Considerable potential exists to reduce energy consumption in commercial and residential buildings using new, cost-efficient construction. A computer model and related national database are being developed at KU to make accurate predictions and estimates of the savings in space cooling and heating loads produced by radiant barriers. The model results to date have been well received by the engineering and professional communities. Thus far, the model has been used to make predictions for the State of Texas funded by the Texas State Energy Conservation Office. The KU Energy Research Center is supporting the extension of the computer model to include information and applications for all 50 states. Information is being archived in a nationwide database. Analysis will eventually include integration with the physics of buildings to reach successful conclusions tailored to actual building designs. The goal is to make the model and database operational for practical use to optimize building design for energy savings and cost-efficient construction.
Funding Opportunities
Funding has been recently sought from US DOE and ASHRAE totaling over $250,000 on Development of a Water-Based System for Improved Thermal and Humidity Control in Residential Buildings and Experimental Validation of the Heat Balance and Radiant Time Series Cooling Load Calculations. Funding is pending for proposals submitted to NSF and KSTAR EPSCOR – NSF totaling over $275,000 addressing CAREER: Integration of Research and Technology in Architectural Engineering Education at The University of Kansas, the Characterization of Phase Change Wallboard under Midwest Weather Conditions, and the Acquisition of a Differential Scanning Calorimeter for the Characterization of Phase-change Building Materials and Education. Two additional proposals are being prepared for submission in the near future, one to NSF, and the second to the Energy Foundation.
A Center for Building Physics is proposed, focused on research and education in the field of energy in buildings, mathematical modeling of energy transfer in buildings, and related fields. This Center will:
An integrated undergraduate-research/engineering-education concept was proposed to NSF and to university administrators that would serve as a model for departmental transformation that reflects the dramatic effects of integrating undergraduate research in an educational setting. The model will represent one that can be replicated in whole or in part at other departments, schools, and institutions, particularly those engineering departments where prototypes of cultural changes are required to initiate the process of inclusion and equal representation of undergraduates into research and development projects.