- International workshop for IEA EBC Annex 92 - Smart materials for energy-efficient heating, cooling and IAQ control in residential buildings 14 May 2024

The kick-off workshop for the new IEA EBC Annex 92 - Smart materials for energy-efficient heating, cooling and IAQ control in residential buildings was held at Syracuse University on 14 May 2024. More than 80 researchers participated the workshop onsite and online. This annex project will develop energy-efficient cooling, air purification, and thermal energy storage strategies by using novel smart materials, especially advanced sorbents, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and their related composites, through cross-disciplinary international collaboration. The project will gather the existing scientific knowledge and data on novel sorbent materials for cooling/dehumidification, pollutant removal, and thermal energy storage; study current and innovative use of these materials in air-conditioning, air purification, and thermal storage system. It will also identify and bridge the knowledge gaps by establishing links between different disciplines. In the project, experts from building science, materials chemistry, mechanical engineering, material sciences, and environmental health will work together with other stakeholders to accelerate the development of better and more energy-efficient cooling and IAQ control systems by using advanced materials. Prof. Menghao Qin acts as the Operating Agent of the Annex 92. 

Official website of IEA EBC Annex 92

- Prof. Xudong Yang, Vice Dean of School of Architecture at Tsinghua University visits DTU Sustain 23 June 2023

Professor Xudong Yang from Tsinghua University visited DTU Sustain on 23 June. He met the faculty and PhD students from the Building Physics and Materials group and visited the lab facilities. 

Dr. Yang is presently the Professor of Building Science and Associate Dean in the School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, China. His research interests center on fundamental and practical aspects of indoor environmental quality and sustainable buildings within the following thematic areas: (1) understanding and modeling various indoor air pollutant sources and sinks; (2) immunized technologies for the built environment, and (3) energy intervention and environmental improvement in urban/rural communities. Dr. Yang is a Fellow of American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and Fellow of International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ). He currently serves as the editor of Building and Environment, founding Editor-in-Chief emeritus of Building Simulation, an executive committee member and representative of China in the IEA-EBC (Energy in Buildings and Communities), and various Chinese ministries and cities. Dr. Yang has received numerous awards including the Research Career Award from the US CDC (2000), the New Investigator Award from ASHRAE (2000), the Advance in Science and Technology award from the Chinese Ministry of Education (2000), the ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award (2008), the Award for Natural Sciences from the Chinese Ministry of Education (2013), and the ASHRAE Exceptional Service Award (2018).

- EU H2020 Project: U-CERT workshop on a new generation of user-centred Energy Performance Assessment and Certification 15 Nov 2022 

U-CERT project developed a next generation of user-centred Energy Performance Assessment and Certification Scheme to value buildings in a holistic and cost-effective manner supported by an EU-wide training and certification process for building professionals. The project also makes the new set of energy-performance standards easily accessible to a wide range of users by leveraging the diverse services offered by the EPB centre. The new approaches facilitate the shift towards a decarbonised EU building stock.

- Invited speech at International Symposium on Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics 30 December 2021 

The world’s demand for comfort cooling is growing at a staggering pace. Space cooling will become the single largest user of electricity in buildings, accounting for 16% of the global electricity demand by 2030. The majority of this growth will come from emerging economies with hot and humid climates and growing populations. The regulation of the latent load remains a critical problem for energy-efficient built environment control. Unlike the traditional vapor compression system that features high-energy consumption and environmental-unfriendly processes, desiccants represent an alternative air-conditioning method that takes advantage of the low-grade energy, decreases the energy consumption and even employs use of water vapor. However, for a long time, solid desiccants that can be used for built environment control are very limited. Traditional/conventional desiccants, such as silica gel and zeolite, have relatively low water vapor uptake and high energy demand for desorption, which render them unsuitable for energy-efficient humidity control. In the paper, two types of novel functional materials, i.e. metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and polymer hydrogels (pHyG) developed at DTU are presented. The hygrothermal and sorption properties of these materials are measured. Both MOFs and pHyG have high water vapor uptake and low regeneration temperature and could be used for energy-efficient indoor moisture control. Some examples of the applications of these new materials developed at DTU are presented. We conclude with prospective directions for next generation solid desiccants to promote energy-efficient moisture control from scientific research to practical application.

- Webinar – Smart materials for energy efficient IAQ management 12 October 2021 

In this webinar, we will address the opportunities to use novel materials (from advanced functional nano-materials to bio-based building materials) as building components to actively/passively manage the IAQ, for example, through active paint, wallboards, and textiles coated with advanced sorbents or catalysts and quantify their potential, based on the assessment framework developed in the IEA EBC Annex 86 “Energy Efficient Indoor Air Quality Management in Residential Buildings”.

This webinar is organized by the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre & the IEA EBC Annex 86 “Energy Efficient Indoor Air Quality Management in Residential Buildings” (https://annex86.iea-ebc.org/). The webinar is facilitated by INIVE (http://www.inive.org/).

• 14:00 | Introduction, Menghao Qin, Leader of ST3, IEA EBC Annex 86 – Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Denmark
• 14:10 | Metal-organic Frameworks for indoor environment control, Menghao Qin – DTU, Denmark
• 14:30 | Evaluating and Modeling of Indoor Passive Panel Technologies at National Research Council Canada, Doyun Won – NRC, Canada
• 14:50 | Electrospun fibers for Supply Air Filtration in residential buildings, Alireza Afshari – Aalborg University, Denmark
• 15:10 | Impact of VOC and moisture buffering capacities of bio-based building materials on IAQ and thermal comfort, Anh Dung TRAN LE – UPJV, France
• 15:30 | Questions and Answers, Jensen Zhang, Co-Leader of ST3, IEA EBC Annex 86 – Syracuse University, USA
• 15:45 | Closing & End of webinar

For further information please scroll down to download the flyer and slides and view the recordings

- New EU H2020 project: Measuring Envelope products and systems contributing to next generation of healthy nearly Zero Energy Buildings

The aim is a deep analysis of building envelope systems for their optimization during the operation phase considering users experience to improve the mutual behavioural conditions in terms of both energy-saving and comfort. Dedicated wearable sensors will be designed and developed to assess users’ perceptions of the main known parameters (temperature, humidity, and visual comfort) and to correctly adapt the automation logic to these.

- New International Energy Agency (IEA) EBC Annex 86 project launched. 

The goal of the project is to accelerate the development of better and more energy efficient IAQ management strategies to address rapidly changing expectations of the home environment due to challenges such as peak oil, climate change or pandemics. Prof. Qin will lead the research task for smart materials for IAQ management.