International workshop for new IEA EBC Annex 92 - Smart materials for energy-efficient heating, cooling and IAQ control in residential buildings was held at DTU on 03 October 2023. More than 60 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.
The 2nd DTU-UMD Workshop on Novel HVAC and Dehumidification Technologies was held at DTU on 14 August 2023.The workshop was hosted by Prof. Menghao Qin from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Prof. Yunho Hwang from the University of Maryland (UMD), USA. More than 35 experts from both universities and other partner universities attended the workshop to discuss the latest advancements in energy-efficient dehumidification and HVAC technologies, focusing on smart materials and novel systems..
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Time
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Presentation title
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Speaker
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9:00-9:10
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Welcome and introduction
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Menghao Qin, DTU
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9:10-9:30
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Electrochemical dehumidification
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Yunho Hwang, UMD
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9:30-10:00
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Adsorption thermal energy storage
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Yunho Hwang, UMD
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10:00-10:20
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Personalized ventilation: Energy saving in hot and humid climates
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Arsen Melikov, DTU
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10:30-10:50
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Membrane dehumidification for building HVAC applications
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Jae-Weon Jeong, Hanyang University
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10:50-11:10
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Large-scale heat storage for solar heating plant
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Jianhua Fan, DTU
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11:10-11:30
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Ups and downs in moisture control – use of building physics knowledge to do it right
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Carsten Rode, DTU
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11:30-11:50
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Air cleaning by desiccant wheel and application in the ventilation systems
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Lei Fang, DTU
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11:50-12:10
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Resilient Cooling of Buildings: Principles and System Examples
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Ongun Berk Kazanci, DTU
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13:00-13:20
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Numerical simulation of PCM heat storage
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Weiqiang Kong, DTU
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13:20-13:45
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New IEA Annex: Smart materials for energy-efficient cooling and IAQ management
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Menghao Qin, DTU
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13:55-14:15
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Discussion
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all
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14:30-15:15
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Lab visit – IAQ lab at Building 412
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15:30-16:00
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Lab visit – solar energy lab at Building 119
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16:00-16:30
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Lab visit – building physics lab at Building 118,128
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- 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).
DTU-UMD Workshop on Energy-Efficient Cooling and Dehumidification Technologies was hosted by Prof. Menghao Qin from the Technical University of Denmark and Prof. Yunho Hwang from the University of Maryland, USA.
This workshop aims to bring together experts from both universities and industry to discuss the latest advancements in energy-efficient dehumidification and cooling technologies by using smart materials, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), polymer desiccant, etc. The workshop will cover a broad range of topics, including:
• Metal-organic frameworks for dehumidification and cooling
• Metal-organic frameworks for selective VOC removal
• Polymer desiccant performance evaluation
• Separate sensible and latent cooling
• Renewable energy for cooling and dehumidification
The workshop is sponsored by the International Network Programme (INP) of the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Sciences. We believe this workshop will provide a great opportunity for you to learn about the latest advancements in using smart materials for energy-efficient built environment control and to network with experts in the field.
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.
International Energy Agency EBC Annex 86 ST3 workshop was held online on 3 May 2022. There are 8 invited talks representing the cutting-edge of novel materials for indoor environment control. The workshop is chaired by Prof. Menghao Qin and Prof. Jensen Zhang.
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.
Title: Novel functional materials for energy-efficient indoor moisture control by Prof. Qin
The International Association of Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation and Energy Conservation in Buildings (IAQVEC) is pleased to announce that we continue to organize the technical seminar series with prestigious scholars from a variety of building/IEQ-related research disciplines. Prof. Menghao Qin (Technical University of Denmark (DTU), “Novel functional materials for energy-efficient indoor moisture control”) will be our speaker this month.
We kindly invite you to the third inaugural seminar, which will take place on November 11 (Thursday), 2021, at 3:00 PM in CET. (You may need to convert the schedule to your local time at http://www.timebie.com/std/gmt+1.php?q=13.5 )
The seminar will be held online, and the following is the meeting location:
- Meeting ID: 953 5401 1526
- Passcode: 689862
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.
How the COVID-19 pandemic will reshape the built environment, Organized by Prof. Menghao Qin
How to make the built environment safe
The outbreak of COVID-19 has reminded us the basic question that may have long been overlooked: are our built environments really safe? Attention must be paid to the increasing sensitivity of the public to potential health implications of the built environment.The presentation first analyzes the range of ventilation dilution rates in a number of SARS and COVID-19 infection and non-infection cases. Different levels of ventilation requirements for “regular” air quality and infectious disease transmission control are discussed. Means to achieve different levels of goals are discussed with specific examples. The presentation will conclude by listing a number of opportunities and challenges to make built environments safer. The presentation will also propose some ideas how to make simulation tools readily useful rather than simply academic exercises.
Title: Novel functional materials for energy-efficient indoor moisture control, by Prof. Menghao Qin
The regulation of the latent load remains a critical problem for 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.
IEA Annex 86 Subtask 3 identifies 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 project.
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.
- The 8th International Building Physics Conference (IBPC2021) will be hosted by DTU Civil Engineering on 25-27 August 2021 in Copenhagen.
Organization Committee:
- Carsten Rode
- Menghao Qin
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Mikkel Kragh,
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Steffen Petersen
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Ruut Hannele Peuhkuri
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Per Kvols Heiselberg,
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Petter Wallentén
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Jesper Arfvidsso
IBPC2018 in Syracuse, USA