Project Group Members: Christopher Tegho, Ciryl Vallet, others TBD

 

Project Supervisors: TBD

 

Project Requirements:

• A few pilot labs (the lab space arrangement will be made  between the supervising  professor and the design project team)

• Metering devices and sensors (if funding for this design project is granted, metering devices and sensors will be purchased for the energy consumption monitoring and to be included in the  toolkit)

• Assistance from McGill electricians (if funding for this design project is granted, assistance from McGill electricians will be needed, in order to install metering devices and sensors)

 

Project Description:

Research Laboratories are identified as “one of the three most energy intensive buildings types overall” by the US department of Energy [1]. For instance, research equipment in the Genome building consumes 17% [2] and the one in the McConnell Engineering consume 18% [3] of the total building energy usage. Several challenges limit large-scale energy efficiency in research laboratories: limited user engagement, limited access to energy data, expensive audits and absence of direct feedback about real efficiency savings.A real time energy monitoring system is currently being designed by a group of electrical engineering students. Analytical aids to help users understand the data and use that understanding to effectively reduce energy consumption in their lab are provided by the system solution.

 

This project aims at combining behavioral sciences with energy analytics to offer solutions and recommendations to manage and reduce energy consumption in research laboratories. This work will highlight the progress that McGill has already made and create tools to benchmark the sustainability performance of labs. We propose to have a group of students with experience in Organizational Behavior to participate in the applied student research.

 

Deliverables:

The students will review existing literature on energy conservation attitude and behaviors in research labs, and adapt them to context of McGill research laboratories. The team will also investigate how to combine these findings to make the best use of the data provided by the energy management information system and transform these data into action.After areas for improvement have been identified, the team will also work closely with the pilot lab (the Benedek Integrated Laboratories in Environmental Engineering to implement changes and monitor progress. Continuity of these efforts will be insured by the faculty, staff, and project coordinators involved.

 

Associated Projects:

• McGill Energy Project - Fume Hood Energy Savings

• McGill Energy Project - Energy Management Toolkit for Research Labs