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Understanding People’s Views on Solar Farms in Rural Nova Scotia

Posted by Andrew Penner on  January 9, 2025
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Category: 2025, Research
Written and submitted by: Emily Key Across Canada, solar farms are becoming a more common sight in Canadians’ everyday landscapes, especially in more rural areas. Western provinces, like Alberta, have been getting a lot of news attention in recent years for their ‘solar booms’. However, solar farm development has also been increasing in Atlantic Canada, especially in the province of Nova Scotia. When I started my graduate studies in 2022 at Dalhousie University in Halifax,

Re-imagining an aging envelop: BIPV for a better future

Posted by Andrew Penner on  July 24, 2024
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Written by: Dennis Gillis This project occurred at Saint Mary’s University, involving a 22 story 55 year old residence building with precast concrete cladding.  The building had some symptoms indicating problems with the cladding, notably water infiltration in numerous areas, heating challenges/temperature gradients (some areas very difficult to keep warm, others were too warm at times, etc.). Comprehensive study of envelop revealed numerous areas where ties connecting the cladding to the building were deteriorating and

Building Archetypes Modeling with Stochastic Occupant Behavior through Plug Load Analysis

Posted by Andrew Penner on  July 18, 2024
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Category: 2024, Technical
Written by: Sanam Dabirian1 and Ursula Eicker1,21 Concordia University, Montreal Canada2 Canada Excellence Research Chair, Montreal Canada Overview The accuracy of urban building energy simulations is highly sensitive to the diverse usage patterns of occupants within buildings. Traditional energy models for urban areas often rely on static schedules for occupants, which do not account for the real variations in occupancy, resulting in unreliable energy demand estimates. A comprehensive model that encapsulates the complexity of occupant

Insights on District Heating and Cooling

Posted by Andrew Penner on  July 17, 2024
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Category: 2024, Sustainability
Written by: Eyad El Madhoon, P.Eng, MBA, CEM, CMV Introduction District heating systems are a popular approach to modernizing heating systems. District heating typically depends on underground infrastructure to efficiently transport thermal energy from a central energy plant to multiple buildings. Central heating plants generate steam or hot water, which is then distributed through underground thermal piping networks that are typically well-insulated. This configuration reduces the reliance on individual boilers by efficiently transferring thermal energy

Pathways for Decarbonization

Posted by Andrew Penner on  July 16, 2024
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Category: 2024
Written by: Eyad El Madhoon, P.Eng, MBA, CEM, CMVP Introduction Governments and regulators have made decarbonization a top priority for a long time. Recently, it has become a top priority for industrial consumers, businesses, and investors. Many businesses have ambitious net-zero goals to make sure they don’t violate their Paris Agreement pledges and go beyond the two-degree Celsius warming threshold. Among the most significant contributors to emissions are industrial enterprises, which play a significant role