SBRN Newsletter

As is abundantly clear from the contents of this newsletter, a great deal of progress has been made by our network as we pass the halfway point of our mandate. In fact, the progress has ex-ceeded our expectations! This is especially gratifying as we move into an era where not only is the public coming to grips with the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is also experiencing higher energy cost, mostly caused by our depleting fossil fuel re-serves. This concern underlines the importance of our work as we find ways to displace fossil fuels. We of the Board of Direc-tors are proud to be associated with the team of dedicated and committed researchers who have been responsible for these achievements, and we look for-ward to working with them in the future as they achieve and exceed our objectives for the rest of the mandate!

A lot has happened since our last Newsletter! One of the most significant is a $2.3M demonstra-tion project, championed jointly by SBRN and CETC-Varennes, and funded primarily from the TEAM program of Natural Re-sources Canada ($900,000). Additional cash and in-kind sup-port was received from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corpora-

tion, the Agence de l’efficacité énergétique, Alouette Homes, Concordia University, Conserval Engineering, Day4Energy, Hydro-Québec, Regulvar, Sevag Poghar-ian Design and Sustainable Energy Technologies. Funding for this project, which demonstrates building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal technolo-gies in a new commercial building

(John Molson School of Business at Concordia) and in two net-zero energy EQuilibrium homes (EcoTerra and Alstonvale) is, to a large extent, the result of the work of SBRN’s Technology Transfer Committee’s Josef Ay-oub who was instrumental in bringing the partners together and drawing up the contractual agreements. Thomas Green of

Visit:

www.solarbuildings.ca

Message from K.G.T. Hollands, Chairman, SBRN Board of Directors

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

PV/T Dem-

onstration

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PV/T Test 7

International

Exchange

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Hybrid Ven-

tilation

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New Net-

work Part-

13

Network

Activities

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NORTH HOUSE

5

Past the midpoint! By A. K. Athienitis

F A C U L T Y O F E N G I N E E R IF A C U L T Y O F E N G I N E E R IF A C U L T Y O F E N G I N E E R IF A C U L T Y O F E N G I N E E R I N G A N D N G A N D N G A N D N G A N D

C O M P U T E R S C I E N C EC O M P U T E R S C I E N C EC O M P U T E R S C I E N C EC O M P U T E R S C I E N C E

NSERC Solar Buildings Research Network Newsletter

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E 1 , I S S U E 5

SPEC IAL

PO INTS OF

INTEREST :

• Briefly highlight your point of

interest here.


interest here.


interest here.


interest here.

We are now in the final year of the pre-sent SBRN research program. The Net-work has considerable achievements to show in its work. Many of its graduates have taken up faculty positions in Cana-dian and US universities and are playing a key role in the development of new academic programs and research initia-tives aimed at developing the techno-logically advanced sustainable buildings of the future. Other graduates have joined government partners such as NRCan labs and CMHC, where they are directly contributing their knowledge and expertise to develop programs that will enable Canada to meet its obliga-tions for GHG emission reductions, while encouraging energy efficiency and uptake of renewable energy systems. Finally, our graduates have joined the energy and construction industries and are already contributing to key innova-tions. This issue contains articles high-lighting the careers of SBRN graduates. Team North – in which SBRN research-ers and students played a key role – finished fourth in the prestigious Solar Decathlon competition. Team Alberta,

which finished sixth, also had substantial SBRN involvement. Congratulations to both teams (see stories inside)! SBRN has played a key role in transfor-mative demonstration projects such as Concordia’s John Molson School of Business building-integrated photo-voltaic thermal system. This project has attracted much attention, including a program on Discovery Channel (http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/#clip163486). I am pleased to report that we are working on new funding initiatives to continue the work of SBRN focused on smart net-zero energy buildings and communities. Interested industry part-ners are encouraged to contact us. Sev-eral SBRN universities are currently planning new research and demonstra-tion facilities such as research houses and a solar simulator integrated with an environmental chamber at Concordia University. This year we are holding a working meeting of SBRN researchers and key stakeholders (August 24-25) in Montreal, to plan our future initiatives.

INS IDE TH IS

I S SUE :

4th Canadian

Solar

Buildings

Conference

2

The

SoleAbode

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North House 7

Net Zero

Energy

Buildings

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From SBRN

to beyond -

Where are

they now?

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TRCA-BILD Archetype Sustainable Twin Houses

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SBRN reaches its 5th year and plans for the future A. K. Athienitis

Visit:

www.solarbuildings.ca


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President of Ryerson University, Dr. Sheldon Levy, followed by the Dean of Engineering at University of Toronto, Dr. Cristina Amon. Both stressed the fact that their respective universities strongly support the work undertaken by the SBRN researchers and under-lined the importance of research in the area for the future of Canadian com-petitiveness in the global marketplace. Their opening remarks were followed by welcoming comments by Dr. Terry Hollands, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Solar Buildings Re-search Network, and by the co‐chairs of the conference: Dr. Ted Kesik and Dr. Alan Fung. Dr. Andreas Athienitis, Sci-entific Director of SBRN, then provided a report on the successes of the net-work over the last year, including the completion of the EQuilibrium houses and the combined PV/T installation at Concordia’s John Molson School of Business building. Dr. Athienitis went on to mention the international activities in which the network and its researchers are involved, paying particular attention to the role of the Network in the

launching of IEA SHC Task 40 -

ECBCS Annex 52 on Net Zero Solar Buildings. Ms. J. Butler, VP Electricity Resources of the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) followed with an overview of the activi-ties of the OPA in the area of renew-able energies. She expressed her sup-port for the activities of the SBRN.

Ms. Elizabeth McDonald, Executive Di-rector of CanSIA, provided an overview of the successes of the solar industry in Canada and its rising importance follow-ing the Clean Energy Act in Ontario. Ms. McDonald also stressed the impor-tance of continued support for innova-tion and the need for training and edu-cation of the stakeholders in the build-ing industry.

The fourth Canadian Solar Buildings Con-ference was held in Toronto from June 25 to 27, 2009. It was attended by about 200 engineers, architects, researchers and professionals from the three levels of gov-ernment: municipal, provincial and federal. It was preceded by a number of workshops that addressed the needs of the industry, as well as those of students doing research in the area of solar energy utilization in buildings.

WorkshopsWorkshopsWorkshops

Of particular interest to the industry were the workshops on RETscreen and Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal design, while the workshops on TRNSYS and ESP‐r, specifically ad-dressed to Network students, provided a combination of introductory and ad-vanced content that will be critical in the research they are undertaking and in the outputs of the Network related to all Themes, but particularly for Theme 4, which deals directly with modeling and simulation. Two non-technical workshops; one on public speaking and a second one on patents and IP protection, were very much appreciated by both students and professors of the Network. The two workshops, given by specialists in the respective fields, provided concrete information to the participants in two fields that do not form part of their

traditional training. These were funded through the SNEI funding made available to the Network by NSERC, specifically to enhance the training and capacity of Network members.

ConferenceConferenceConference

The participation at the workshops re-flected the participation in the confer-ence itself: a mixture of architects, engi-neers, researchers and students as well as professionals from the municipal, pro-vincial and federal governments. The conference was a big success in that it not only attracted a broad industrial participation in terms of attendance, but more importantly, this year it attracted significant industrial participation in its content. In particular we had presentations by the Canadian Solar Industries Association, the Canadian Home Builders Associa-tion, the Canadian Gas Association, the Ontario Power Authority, municipalities, individual builders and application engi-neers, giving a strong flavour of how re-search is taken up by the industry and applied in real projects, thereby contrib-uting to the advancement of the indus-trial know‐how and ultimately the com-petitiveness of the Canadian construc-tion and solar industries. The conference was opened by the

4th Canadian Solar Buildings Conference, Toronto ON4th Canadian Solar Buildings Conference, Toronto ON4th Canadian Solar Buildings Conference, Toronto ON Meli Stylianou, CANMET Energy Technology Center, Natural Resources CanadaMeli Stylianou, CANMET Energy Technology Center, Natural Resources CanadaMeli Stylianou, CANMET Energy Technology Center, Natural Resources Canada

4th Canadian Solar Buildings Conference, Toronto ON 4th Canadian Solar Buildings Conference, Toronto ON 4th Canadian Solar Buildings Conference, Toronto ON --- Review (continued..)Review (continued..)Review (continued..)

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Finally, two speakers provided different perspectives of what is to come. Dr. Kleiman presented activities on the development of photovoltaic materials covering the work that he and other researchers are undertaking to push the capabilities of photovoltaics to new levels of efficiency. Ms. Gauthier presented one of the EQuilibrium houses, the Now house, and how existing technolo-gies can be used to turn some of the old housing stock into high efficient, net zero houses.

The opening ceremonies set the tone for the subsequent technical sessions and panel discussions. A broad spectrum of subjects was covered in the technical sessions: PV/T systems, fenestration, solar thermal systems, net zero energy housing, modeling and simulation, to name just a few. However, the panel discussions were overwhelmingly related to one subject: community systems and how solar energy could contribute in the development of energy systems that are highly efficient and environmentally sound. A significant level of discussion was generated by the panel on the reconfiguration of urban energy systems and the role of solar energy. Mr. Louis Marmen of CGA presented the vision of QUEST: community systems that work seamlessly to minimize the energy requirements of communities. Mr. Chuck Farmer of OPA provided the view of his organization for the role of solar in community systems, while Ralph Williams of Hydro One, Brampton gave a presentation on the experiences of his organization in distributed electricity generation. Danielle Murray of the City of Toronto provided the view from a municipal level and covered the activities of her municipality in the area of distributed generation, while Jonathan Westeinde presented the vision of windmill construction, including the highly acclaimed Dockside Green development in Victoria BC.

The specific issue of how best to integrate solar electricity in the urban environment was addressed by a panel chaired by E. McDonald and composed of J. Gray of Sunedison, F. Ruffalo of Arise Technologies, Rob McMonagle from the City of Toronto and Mike Brigham, an independent consultant with strong roots in the community, who is working towards the seamless integra-tion of solar energy at the community level.

The conference closed with a panel discussion on the challenges of building net zero houses, chaired by Dr. Athienitis with par-ticipation from the Canadian Home Builders Association (D. Foster), Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (R. Charron), as well as from an award winning builder (Doug Tarry) and a researcher involved in the design and construction of net zero houses (Alan Fung). Of particular interest was the presentation from Mr. Foster who outlined the challenges and barriers faced by builders who are trying to build cutting edge energy efficient homes: lack of disciplined risk assessment and robust business cases; ignoring affordability and the marketplace; failure to address the “innovation adoption train‐wreck” and lack of “system within a system” thinking.

The closing panel discussion left the participants with a sense of where efforts need to be put, both in terms of research to de-velop low cost effective solutions for net zero houses, and in policy and training efforts from the different levels of the govern-ment: municipal, provincial and federal.

Conference Poster Session

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commissioning processes. “I was think-ing, the biggest challenge was to design and select the suitable DAQ system and proper sensors.” Dahai commented on his experience. “We faced more prob-lems in the actual installation and wiring work. The improper selection of sensor location might affect the desired tem-perature readings by several degrees,

hence changing the real efficiency of certain equipment.” Rupayan had some unique ex-perience too, “I wanted to install a flowrate sen-sor with 3/8” MNPT port in the 1” hydraulic piping. But, there was no such direct fitting. I had to go to Home De-pot to figure out my own fixtures.”

Of course, being gradu-ate students, they see more research orienta-tion in the project. “Our ultimate objective is to evaluate the per-formance of various

advanced HVAC systems as well as to provide benchmark data in the southern Ontario region.” Dr. Fung speaks of his long-term plan. “All these will rely on the successful collection of raw data and the adequate post processing analysis. We have all the necessary equations to check the performance of individual equipment and they have been imple-mented in the LabVIEW system. We have obtained some preliminary data and the feedback was sent to our indus-try partners to improve the existing system.” According to the plan, the twin houses will be evaluated under condi-tions with and without occupants. The performance data with occupants will be analyzed against the base case, which is the non-occupant case, to evaluate the occupant effect on the house opera-tion.

Are you ever curious how much you could save on your electricity bill by using a solar collector to provide hot water or using PV to supply local power needs? Are you ever interested in finding out the actual performance of your HVAC system rather than the outstanding numbers claimed by the manufacturer? Do you ever want to know the simple solu-tions to saving energy in your home, or perhaps on a higher level, the real-time interaction among individual equip-ment – the boiler, heat pump, tanks, and the terminals, etc? Many answers can be found through the monitoring project of the Archetype House at Kortright Cen-tre, Vaughan, Ontario.

The Archetype House is two semi-detached twin houses, which serve as models of the next gen-eration of green homes. Although of similar floor-plan, these two houses are config-ured with different building materials such as insulation, windows, wood and concrete, as well as different me-chanical and renewable energy systems. Generally speaking, one house, House A, is intended to demonstrate practices and technologies that are cur-rent and practical today, whereas the other, House B, demonstrates practices that we may see in the future. Through education, training, market transforma-tion and partnership programs, the Archetype House will influence how communities are built, planned, con-structed and lived in to minimize eco-logical footprint and improve people's quality of life.

Although conceptually viable, we still need solid convincing numbers to prove the expected functionality of such de-signs. Dr. Alan Fung from Ryerson Uni-versity, along with his graduate students, Dahai Zhang (PhD Candidate) and Ru-payan Barua (MASc Candidate), has been implementing a comprehensive and flexi-ble data acquisition system (DAQ) to

monitor the energy performance of vari-ous aspects of the twin houses. “It is an incredible experience,” Dahai said, “not only because we got this internship to

work with so many industry partners, but also you have to learn how to work with them efficiently.” A budget of $100,000 was allocated to purchase the hardware for this monitoring project, a significant amount com-pared to its peer projects.

However, more funding is still required to meet the goal of the original plan, i.e. to monitor 200-300 points in each house, which covers almost every aspect of the energy flow in the house. Mean-while, many practical problems and chal-lenges were encountered and solved during the installation, calibration, and

Comprehensive LongComprehensive LongComprehensive Long---term Monitoring and Evaluation of Two term Monitoring and Evaluation of Two term Monitoring and Evaluation of Two TRCATRCATRCA---BILD Archetype Sustainable Twin Houses BILD Archetype Sustainable Twin Houses BILD Archetype Sustainable Twin Houses --- Dr. Alan Fung, Ryerson UniversityDr. Alan Fung, Ryerson UniversityDr. Alan Fung, Ryerson University

View of the Toronto Region and Conservation Authority-Building Industry and

Land Development Association (TRCA-BILD) Archetype Sustainable House

“Our ultimate objective is to

evaluate the performance of

various advanced HVAC

systems as well as to provide

benchmark data in the

southern Ontario region.”

Solar Thermal DHW Heater Supplemented by Ground Source Heat

Pump De-Superheater and Time-of-Use (TOU)

Backup Storage Tank used in House B of the TRCA-

BILD Archetype

Sustainable House

Mechanical Systems with Natural Gas Combo Mini-boiler and Solar Thermal DHW Heater in House A of the TRCA-BILD Archetype Sustainable

House

Each house has two different systems: House A is equipped with a mini-gas boiler and a two-stage air source heat pump, whereas House B, which has more advanced sys-tems, is equipped with a ground source heat pump and a micro-cogeneration system. In addition, House B has an in-floor radiant system on each floor, individual zone control for the AHU and the PV installed. Although the project has a time scope of two more years, the Ryerson team still feels the heat. “We do have deadlines. We need to finish the data collection within the two years as we have two differ-ent mechanical systems to be run in either house. Our team will develop the modules for each equipment with the build-ing simulation software and examine them with the bench-mark data collected from the houses. We also need to evaluate those systems with the real-time data. The time is tight.” Dr. Fung expressed his eagerness to achieve the goal. According to their plan, the two-stage air-source heat pump in House A and the horizontal-loop ground source heat pump in House B will be tested first this year and the rest will be evaluated in 2011. Both houses achieved LEED for Homes Platinum level.

It is expected that the outcomes of the project will be read-ily available for 1) government agencies to make policy deci-sions on building and building equipment standards, 2) indus-try associations to promote new technologies and/or build-ing techniques to its constituents and consumers, 3) manu-facturers and homebuilders to adopt new technologies and/or building techniques in the housing sector in Ontario and Canada, and 4) existing and new businesses to create new products and services in sustainable/renewable integrated energy systems. The Archetype House monitoring project is mainly spon-sored by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), Building Industry and Land Development (BILD) Associa-tion, MITACS ACCELERATE, Reliance Home Comfort and Union Gas. The Compact Fieldpoint DAQ system from National In-struments (NI) was adopted for the data acquisition. The LabVIEW platform was used to design the monitoring sys-tem. For more information, please visit http://www.sustainablehouse.ca/

Comprehensive LongComprehensive LongComprehensive Long---term Monitoring and Evaluation of Two TRCAterm Monitoring and Evaluation of Two TRCAterm Monitoring and Evaluation of Two TRCA---BILD Archetype Sustainable Twin Houses BILD Archetype Sustainable Twin Houses BILD Archetype Sustainable Twin Houses (cont’d)(cont’d)(cont’d)

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The SoleAbode The SoleAbode The SoleAbode --- Team Alberta’s entry to the 2009 Solar DecathlonTeam Alberta’s entry to the 2009 Solar DecathlonTeam Alberta’s entry to the 2009 Solar Decathlon Dr. Jim Love, University of CalgaryDr. Jim Love, University of CalgaryDr. Jim Love, University of Calgary


Alberta’s entry in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2009 Solar Decathlon was a joint effort of students from four post-secondary institutions in Calgary: the University of Calgary, SAIT Polytechnic, Mount Royal University and the Alberta College of Art + De-sign. The design incorporated a fundamental element of the Canadian Rocky Mountain lodge vernacular, wooden post-and-beam construction. A modular layout of timber posts and beams blended poetics with pragmatic considerations. The open-plan concept included a centrally located services core for the kitchen and bath areas as well as a rooftop garden and terrace. Fenestration was arranged to enhance passive solar thermal control. Loads were reduced through the use of structural insulated panels for the walls and roof, as well as an energy recovery ventilator. During the eight days of decathlon competition, the house had to accom-modate transitions from a high volume of visitors during open houses to very low occupancy. A forced air system was used for

rapid response to this variability in loads. Control of the thermal environment was based on the use of off-the-shelf components to illustrate the potential of today’s technol-ogy, with proven reliability and support infrastructure, to provide energy-efficient environmental control. A water-source heat pump was the central space heating and cooling system and night-time domestic hot water heating. Because the short time of competi-tion precluded the use of ground-source heat pumps, teams were allowed to use temporary water reservoirs for heat storage. The SolAbode was equipped with 7.6 kWp of photovoltaic mod-ules. These modules cover each of the two roof sections. Each module had a microinverter because of the minor shading intro-duced by the rooftop patio. With traditional centralized invert-ers, the shading of one panel would affect the performance of the

entire system. The microinverters limited output reductions due to shading to one or two panels.

The SolAbode exteriorThe SolAbode exterior

Five flat plate solar thermal collectors supply domestic hot water needs and charge the thermal storage. Flat plate collectors have a few advantages relative to evacuated tube collectors. They are more durable and cheaper to repair should they be dam-aged (e.g., by hail, which is common on the Prairies). The panels are façade-mounted (vertical) to improve winter heat collection when the sun is just above the horizon for a small number of hours per day (collector performance improves as the incident angle of the solar radiation approaches 90o). The solar thermal system provided domestic hot water and was also used to charge the thermal storage reservoir. This integration increased the efficiency of both the solar thermal system (by lowering the approach temperature to the panels) as well as that of the heat pump (by in-creasing the approach temperature to the heat pump when in heating mode). Thermosyphons were coupled with the thermal storage tank. These passive devices reject heat to the air at night when the air tempera-ture drops below that in the tank. Similar to the increase in heat pump efficiency when the working fluid temperature was high, the cooling efficiency was increased by lowering the working fluid tem-perature. An advanced control system continuously monitored all the compo-nents as well as the indoor and outdoor conditions (temperature and humidity). The control logic maximized the overall system efficiency. The system could also log energy use and report use patterns to iden-tify opportunities to improve performance. Lighting, external blinds and home entertainment were also tied into this system. Many of the decathlon projects were built by contractors based on designs by students, but the SolAbode was both designed and built by the student team, from the framing to the controls. In its first appearance at the Solar Decathlon, Team Alberta finished sixth overall out of 20 international teams chosen to compete.

The SolAbode interiorThe SolAbode interior


In October 2009, Team Ontario/BC, a consortium of University of Waterloo, Ryerson University and Simon Fraser University competed in the 2009 Solar Decathlon, a competition hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Twenty college and university teams from around the world designed, built and operated their versions of the most attractive, effective, and energy-efficient solar-powered home. Our mission was to design and deliver a home (hereon called “North House”), a compelling and marketable solar-powered home while training Canada’s next generation of leaders in sustainable design. The combination of active and passive solar design, integrated energy production, customized component, and mobile interactive technolo-gies is a powerful vehicle of advancement in Canadian new housing industry, as well as improvement in the health and well-being of Canadian residents. The core team comprised students and faculty members from the three universities across Canada.

North House effectively utilizes the sun's energy to en-sure high levels of comfort while using less energy. A highly glazed façade on the East-, West-, and South-face covers the main living space. In total, North House has a window-to-wall ratio (WWR) of approximately 70% yet it is still a net-positive energy home. To do this, North House reduces its energy consumption by controlling the amount of solar radiation that passes through the glazed façades with dynamic shading, and uses a salt-hydrate phase-change material embedded in the floor to store solar heat. The façades of North House were con-structed with highly insulated quad-layered insulated glaz-ing units(IGUs), which are able to harness passive solar heat from the sun with relatively low U-value of 0.474 W/m2K (R-12) yet relatively high solar heat gain coeffi-cients (SHGC) of 0.404. An extensive computer system

called the "Living Interface System" that allows residents to easily see and control their energy use is one of the innovative fea-tures that North House has to offer. The system includes desktop, embedded, and mobile components, which can also be ac-

cessed and controlled using an iPhone application. Energy harnessing is integrated into virtually every surface of the building. An approximately 9 kW photovoltaic (PV) system on the roof is the primary energy generator, complemented by an approximately 5 kW custom PV cladding on the South, East and West facades that operates when the sun is at the lower angle. A solar-assisted heat pump system including three-tank heat transfer and storage system; the roof mounted evacuated-tube solar-thermal collector; and a variable capacity heat pump meet the hot water and space heating demands. A second variable capacity heat pump is utilized for space cooling, which pulls the cold water from a cooling pond and rejects the heat back to the pond.

North House North House North House --- Team Ontario/BC’s entry to the 2009 Solar DecathlonTeam Ontario/BC’s entry to the 2009 Solar DecathlonTeam Ontario/BC’s entry to the 2009 Solar Decathlon Dr. Alan Fung, Ryerson UniversityDr. Alan Fung, Ryerson UniversityDr. Alan Fung, Ryerson University

Exterior view of the North HouseExterior view of the North HouseExterior view of the North House

Team Ontario/BC with members of Canadian EmbassyTeam Ontario/BC with members of Canadian EmbassyTeam Ontario/BC with members of Canadian Embassy


North House North House North House --- Team Ontario/BC’s entry to the 2009 Solar DecathlonTeam Ontario/BC’s entry to the 2009 Solar DecathlonTeam Ontario/BC’s entry to the 2009 Solar Decathlon (cont’d)(cont’d)(cont’d)

During the competition, the 20 teams received points for their performance in 10 contests and opened their homes to the public. Solar Decathlon consists of 10 contests that center on all of the ways in which we use energy in our daily lives. Overall, Team North was ranked 4th place in the final competition based on the 2nd place finish in the Communications, 3rd place finish in the Comfort Zone, and 3rd place finish in the Net Metering contests.

[Figure 1: Overall Standings (U.S. Department of Energy, 2009)]

For more information on North House, please visit the

website at www.team-north.com.

For more information about the Solar Decathlon, please visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s website at www.solardecathlon.org

Net Zero Energy Buildings: definitions, issues and experience Net Zero Energy Buildings: definitions, issues and experience Net Zero Energy Buildings: definitions, issues and experience Josef Ayoub, CANMET Energy Technology Center, Natural Resources CanadaJosef Ayoub, CANMET Energy Technology Center, Natural Resources CanadaJosef Ayoub, CANMET Energy Technology Center, Natural Resources Canada


Buildings - the places where we live and work - are some of the largest consumers of energy in the world, accounting for over 40% of the world’s primary energy use and 24% of greenhouse gas emissions. Energy use in buildings as well as emissions from them include both the direct, on-site use of fossil fuels as well as indirect use from electricity, district heating/cooling systems and embodied energy in construction materials. There have been significant advances in improving energy efficiency in buildings, but much more is required to address the global challenges related to climate change and resource shortages. Presently, there is a popular vision for the buildings sector that encapsulates energy-efficiency and more - the so-called “net-zero energy” approach. Whether, the term is “net-zero energy”, “net-zero emissions” or “net-zero carbon”, the vision is ban-died about and discussed with the assumption that there is a common understanding of its definition and resultant implications. This is far from the truth. There are numerous definitions and approaches in the current discussions on this zero energy build-ings (NZEB) - all claiming to be the “right” path. Although these terms have different meaning and are poorly understood, sev-eral IEA countries have adopted this vision as a long-term goal of their building energy policies. What is missing is a clear defini-tion and international agreement on the measures of building performance that could inform “net-zero energy” building policies, programs and industry adoption. In October 2007, Prof. Andreas Athienitis, representing the Solar Buildings Research Network, and Josef Ayoub from Can-metENERGY participated in a US DOE hosted event to define a new international research concept on this topic under the auspices of the International Energy Agency (IEA). The project was presented to the Executive Committees of both the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) Program and the Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems (ECBCS) Program the following summer and was approved as a joint activity as the SHC Task 40/ECBCS Annex 52 - Towards Net Zero Energy Solar Buildings for a 5-year period (October 2008 - September 2013) with the following criteria:

• Goal: Joint international research to advance NZEBs to a practical reality in the marketplace.

• Objectives: To develop a common understanding of definitions, guidelines, tools, innovative solutions sets and collate that information in a source book (Vol. 1, 2, 3…) which would be the basis of demonstrations and international collaboration to support broader industry adoption.

• Scope: Residential, non-residential buildings and clusters

and different climates.

1IEA Promoting Energy Efficiency Investments – case studies in the residential sector ISBN 978-92-64-04214-8. Paris. 2008. 2Note: In most countries, indirect emissions are not counted as emissions from the building sector but from the industry (power plants). This means the envi-ronmental footprint of building related energy use is often underestimated. 3CA, DE, UK, USA, NL, NZ


The launch of this new activity was inaugurated in May 2009 at the Task/Annex’s 1st Experts Group Meeting, hosted by the SBRN in Montreal. The Task/Annex has attracted some 60 Experts from 19 countries and continues to receive re-quests from an international audience to attend future meetings.

Net Zero Energy Buildings: definitions, issues and experience Net Zero Energy Buildings: definitions, issues and experience Net Zero Energy Buildings: definitions, issues and experience (cont’d)(cont’d)(cont’d)

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To achieve these objectives, the Task/Annex work has been organized in the following themes and activities:

Subtask A: Definitions & Implications

Led by Karsten Voss, Germany and Assunta Napolitano, Italy

(To establish an internationally agreed understanding on NZEBs based on a common methodology)

Activity A1: NZEB definitions framework Activity A2: Monitoring, verification and compliance guide Activity A3: Grid interactions

Subtask B: Design Processes & tools

Led by Andreas Athienitis, Canada and Adam Hirsch, USA

(To identify and refine design approaches and tools to support industry adoption of innovative demand/supply technologies for

NZEBS)

Activity B1: Processes and tools Activity B2: Pre-concept design, feasibility tools Activity B3: Tools guide and worked examples

Subtask C: Solution Sets (Advanced Design, Engineering, Technologies)

Led by Francois Garde, France, and Michael Donn, New Zealand

(To develop and test innovative, whole building net-zero solution sets for cold, moderate and hot climates with exemplary ar-

chitecture and technologies that would be the basis for demonstration projects and international collaboration)

Activity C1: NZEB STC Database: Activity C2: Analysis Matrix Activity C3: Research analysis of themes undertaken

Activity C4: STC Source Book

Subtask D: Dissemination & Outreach

Led by Operating Agent, All participants

(To support knowledge transfer and market adoption of NZEBs on a national and international level)

Activity D1: NZEB web page Activity D2: Reports production, Source book(s): Vols. 1, 2 and 3 Activity D3: Education network for PhD students and summer schools Activity D4: Outreach (conferences, seminars, workshops etc.)

Country Participation: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealnd, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK , USA.

Net Zero Energy Buildings: definitions, issues and experience Net Zero Energy Buildings: definitions, issues and experience Net Zero Energy Buildings: definitions, issues and experience (cont’d)(cont’d)(cont’d)


The work is being undertaken in an integrated approach:

Subtask Reports, Definitions and Compliance Framework, Tools, Website, Database, Workshops, Case Studies,

Demonstration Projects, Education Network, source books (vols. 1, 2, 3), PhD network…Deliverables

Document and assess existing

definitions

Assess current situation using projects data, literature review & practitioner input (workshops).

Develop an IEA harmonized

definitions framework

Study utility and grid

interactions, mismatches and

overall exergy balance

Develop a monitoring,

verification and compliance

guide

Assess current approaches, tools,

problems and gaps for the design

process

Adapt and refine tools/models for

NZEB feasibility analysis, conceptual

design, optimization.

Identify existing tools as starting

point for an NZEB design

approaches and tools.

Develop tools guide, worked

examples (projects) to support

industry adoption .

Design Process

STB

Definitions

STA

Assess current situation using

projects data, literature review &

practitioner input (workshops).

Develop and assess participants case

studies and demonstration projects.

Research advanced technologies and

integrated concepts for participant

case studies, projects.

With STA, STB, develop solution sets

for different climates, building types

and functions

Solution Sets

STC

Dissemination

STD

Canadian National Experts: Andreas Athienitis Scientific Director NSERC Solar Buildings Research Network Professor and Concordia Research Chair Tier I Dept. of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering Concordia University 1455 Maisonneuve W. Montreal, Québec H3G 1M8 [email protected] http://www.solarbuildings.ca

Véronique Delisle CanmetENERGY/Natural Resources Canada/ Government of Canada 1615 Lionel-Boulet Blvd, P.O. Box 4800 Varennes, Québec J3X 1S6 [email protected] www.canmetenergy.nrcan.gc.ca

Michel Tardif CanmetENERGY/Natural Resources Canada/ Government of Canada 580 Booth Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E4 [email protected] http://www.canmetenergy.nrcan.gc.ca

Josef Ayoub Operating Agent, IEA SHC Task 40/ECBCS Annex 52: Towards Zero Energy Solar Buildings

[email protected] For more info visit the Task/Annex website: http://www.iea-shc.org/task40/

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 5 P A G E 1 2

Collaboration among SBRN participantsCollaboration among SBRN participantsCollaboration among SBRN participants Study on the Implementation of BIPV/T Technologies on the Canadian Housing Stock Study on the Implementation of BIPV/T Technologies on the Canadian Housing Stock Study on the Implementation of BIPV/T Technologies on the Canadian Housing Stock

JosJosJosééé A. Candanedo and Liam O’Brien (PhD Candidates, Concordia University)A. Candanedo and Liam O’Brien (PhD Candidates, Concordia University)A. Candanedo and Liam O’Brien (PhD Candidates, Concordia University)

Natural Resources Canada, Dalhousie University and Concordia University have been collaborating since July 2009 on a project aimed at evaluating the potential impact of BIPV/T technologies on the Canadian housing stock. The most recent activity of this project was a working meeting at Dalhousie University in Halifax, in early March 2010. This meeting brought together: Lukas Swan and Sara Nikoofard, PhD students at Dalhousie, who are working on ESP-r models of the Canadian housing stock; Bart Lomanowski, from NRCan, an expert in the implementation of new models on ESP-r; José A. Candanedo, a PhD student at Concordia University who has been working on the integration of BIPV/T-assisted heat pumps in innovative buildings; and two other doctoral students from Concordia University, Liam O’Brien and Scott Bucking, who have been working respectively on a design tool for net-zero buildings, and the formal optimization of these designs.

The product of this collaboration will be a detailed model of a BIPV/T system that can be directly included in existing ESP-r house thermal models. This will enable the direct use of this innovative technology in Sara, Lukas, Scott, and Liam's respective applications. Furthermore, this model will be implemented into HOT3000, NRCan’s building design tool, which also uses ESP-r as a simulation engine. Bart’s remarkable work on the implementation of BIPV/T systems in ESP-r, testing different ways of using the BIPV/T air as the heat source for a heat pump is already producing interesting results. Heat transfer correlations obtained through numerical and experimental work by Luis Candanedo (Concordia), and corroborated by measurements in demonstra-tion projects, have been used in this work. This effort is a primary example of the kind of fruitful collaboration that has been taking place in SBRN since its inception, bring-ing together the expertise of people from different disciplines to find innovative solutions. In this example, results obtained in Theme 1 (Integration of Solar Energy Systems into Buildings) have been transferred to Theme 4 (Simulation Tools for Solar Buildings Design). Thank you Lukas and Sara for hosting a successful and productive meeting! PS: Lukas recently joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Dalhousie as an Assistant Professor. Congratulations Lukas!

From left to right, Bart Lomanowski, Scott Bucking, Jose Candanedo, Sara Nikoofard, Lukas Swan and Liam O’Brien.

Bart and Lukas discussing the implementation of BIPV/T and an air source heat pump in ESP-r.

SBRN NewsSBRN NewsSBRN News


Commercialization of UNB PV Inverter Technologies Commercialization of UNB PV Inverter Technologies Commercialization of UNB PV Inverter Technologies --- Liuchen Chang, University of New BrunswickLiuchen Chang, University of New BrunswickLiuchen Chang, University of New Brunswick

The Sustainable Power Research Group (SPRG) at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) has adopted the RD3 approach (Research,

Development, Demonstration and Deployment) toward its endeavours in technological innovation. With

continuing efforts supported by Solar Buildings Research Network, SPRG has developed and demon-

strated a one-stop solution for PV inverters in distributed generation applications. The key building-block

technologies for grid-connected PV inverters have all been developed “in-house”, including an innovative

predictive current controller based on the space vector pulse width modulation to accomplish a high

quality current output feeding into the grid, comprehensive system protection functions including the

hybrid anti-islanding algorithm to comply with the CSA/UL interconnection standards, and a golden sec-

tion based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method to optimize the power output from PV ar-

rays. These technologies have been integrated into a 10kW, single-phase, grid-connected inverter pack-

age, available for commercialization. Technology licensing agreements have been signed between UNB

and EPOD Solar Inc. of BC and EffiSolar Energy Corp. BC, for commercial installations in the world PV

electricity generation market, particularly for the Ontario Feed-in Tariff market. SPRG has completed

training of engineers of these two companies, which are now in the process of establishing their manufacturing facilities for PV inverters.

Ryerson University’s Mechanical and industrial engineering

professor Alan Fung was presented with two awards, one for

research excellence and the other from the Canada Mort-

gage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for promotion of

sustainable practices. For more information go to:

http://www.ryerson.ca/news/news/

General_Public/20100129_feas.html

Network researcher John Wright receives award from ASHRAE Network researcher John Wright receives award from ASHRAE Network researcher John Wright receives award from ASHRAE Dr. John L. Wright of the University of Waterloo received the ASHRAE Transac-

tions Paper Award at the ASHRAE annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The

paper is entitled "Calculating Center-Glass Performance Indices of Glazing Systems with

Shading Devices".

Visit Dr. Wright’s webpage at:

http://www.mme.uwaterloo.ca/research/brochure/wright-br.html

SBRN Researcher Jim Love’s work earns topSBRN Researcher Jim Love’s work earns topSBRN Researcher Jim Love’s work earns top---level LEED certificationlevel LEED certificationlevel LEED certification Dr. Jim Love, professor in the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Environmental Design

and holder of the university’s Chair in Sustainable Building Technologies, designed the

University of Calgary’s Child Development Centre (CDC) building. This building was

among the first in Canada to earn the top-level Platinum certification under the LEED

(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system and also features the

largest photovoltaic array in Western Canada.

Dr. Alan Fung (center)

receiving the CMHC

Excellence in Education

Award for the promotion

of sustainable practice,

from Mr. Larry Brydon

(Reliance Home Comfort)

and Mr. Steve Jacques

(Community Development

& Research, CMHC)

Dr. John L. WrightDr. John L. WrightDr. John L. Wright

Network researcher Alan Fung receives two awards Network researcher Alan Fung receives two awards Network researcher Alan Fung receives two awards

Dr. James A. LoveDr. James A. LoveDr. James A. Love

…..From SBRN to beyond From SBRN to beyond From SBRN to beyond --- Where are they now?Where are they now?Where are they now?

Thanos Tzempelikos, Thanos Tzempelikos, Thanos Tzempelikos, Assistant Professor, Architectural Engineering, Purdue University Thanos Tzempelikos completed his PhD at Concordia University in 2005 on “Integrated thermal and daylighting analysis of buildings”, for which he won the Concordia Engineering Faculty Doctoral Prize. In Fall 2005, he was hired as a post-doctoral fellow in SBRN, based at Concordia University and started working on Theme 1.2: “Solar optimization of perimeter zones and multifunctional façades”. During his appointment, he completed the experimental design and setup of the Solar Energy Labora-tory of Concordia University, which includes six different façade sections for testing the daylighting, solar and thermal properties and energy performance of fenestration systems, shading devices and also perimeter HVAC performance and photovoltaic panels. Thanos helped in linking university network research with government agencies and the industry (Somfy, Hydro-Quebec, etc) and also completed a demonstration project in P.E. Trudeau airport about optimizing shading and lighting control in all pe-

rimeter zones, in collaboration with NRCan and Aeroports de Montreal. Thanos’s research focus is on dynamic façades and their impact on energy performance and indoor environment. He helped in advising two MASc students (M. Bessoudo, graduated in 2007 and K. Kapsis, graduated in 2009) with Dr. Athienitis and Dr. Zmeureanu. The projects included experimental and simulation of thermal comfort studies near glass façades and the impact of motorized bottom-up shades and related control strategies on the thermal and daylighting performance of buildings. Thanos worked as a post-doctoral fellow in SBRN until May 2008. He published several papers in journals and conferences and he gained valuable experience from interacting with students, researchers and professors from other universities and industry partners. The SBRN environment provided him with unique qualifications in order to start his academic career. In August 2008, Thanos was hired as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in the School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University, in a new Architectural Engineering program they started. Together with Panagiota and two other colleagues, they developed a new curricu-lum (undergraduate and graduate courses) and a new strong research program on energy-efficient buildings. They are currently building their new research labs (modular, reconfigurable full-scale buildings) and continue working on modeling and building simulation. Thanos is organizing an International Conference on High Performance Buildings, which will take place at Purdue University in July 2010. They are also collaborating with faculty members from Herrick Laboratories from the School of Mechanical Engi-neering at Purdue for creating an interdisciplinary center for high performance buildings. Thanos and Panagiota continue participating in SBRN as collaborators.


Panagiota Karava completed her PhD at Concordia University in 2007 on “Airflow prediction in build-ings for natural ventilation design – wind tunnel measurements and simulation”. Panagiota was mainly involved in theme 1.4 in SBRN “1.4: Integrated modelling, simulation and design of atria” and she helped advising one MASc student (E. Mouriki graduate in 2009). In 2008 she was hired as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) at the University of Western Ontario and she was awarded with an NSERC-Discovery Grant and a University Faculty award. Presently she holds a Research Adjunct Professor position at the University of Western Ontario (School of Civil Engineering) where she advises 1 PhD and 2 MASc students. In 2009 she joined Purdue University as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in the School of Civil Engineering (Architectural and Con-struction Engineering Group). Panagiota is highly involved in the development (research and teaching) of the new Architectural Engineering emphasis area at Purdue. She has contributed to the development of the new Architectural Engineering Research Laboratories (full-scale outdoor facilities), con-struction of which started in February, 2010. Also she is collaborating with faculty members from Herrick Laboratories from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue to create a center for high performance buildings. Panagiota’s research focuses on the fundamen-tals of heat and air transport and their application in innovative building envelope systems modeling.

Panagiota Karava, Panagiota Karava, Panagiota Karava, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering

& Management, Purdue University

Chris Adachi, Chris Adachi, Chris Adachi, Carbon and Energy Management Research Analyst, teck Resources Ltd.

Chris Adachi joined the SBRN in 2008 while conducting his graduate studies in the Department of Environment and Resource Studies at the University of Waterloo. Interested in the relationship between renewable energy policies and the adoption of renewable energy technologies, Chris eventually focused his Master’s thesis on Ontario’s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program and its influence on the adoption of residentially-mounted solar photovoltaic systems.

With support from the SBRN, Chris conducted his research during the course of 2008, and suc-cessfully completed his Master’s in Environmental Studies in early 2009. During this period, his research was communicated to different audiences in different ways: he made poster presentations at the 2008 and 2009 SBRN conferences, prepared a stakeholder report for the project’s website,* and had an article published in the international journal Sustainability.*

Chris has since taken the knowledge and skills developed through his work with the SBRN to Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified mining company. There, he is a Carbon and Energy Management Research Analyst. No longer focusing solely on solar photovoltaic systems, his work at Teck has challenged him to find new and innovative ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through conservation, fuel switching, and the adoption of renewable energy resources and technologies. The policy-oriented skill set he developed with the SBRN has also proven to be an asset. Much of Chris’s work at Teck focuses on climate change policies (e.g. British Columbia’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction [Cap and Trade] Act), their influence on the mining sector, and the implications for Teck’s operations.

“My work with the SBRN provided me with a comprehensive understanding of Energy Systems and Energy Policy and helped me to secure a position with Teck. Working at Teck is exciting – I get to work at the forefront of changing carbon practices and carbon policies. I am grateful for the support of the SBRN, and I can confidently say that my experience in the Network helped me to get where I am today.”

http://environment.uwaterloo.ca/research/greenpower/projects/solar.html

http://environment.uwaterloo.ca/research/greenpower/projects/documents/StakeholderReport_ChrisAdachi.pdf

* - Chris Adachi and Ian H. Rowlands, ‘The Role of Policies in Supporting the Diffusion of Solar Photovoltaic Systems: Experiences with On-tario, Canada’s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program’, Sustainability (Vol. 2, No. 1, 2010), pp. 30-47, http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/1/30.

VéroniqueVéroniqueVéronique Delisle, Delisle, Delisle, Research Officer, Distributed Energy Program,

CanmetENERGY, Natural Resources Canada

Starting her Master`s degree at the University of Waterloo Solar Thermal Research Depart-ment in 2005, Véronique Delisle was involved with the Solar Building Research Network since the start. Under the supervision of Prof. Michael Collins, she conducted modeling and experi-mental work on a PV/Thermal transpired collectors, completing her Master’s thesis entitled “Analytical and Experimental Study of a PV/Thermal Transpired Collector” in 2008. During her years as an SBRN student, Véronique saw the progress of the researchers taking part in the net-

work at the annual conferences and found it interesting to see the various collaborations that were formed. At the same time, the benefits and relevance of the network were observed with everyone’s work coming together to achieve the main research objectives.

Through Véronique’s participation in the SBRN, she gained valuable experience and was given the opportunity to continue work-ing in the solar energy field as part of the distributed energy program at CanmetENERGY in Varennes, a research centre of Natural Resources Canada. Her work at CanmetENERGY as a research agent allows her to contribute to a rewarding field by being involved with the advances in areas such as photovoltaic/thermal systems and net-zero energy buildings.


Brendan O’Neill, Brendan O’Neill, Brendan O’Neill, Junior Engineer (Building Science), Les Consultants LBCD Inc. (Trow Global)

Brendan O’Neill started a Master’s of Applied Science degree at Concordia University in September 2005, just when the Solar Building’s Research Network was getting started. It was his desire to learn how mechanical engineers can apply their knowledge in energy system design to contribute towards reducing energy consumption in the built environment that drew him to the Building Engineering program under the supervision of Professor Andreas Athienitis.

During his degree, and through the funding of the SBRN, he was able to involve himself in a multitude of research and hands-on activities: experimenting with the 2005 Solar Decathlon home, and participating in the 2007 competition with Team Montreal; imple-menting his research in dynamic façade shading control at the Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport; contributing with fellow students and colleagues in the design and in-strumentation of cutting edge research facilities and Net-zero energy homes; and attend-ing and presenting at SBRN annual conferences.

For Brendan, the ability to apply the theory to real world projects, whilst working in an amazing team, was what made his time with the SBRN the most rewarding. This culmi-nated in taking the lead role in the engineering supervision and project management of the building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal demonstration project that was constructed on Concordia University’s new John Molson School of Business Building. Brendan coor-dinated the manufacture and specification of the components, and used the knowledge gained from his studies to ensure that the system blended into the architectural, me-chanical and electrical aspect of the building. This project, the first application of BIPV/T of its kind on a prominent building in a major downtown Montreal location, shows Montrealers and all Canadians that solar technologies not only work well in our cold climate, but in fact are able to power and heat our buildings efficiently.

After spending a short period helping with the administration side of the SBRN, and taking a much deserved summer break, Brendan started working in the private sector in the Building Science division of a Montreal-based consulting firm: Les Consult-ants LBCD inc., part of the larger Trow Global group of companies. His experience with the SBRN allows him now to add value to the company’s projects, notably for building-integrated solar installations in Canada and abroad, and mechanical HVAC design.

Brendan can be contacted at [email protected], and would be happy to share his experiences and passion for Solar Buildings.


Cynthia Cruickshank, Cynthia Cruickshank, Cynthia Cruickshank, Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University

Cynthia Cruickshank completed her PhD studies under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Harrison at Queen’s University in June 2009 and started a full-time tenure track position at Carleton University in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department in July 2009. Support for her PhD research was provided by the Canadian Solar Building’s Research Network under Theme 2, Project 2.2a.

Cynthia’s PhD study investigated the operation of a unique, multi-tank thermal storage incorporating natural convection heat exchangers. Intended to be cost-effective and easily installed, its design promoted sequential thermal stratification and passive control. A full-scale experimental apparatus was constructed, instrumented, and commissioned, allowing experimental data to be obtained under a variety of operational conditions. The operation of the multi-tank storage unit was modeled and new purpose-specific component routines were developed. In addition, a simplified test method for characterizing natural convection heat exchangers was developed and adopted for use in Canada and in the USA by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation. This work was presented at the annual ASME conference in Denver and received the “Best Paper Award”. The paper was later submitted and published in the ASME Journal. In October 2007, Cynthia attended a SolNet graduate course on Thermal Stratification in Solar Storage Tanks at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) as part of her PhD coursework. Her ability to travel and participate in this course was a result of receiving a Solar Buildings Research Network (SBRN) Travel Supplement, which is intended to help SBRN students interact with experts in their field and to collaborate with researchers from other institutions working on similar projects. As a result of attending this interna-

tional study session at DTU, Cynthia established a number of close ties with overseas researchers that have led to further collaboration and the publication of a joint international journal paper. This work involved an extensive review of characterization methods for ther-mal stratification in thermal energy storages. During the course of her formal studies as an SBRN student, Cynthia presented 12 conference papers on different aspects of her re-search at national and international conferences. As the newest member of the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering (SREE) program at Carleton University, Cynthia is partici-pating in the development and delivery of new course curriculum and graduate research. Her primary research involves the design and optimization of solar thermal systems and sensible heat storages. Cynthia hopes to broaden the scope of her work to include investiga-tions related to advanced buildings, including energy efficient and sustainable energy concepts for commercial and residential applica-tions. As part of her teaching requirements, Cynthia is also a fourth-year design project advisor for a high performance housing project. This project focuses on developing cost-effective and efficient methods to significantly reduce the total energy consumption and the peak electrical demands of houses. The assistance and support of the SBRN has given Cynthia the opportunity to further her research and academic career in the solar energy field. In addition, the connections Cynthia has made within SBRN have provided her with an invaluable resource for future re-search and collaboration.


Qian Peng, Qian Peng, Qian Peng, Research and Development Engineer, Unicel Architectural Group

Qian Peng, a SBRN student, has finished his M.A.Sc degree in Building Engineering under a joint research project between Unicel Architectural Corp. and Concordia University. Unicel is the developer of an advanced fenestration product called VisionCon-trol®, which integrates aluminum venetian blinds between two panes of glass and provides cord-free operation of louver tilt. The tilt angle of the integrated louvers can be accurately controlled to block direct solar radiation from entering the space or to redi-rect daylight towards the ceiling for daylighting purposes. Qian’s research focused on developing a new generation of VisionCon-trol® window by redesigning it to reduce its overall thickness. The reduced window thickness widens its applications in com-mercial curtain walls and retrofit projects. The newly developed VisionControl® window was tested in a small-scale, three-section curtain wall façade. This experimental study confirmed that the newly developed VisionControl® window offers better functionality and better daylighting performance than the previous generation. Today, the newly designed VisionControl® win-dow is available on the market and is now patented. Qian Peng was granted NSERC’s Industrial Postgraduate Scholarship (IPS) for 2008 and 2009, and he will continue his career in Unicel as a research and development engineer. He will promote this new window product for more sustainable and intelligent building designs.


VisionControl® window VisionControl® windows in a three-section façade design

Qian Peng in Unicel shop with VisionControl® windows he designed.


Remi Charron, Remi Charron, Remi Charron, Senior Researcher, Sustainable Housing Policy and Research, CMHC Rémi Charron had the privilege of starting his PhD at Concordia at the SBRN’s conception stage. Working part-time at NRCan in Varennes, one the Network’s Public Sector Collaborators, allowed Rémi to provide input on the NSERC Network proposal from the perspective of both the universities and the federal govern-ment. “This unique perspective was important in helping me shape my understanding of the separate roles that the federal government and universities have with regards to leading research in Canada.”

For his thesis, Development of a Genetic Algorithm Optimisation Tool for the Early Stage Design of Low and Net-Zero Energy Solar Homes, Rémi developed a model of a solar house in TRNSYS that had multiple energy efficiency and solar technology options available. This house model was coupled with a genetic algorithm program that would run thousands of TRNSYS simulations to determine cost-effective combinations of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies to use in homes. Although this research started before the Network was officially started, the results fed directly into a couple of the research projects under Theme 4.3.

“My thesis work was broad and helped me learn about a number of energy efficiency and solar energy technologies. This broad knowledge base was key in helping me get my previous and current job.” Nearing the end of his PhD, Rémi accepted a position as Professor in Energy Systems Engineering Technology at St. Lawrence College, the only college that is part of the SBRN. There he taught a broad range of courses on photovoltaics, energy simulation tools, thermodynamics and others. He also led the construction of a new renewable energy laboratory and an insulation demonstration building. “Whereas my PhD work was more theoretical, the work at the college was very much hands-on, which was perfect as it helped me round out my skill set.”

Although the work at St. Lawrence College was enjoyable and fulfilling, when an opportunity came to work as a Senior Researcher in Sustainable Housing at CMHC, another SBRN public sector collaborator, it was a position Rémi did not want to pass up. Working at Canada's national housing agency as one of their key energy efficiency and renewable expert, the work involves leading housing re-lated research on a number of energy efficiency and solar energy related projects. “I had admired the work CMHC had done through its EQuilibrium Housing Demonstration projects, and now having the chance to work directly on a number of EQuilibrium related initiatives is very rewarding.”

Mark Bessoudo, Mark Bessoudo, Mark Bessoudo, Green Building & Sustainability Consultant, Halsall Associates Mark Bessoudo completed his Master of Applied Science in Building Engineering at Concordia University in 2008 where he served as a graduate research assistant in Concordia's the Solar & Lighting Lab under the guidance of SBRN Network Leader Dr. Andreas Athienitis and Post-Doctoral fellow Dr. Thanos Tzempelikos. As part of the SBRN's Theme 1.2, "Solar optimization of perimeter zones and multifunctional facades", Mark studied the effects of passive solar design, primarily solar shading and glazing, on occupant thermal

comfort and the indoor thermal environment in commercial office buildings. During his time with the SBRN, he also published sev-eral conference and journal papers, carried out research at a Hydro-Quebec research lab and was a member of Team Montreal at the 2007 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C. In 2008, Mark's research work for his thesis was published into the book "Building Façades and Thermal Comfort: The impacts of climate, solar shading, and glazing on the indoor thermal environment". After graduation, Mark was hired as a green building consultant with Halsall Associates in Toronto where he now works on a wide range of projects related to sustainability in the built environment, including LEED certification for new and existing buildings, commu-nity energy planning, and municipal green development policy. Mark has been able to work with a number of clients interested in us-ing solar energy systems for their buildings, especially with the recent introduction of Ontario's feed-in tariff program for renewable energy systems. Beyond just the academic experience that Mark gained while with the SBRN and Concordia, he believes that the connections and friendships he has made with fellow students and professors across Canada and the world were instrumental in helping him to begin his career. Mark looks forward to continued friendship and collaboration in the future!

EcoTerraEcoTerraEcoTerraTMTMTM EQuilibriumEQuilibriumEQuilibriumTM TM TM Demonstration House and its BIPV/T roof construction Demonstration House and its BIPV/T roof construction Demonstration House and its BIPV/T roof construction

(an SBRN demonstration project)(an SBRN demonstration project)(an SBRN demonstration project)

Editor: Lyne Dee Phone: 514 848 2424 ext. 7029 Fax: 514 848 7965 E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.solarbuildings.ca

EcoTerra home built by Alouette Homes (Eastman, Quebec)

BIPV/T roof module delivered on site for assembly of the house

Construction of BIPV/T roof module (Concordia students: L. Candanedo and B. O’Neill)

Documents

SBRN Newsletter