"Modelling, design and optimal operation of building-integrated solar and thermal systems"

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Building energy design is going through a period of major changes driven largely by three key factors: 1.The increasingly widespread adoption in developed countries and by influential engineering societies such as ASHRAE of net-zero energy performance as a long term goal for new buildings and communities; to achieve this goal in an efficient way, a rigorous quantitative approach is required to design a building as an integrated energy system that consumes low amounts of energy while producing in an average year an equal amount of energy on-site from renewables; 2. The need to reduce the peak electricity demand for buildings through optimal operation, thus reducing the need to build new central power plants; 3. The need to efficiently integrate new advanced multifunctional energy technologies into buildings such as semitransparent photovoltaics, controlled shading devices and thermal storage. The long term goal of the research program is the development of pathways, procedures and methodologies for optimal energy performance of buildings that combine on-site energy generation from fully integrated solar energy systems with energy efficiency measures and optimal control. The short term research objectives are: 1. Modelling and design of novel building envelope concepts and systems that combine solar energy utilization and energy efficiency such as fenestration systems that integrate semitransparent photovoltaic layers for electricity generation while transmitting daylight and also possibly producing useful heat. Improve energy performance while optimizing comfort in perimeter zones. 2. Development of model-based predictive control strategies that optimize solar gain utilization through control of active envelope systems (such as motorized shading and daylighting devices) to reduce peak demand for electricity while achieving good comfort. 3. Development of optimized energy design and control concepts for solar communities so as to determine optimal pathways to reach net-zero energy while having a predictable impact on the grid.