Research & Education Projects

Explore our current projects, past achievements, and collaborative efforts.

High-Performance Filter Testing

High-performance filters can maintain low concentrations of air pollutants in sensitive environments, such as hospitals and senior care facilities, but often at high energy costs. In this study, in-duct and in-room particle emission testing found that an electronically enhanced high-performance in-duct air cleaner outperformed MERV13 and MERV14 filters by achieving higher particle removal efficiency while maintaining lower pressure drop and similar fan electrical power consumption.

In collaboration with , the 1000IL in-duct air cleaning unit was tested against MERV13 and MERV14 filters under controlled conditions measuring particle removal, pressure drop, and supply fan electrical power consumption. Testing was conducted by nebulizing potassium chloride solution in one of two locations, directly into the return duct (in-duct) prior to the air handling unit or into the test chamber the air handling unit serves (in-room). Single-pass removal efficiency was measured from 10 nm – 10 μm by placing an optical particle sizer (OPS) and scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) before and after the filter holder, and effective air changer per hour were measured using a particle monitor placed the in the chamber connected to the air handling unit. Key findings include:

  • The average single-pass removal efficiency of the 1000IL was 94.9±3% at 300 nm, compared to 1.8±13.3% and 75±3.5% for MERV13 and MERV14 filters, respectively.
  • The single-pass removal efficiency varied with particle loading rate, with in-duct testing having lower removal efficiency than in-room testing.
  • The 1000IL achieved effective air changes per hour of 7.5±0.3 h-1 for PM2.5, compared to 4.0±0.2 h-1 and 6.5±0.3 h-1 for the MERV13 and MERV14 filters, respectively.
  • Pressure drop across the filter media was lowest for the 1000IL compared to the MERV13 and MERV14 filters, while electrical power consumption by the supply fan was lower for the MERV14 and 1000IL filters compared to the MERV13 filter.
Chilled Beam Evaluation

Active chilled beam systems are gaining attention as a high-performance HVAC technology, offering efficient, low-energy cooling with superior control of thermal comfort and air quality. In this study, the energy performance of active chilled beam systems was experimentally tested under varying airflow rates and water supply temperatures, showing that total cooling capacity is primarily driven by water-side cooling, which increases with higher airflow and lower water inlet temperatures. Testing also found that air-side cooling contributes less but increases with airflow and higher water temperatures, and that design factors like nozzle size significantly influence performance, providing insights for optimizing system design and operation.

This was a full-scale experimental study of active chilled beam (ACB) systems to evaluate how key operating parameters, particularly supply airflow rate and chilled water temperature, affect their cooling and energy performance. Using 54 test cases across six commercial ACB units, the study separated total cooling capacity into water-side and air-side contributions and showed that system performance is dominated by water-side cooling, while air-side cooling plays a secondary role. The results demonstrate how airflow, water temperature, and design features like nozzle size influence cooling capacity and efficiency, and the findings provide valuable data for improving system design, operation, and simulation models of ACB systems. Key findings include:

  • Total cooling capacity is dominated by water-side cooling, which increases with higher airflow rates and lower water inlet temperatures.
  • Air-side cooling capacity increases with higher airflow rates and higher water inlet temperatures but contributes less overall than water-side cooling.
  • Increasing primary airflow enhances induction of room air through the coil, improving overall cooling performance.
  • Smaller nozzle sizes improve water-side cooling efficiency by increasing induction and heat transfer effectiveness.

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SMARTmobile Educational Platform

Traditionally building systems operate in silos, rarely communicating with one another. Smart buildings aim to connect disparate building systems to improve energy efficiency, occupant health and comfort, and streamline building management. The SMARTmobile educational platform provides students with the ability to program and operate HVAC, lighting, and other building systems and explore the capabilities of smart building architecture.

The SMARTmobile was developed in collaboration with to provide an educational platform for students to learn about programming and operating smart building systems and components. Consisting of an active chilled beam, hot and chilled water loops, lighting system, and air quality sensors, students learn to connect various building systems to a backbone of ABB system controllers then use this connectivity to achieve building system controls that would not be otherwise possible, such as:

  • Using occupancy sensor data from the lighting system to control the HVAC system to turn on only when a space is occupied.
  • Using air quality data collected via an API to tell the HVAC system when to prioritize air quality over thermal comfort, such as during wildfire events.
  • Use lighting sensor data to tell window shades to open or close to maintain a comfortable lighting environment.
Secondary Window Testing

Secondary windows are a promising solution to improving window energy efficiency when replacement is not an option. This study evaluated detachable secondary glazing as a retrofit solution for single-glazed windows and finds that it significantly improves thermal performance by reducing heat flux (30–34%) and lowering U-value by about 52%, while also stabilizing indoor thermal conditions. Results also show that secondary glazing greatly reduces condensation risk, improving the condensation index by two to three times across U.S. climate zones, making it a practical, cost-effective strategy for enhancing both energy efficiency and durability of existing buildings.

This study investigated the hygrothermal performance of detachable secondary glazing as a cost-effective retrofit for single-glazed windows using a combination of laboratory experiments, validated simulations, and climate-zone analysis. The results show that adding a secondary glazing layer significantly improves thermal insulation, reduces heat transfer in both winter and summer, and creates a more stable indoor thermal environment. Additionally, the retrofit substantially lowers the risk of interior surface condensation by increasing window surface temperatures and improving resistance to moisture accumulation. The validated modeling framework further demonstrates that these benefits are consistent across diverse U.S. climate zones, highlighting detachable secondary glazing as a practical and scalable solution for improving building energy efficiency and durability. Key findings include:

  • Secondary glazing reduced heat flux by ~30.4% (winter) and ~34.1% (summer), indicating strong energy-saving potential.
  • The window U-value decreased by ~52.1%, significantly improving thermal insulation performance.
  • Indoor surface temperatures increased (winter) and stabilized (summer), improving occupant comfort and reducing downdraft effects.
  • Condensation risk was substantially reduced, with condensation coverage and severity decreasing and condensation index improving by a factor of 2–3.
  • The validated simulation framework showed consistent performance improvements across multiple U.S. climate zones, supporting broad applicability.
DIY Air Cleaner Design

DIY air cleaners like the Corsi-Rosenthal Box were recently popularized as a low-cost solution to airborne particle removal during the COVID-19 pandemic and large-scale wildfire events. This study evaluated a novel low-cost DIY portable air cleaner design using computer fans and modular frame, finding that the design can achieve high clean air delivery rates (~370 CFM) while maintaining significantly lower noise and better energy efficiency than both traditional DIY box-fan designs and commercial air cleaners. Results suggest this redesigned DIY system offers a more user-friendly solution for improving indoor air quality, addressing common barriers like noise, aesthetics, and bulkiness that limit long term adoption of existing DIY air cleaner designs.

This study investigated the performance of a novel, low-cost DIY portable air cleaner that uses multiple computer fans mounted in a modular frame, aiming to address common drawbacks of traditional DIY designs like noise, aesthetics, bulkiness, and poor user adoption. Through controlled chamber experiments, we measured clean air delivery rate (CADR), noise, power consumption, and cost across multiple configurations and compared results to both a standard box fan–filter DIY unit and a commercial air purifier. The study found that the new design can achieve high air cleaning performance comparable to or exceeding alternatives while maintaining much lower noise levels and better energy efficiency, making it a more practical and user-friendly solution for improving indoor air quality, especially in low-income or high-exposure settings. Key findings include:

  • The novel DIY air cleaner achieved CADRs up to ~369 CFM, matching or outperforming both traditional DIY and commercial air cleaners.
  • Noise levels were significantly lower (37–46 dBA) than comparison devices (59–60 dBA), addressing a major barrier to user adoption.
  • Energy efficiency (CADR/W) was substantially higher than both the box-fan DIY design and commercial units.
  • Increasing the number of fans improved airflow and performance, while older (loaded) filters reduced efficiency and CADR.
  • The modular design enables flexibility in performance and cost, offering a scalable and accessible solution for improving indoor air quality.
UV Disinfection Testing

Whether it’s flu season or a worldwide pandemic like COVID-19, keeping the air free of infectious aerosols is critical in reducing the risk of disease transmission. This study was designed to determine if far-UV (222 nm) applied to full scale size occupied environment can prevent short-range disease transmission by inactivating microorganisms in the air near the emission source.

This study aimed to determine whether far-UV in the 222-nm range can disrupt short-range disease transmission and compare it to its counterpart, germicidal UV (GUV) at 254-nm. Human-generated bioaerosols are coated with layers of mucus and other biofluids, and it is unclear whether far-UV’s shallow depth of penetration may hamper its ability to effectively inactivate microorganisms in the air, particularly over short exposure distances.

Short-range transmission usually refers to the inhalation by a susceptible person of respiratory particles, released when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks, or breathes, within about 1-2 meters. Long-range transmission occurs when respiratory particles are inhaled by a susceptible person more than 2 meters away from the infected person, and these particles are small enough in diameter to remain airborne for much longer periods and travel far greater distances via air currents.

Using a cough simulator, air disinfection experiments were designed to challenge aerosolized microorganisms (MS2 ATCC 15597-B1 and Mycobacterium parafortuitum) using two source media (DI water and artificial saliva) and exposing them to far-UV or GUV while controlling the air changes per hour in the chamber.

Dynamic Insulation Design

Dynamic insulation systems are emerging as a transformative technology enabling adaptive control of heat transfer through the building envelope. This study evaluated a novel dynamic insulation system with rotating insulation layers that can adjust a wall’s thermal resistance in real time, demonstrating through experiments and modeling that the system can significantly reduce heat transfer and be tuned based on operating conditions. The system’s thermal resistance can drop by over 80% as the insulation layers open, highlighting its potential as a controllable, energy-efficient building envelope technology.

This study develops and evaluates a novel dynamic insulation system that uses rotating insulation layers within a wall cavity to continuously vary thermal resistance (R-value), enabling adaptive control of building envelope performance. Through laboratory hot-box experiments and validated CFD simulations, the study demonstrates that the DIS can significantly modulate heat transfer by adjusting the angle of the insulation layers, with strong agreement between experimental and numerical results. The findings show that convection within the cavity increases as the layers open, reducing insulation effectiveness, and that the system’s performance can be tuned through geometric and design parameters. Overall, dynamic insulation systems offer a promising, controllable alternative to static insulation for improving building energy efficiency across varying conditions. Key findings include:

  • Wall thermal resistance varies continuously continuously, with R-value decreasing by up to ~83.5% as insulation layers rotate from closed to fully open positions.
  • A critical “disconnect angle” (~15° in the tested case) triggers a sharp drop in R-value due to increased convection within the wall cavity.
  • Experimental results closely matched CFD predictions (within ~8% error), validating the modeling approach.
  • Increasing wall cavity thickness and adjusting insulation layer dimensions significantly affect thermal performance and optimization potential.

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BASmobile Educational Platform

The BASmobile is a compact, mobile laboratory that replicates commercial HVAC and building automation systems at a miniaturized scale to enhance hands-on learning and research in building controls. The platform integrates real HVAC components, sensors, and web-based building automation system (BAS) control architecture to allow students to program, monitor, and analyze system behavior in real time, improving their understanding of complex system interactions.

The BASmobile integrates key HVAC subsystems, such as chilled and hot water plants, air-handling units, and VAV systems, with a full building automation architecture including sensors, actuators, and web-based supervisory control, allowing real-time monitoring and control. By enabling students to program control strategies and observe system responses through an interactive interface, the BASmobile bridges the gap between theoretical learning and real-world system behavior, while also serving as a platform for research in control strategies and fault detection. Key capabilities include:

  • The BASmobile replicates a full commercial HVAC and building automation system at a compact, mobile scale, including central plant and air-side components.
  • The web-based supervisory control system enables real-time monitoring, remote access, and interaction by multiple users simultaneously.
  • The platform allows students to design and implement control logic (e.g., VAV and plant controls) and directly observe system responses, improving conceptual understanding.
  • Integration of sensors, actuators, and open/proprietary communication protocols reflects real-world building automation system architecture.

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Operating Room Testing

It is critical to optimize operating room ventilation to reduce the risk of hospital acquired infections. This study used full-scale experiments and flow visualization to show that airflow in operating rooms forms inward-angled shear layers that reduce the coverage of sterile supply air, potentially increasing contamination risk around the surgical area.

With funding from , this study used full-scale experiments, laser flow visualization, and particle image velocimetry (PIV) to investigate airflow patterns in a simulated hospital operating room and better understand how ventilation systems protect the sterile field. The results show that although supply diffusers are designed to deliver clean, downward, low-turbulence airflow, the actual flow is governed by complex jet behavior, including recirculation and shear layers. A key finding is that the shear layer at the edge of the supply airflow consistently angles inward toward the surgical site, reducing the effective coverage of sterile air. This inward flow and increased turbulence at the jet boundaries may allow contaminated air to enter the critical zone, potentially compromising infection control despite nominally “laminar” design conditions. Key findings include:

  • The supply jet exhibits complex behavior (annular shape, buoyancy effects, recirculation), making real operating room airflow much less idealized than design assumptions.
  • A pronounced shear region develops between clean supply air and surrounding room air, with higher turbulence and velocity gradients.
  • The shear layer consistently tilts inward toward the center of the surgical field, shrinking the area effectively protected by clean air.
  • While flow is relatively calm near the diffuser, turbulence intensifies at the edges, increasing mixing with potentially contaminated air.
  • The measured airflow patterns may allow contaminants to enter the surgical zone, suggesting that current ventilation designs may not fully protect patients as intended.

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