Architecture Prof. Anselmo Canfora said, adding that the ultimate goal is to improve the quality of the living environment while employing practices that are sustainable.
The research is a multidisciplinary effort within the University, with faculty members and students from the Architecture School collaborating with the Engineering School's computer science, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering and systems engineering programs.
Such a partnership has been in the works for months, Canfora said, adding that even the application process for the grant has had a positive effect by presenting the individual schools the opportunity to understand each other when it comes to environmental issues.
"I've been learning a lot from my colleagues in Engineering through this process of communicating and talking about these ideas," Canfora said.
University researchers also will collaborate with architect Carrie Burke and HVAC and Staengl Engineering, a local HVAC and mechanical systems design firm.
The project's researchers aim to create a technology that can be transferred to the market, Whitehouse said. There are many efficient energy conservation technologies that are not widely adopted, he said, because they are unable to adapt to market constraints, including consumer affordability.
To address the shift from the laboratory to the market, the research team includes Andrea Larson, associate professor of business administration at the Darden School. Larson said analysis of how consumers will use a technology is vital when introducing it into the marketplace.
"We have a lot of tech people looking at how the technology will perform, but you have to have someone looking at the market," she said.
Canfora said that four-year grant would sustain the current dialogue between the Architecture and Engineering Schools.
"It will give us a good opportunity to develop and not only strengthen the relationship between the two schools but also to address energy concerns and sustainability," he said.
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