Semester and thesis projects

Although various standards prescribe fixed limits for ventilation rates, a large part of the building stock does not have mechanical ventilation systems. Such buildings obtain outdoor air through unintentional infiltration, opening windows, and the operation of exhaust fans, which are mainly dependent on user awareness and behavior. In this project, you will investigate whether the presence of a simple CO2 meter display can alter user behavior and improve indoor air quality (IAQ) in dwellings. Three IAQ parameters will be monitored in multiple student dwellings in Switzerland: CO2 concentration, air temperature, and relative humidity. You will collect data bedrooms and living rooms over a period of two weeks. During the first week, the meter display will be covered, and residents will be instructed to carry out their activities as usual. During the second week, residents will be asked to use the display’s visual feedback to take actions for improving their IAQ when needed. You will run various types of data analysis in order to arrive to concluding results.

For more information, please contact:
Prof. Dusan Licina

The quality of air and thermal conditions in campus offices have been linked to workers’ health and learning ability. This project aims to asses the indoor air quality and thermal comfort in regularly occupied campus offices auditorium by means of scientific instruments capable of recording a bouqet of air quality (CO2, VOC, NOx, SOx, PM2.5, PM10, O3) and thermal comfort parameters (dry-bulb and globe temperature, relative humidity and air speed). In addition, physical measurements will be accompanied with survery questionnaires to assess satisfaction rate of campus employees with the air quality and thermal comfort. The results obtained will ultimately be compared to local and international standards and green building certification programs for indoor air quality and thermal comfort (SIA 180; EN 15251; EN ISO 7730; ASHRAE 62.1, Minergie, LEED, WELL, BREEAM).

For more information, please contact:
Prof. Dusan Licina

The human body is surrounded by a microclimate, which results from its convective release of heat. That microclimate has a great impact on human exposure to air contaminants, room air distribution and thermal comfort. Research studies often use a thermal manikins to simulate the heat release from a real human being. Commercially available thermal manikins have realistic shape and heat distribution that resembles the one of a real human. In addition, thermal manikins can be breathing to simulate realistic respiration flows (more information here: http://pt-teknik.dk/thermalmanikin). Nevertheless, cost of such equipment often exceeds 100’000 CHF. It is, therefore, important to develop a simplified version of the thermal manikin at significantly lower cost. This hands-on project will include different design considerations and will deploy testing based on infra-red imaging, temperature and velocity measurements, and smoke visualization tests. Findings of this project are expected to contribute to the fields such as thermal comfort, HVAC, or indoor air quality.

For more information, please contact:
Prof. Dusan Licina

Natural ventilation through window openings is a low-tech ventilation strategy that could offer multiple benefits over the mechanical ventilation system. Potential benefits include lower energy consumption, lower initial and operation cost, physhological benefits from connection to outside, etc. The performance of natural ventilation is influenced by a number of factors, including outdoor conditions and occupant behaviour, which could influence its use potential. This project aims to investigate the performance of natural ventilation in an office building by means of either direct measurements in residential buildings or by means of building performance simulation tools (e.g. EnergyPlus or others).

For more information, please contact:
Prof. Dusan Licina
Tianqi Liu

People spend ~90% of their time indoors there they are exposed to indoor conditions that affect their health, comfort and productivity. Apart from residential, work and recreational environments, people in Switzerland spend significant portion of their time on the trains. Traveling or commuting by train has increased during the last decades, as modern trains offer a rapid and usually environmentally friendly way to travel. At the same time, air quality and thermal conditions have become an increasing concern for the general public due to increased occupancy density and other mechanical factors. Assessment of air quality and thermal comfort on train (and bus and metro) microenvironments is therefore important, which is the key objective of this project. For that purpose, target measurements of important air pollutants (inorganics, organics, and particulate matter) and parameters relavant to passengers’ thermal comfort will be performed.

For more information, please contact:
Prof. Dusan Licina

Adverse health effects from air pollutant exposure are a global issue. As they circulate throughout their daily indoor (e.g., working, studying, playing, exercising) and outdoor activities (e.g., driving, biking, walking), people inhale air that is likely to poorly resemble the outdoor air quality that is commonly reported by governmental agencies and weather stations. In order to accurately assess individual level exposure to environmental pollutants, and ultimately its impact on health and well-being, it is important to better understand exposure in diverse indoor and outdoor spaces throughout human daily cycles. The objective of this project is to improve the understanding of exposure levels to carbon dioxide and particulate matter, which will be done with a portable scientific instruments.

For more information, please contact:
Prof. Dusan Licina
Shen Yang

Indoor air quality (IAQ) substantially affects the health, comfort, and performance of building occupants and has significant societal and economic consequences. Substantial resources have been devoted to maintaining a comfortable and healthy built environment, yet complaints about IAQ and other environmental conditions are ubiquitous even in green-certified buildings. Studies show that sick building syndrome (building occupants experiencing various nonspecific acute symptoms that only appear in the building while no specific illness or cause can be identified) is prevalent and highly correlated with perceived air quality. To improve environmental satisfaction and reduce building energy consumption, it will be ideal to understand the needs and perceptions of individual building users and to control the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system accordingly. For this, collecting continuous feedback from building users is crucial. However, in real buildings, it is not feasible nor affordable to continuously collect feedback using questionnaires and thus the results only represent the
perception at the time of surveying. Increasing research has explored the potential of estimating environmental satisfaction through monitoring important physiological parameters such as heart rate, respiratory rate, and dermal conductance. The results are promising yet vary across studies, and physiological monitoring is often intrusive and not practical for long-term continuous applications. This project proposes a novel approach that uses the facial expressions of building occupants to estimate environmental perception and satisfaction in response to indoor air pollution. The central novelty is to utilize recently developed computer vision techniques to automatically recognize facial expressions and continuously estimate IAQ perception and environmental satisfaction. Compared to existing methods using surveys and wearable devices, the proposed approach avoids inconvenience and collects
data at an unprecedented temporal resolution. The overall goal of this project is to develop a non-contact, low-cost tool for continuously monitoring the perceived IAQ and environmental satisfaction of building users. Specifically, we aim to explore the association between automatically recognized facial expressions and self-reported votes for indoor air quality, environmental satisfaction, and sick building syndrome symptoms.

For more information, please contact:
Prof. Dusan Licina
Bowen Du

The project focus on the callibration of a building energy model based on measured data, using the Design Builder or directly the energy plus software. The case study building is an actual office building situated in Cyprus and which is monitored for its energy consumption and its indoor environmental quality conditions. During the project, the student will have to pursue a sensitivity analysis in the model’s parameters in order to align the model with the monitored, actual conditions. Before the calibration of the model, a preliminary analysis of the monitored data is also needed. The goal of the project is to understand better the building’s operation in order to further improve its indoor environmental quality and economize energy.

For more information, please contact:
Prof. Dusan Licina
Tianqi Liu

The ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II (Comfort Database) is an online, opensource database that includes 81,846 complete sets of objective indoor climatic
observations with accompanying “right-here-right-now” subjective evaluations by the building occupants who were exposed to them. This database follows up on the ‘ASHRAE
Global Thermal Comfort Database I’ (ASHRAE RP-884 project) that was the data source used to develop the ASHRAE adaptive thermal comfort model. The new Comfort
Database is intended to support further and more detailed inquiries about thermal comfort. The Comfort Database is built on the collection and harmonization of data from thermal
comfort field studies completed over the last two decades around the world. It comprises data from different types of buildings (office, residential, classrooms) conditioned using
different cooling strategies. A web-based interactive visualization tool (linked to the Comfort Database) allows end-users to quickly and interactively explore the data. This interface enables filtering on multiple
criteria (such as building type, subjective thermal comfort states, outdoor meteorological information, etc.) The full dataset includes 70 variables and 107,583 observations (adding up the databases I and II).

The study will focus on the exploration and analysis of the Comfort Database. The student will first use the interactive visualization tool to familiarize with the data and determine
variables that most influence thermal comfort perception. In particular, students are encouraged to particularly look at cooling strategies, personal factors (e.g. age, gender,
BMI), and climate (latitude, climate classification, season). As a second step, students will download the full dataset, further investigate criteria identified in step 1 and critically reflect
on thermal comfort assumptions as commonly adopted in the standards.

The project involves the following:
– Management of a large dataset (e.g. Excel)
– Analysis of subjective data (e.g. R statistics, Python or MATLAB)
Previous experience with any of these would be an advantage.

For more information, please contact:
Prof. Dusan Licina

The indoor air quality (IAQ) of buildings has a significant impact on the health, comfort, and productivity of their occupants. As part of the EU-funded PRELUDE project, this data analysis initiative aims to comprehensively assess the indoor environment quality of a case study building. The focus will be on the two newly added top floors, integrated during the building’s 2022 refurbishment. The complex technical setup of the whole building, which includes a gas heater, a heat pump with heat recovery in the ventilation system, and a hygrovariable ventilation system, presents an opportunity to evaluate and optimise their performance in terms of indoor air quality.

For more information, please contact Prof. Dusan Licina.

Indoor air quality is a crucial aspect of our daily lives, significantly impacting our health and well-being. Poor indoor air quality can lead to various respiratory issues and discomfort. The semester project, “Building and Testing an Air Cleaner,” aims to address this concern by empowering students to construct and evaluate an effective air cleaner using the Corsi-Rosenthal box design.

The project kicks off with an exploration of the importance of indoor air quality, highlighting the potential health risks associated with pollutants commonly found indoors. Through a hands-on learning approach, students will delve into the construction of an air cleaner based on the Corsi-Rosenthal box, a proven and efficient design.

During the hands-on session, students will acquire practical skills in assembling the components of the air cleaner. This interactive phase will enhance their understanding of the mechanics behind air purification and foster a sense of accomplishment as they witness their creation take shape.

The project’s uniqueness lies in its practical application. Following the construction phase, students will be engaged in real-world testing of their air cleaners within different indoor environments. Utilizing air quality instrumentation, they will assess the performance of their devices in reducing particulate matter, allergens, and other pollutants. This empirical testing not only reinforces theoretical knowledge but also equips students with valuable insights into the real-world challenges of improving indoor air quality.

Throughout the project, students will be encouraged to think critically, troubleshoot issues, and optimize their air cleaners for maximum efficiency. The interdisciplinary nature of the project integrates elements of environmental science, engineering, and health, providing students with a holistic understanding of the factors influencing indoor air quality.

By the end of the semester, participants will not only have constructed a functional Corsi-Rosenthal box but will also have gained a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of indoor air quality management. This project not only enhances technical skills but also instills a sense of responsibility for creating healthier living and working environments.

For more information, please contact Prof. Dusan Licina.

This student project aims to address the multifaceted aspects of insensible water loss (iWL), investigating its potential increase with age, its role in dehydration, and the influence of seasonal variations in temperate and Nordic climates. Additionally, the study will explore how humidity and ventilation at comfortable room temperatures affect iWL. The project hypothesizes that iWL increases with age due to weakened skin barrier function and reduced capacity for water vapor re-condensation, particularly in the elderly. Low humidity and high air exchange rates contribute to increased iWL during cold winter months, leading to dehydration in at-risk groups, especially the elderly. Aging individuals may struggle to compensate for iWL due to poor perception of low humidity, diminished thirst sensation, and reduced ability to concentrate urine, contributing to winter-related complications.

The objective of the project is to investigate the effects of humidity, ventilation, and age on iWL through climatic chamber experiments on subjects. Examine the impact of temperature and humidity on sensible and latent heat recovery in exhaled air. Explore age-related changes in nasal cavity geometry and their influence on respiratory water loss. The project delves into the intricate relationship between thermoregulation, water balance, and aging, emphasizing the critical role of skin and the upper respiratory tract. The study builds upon historical interest in iWL, providing context to the current knowledge gaps and technical challenges in measuring humidity parameters.

Students will design and conduct climatic chamber experiments, drawing inspiration from recent studies. The project proposes three different experiment approaches, including seasonal iWL measurements in subjects’ home settings, assessing the degree of hydration in a controlled climate chamber, and investigating the impact of relative humidity and ventilation on iWL and related physiological parameters.

Understanding iWL is crucial for comprehending its impact on the homeostasis of temperature and water balance. The project not only contributes to the scientific understanding of iWL but also addresses the gaps in recent building standards regarding its effects on indoor air quality parameters. This student-led investigation will offer valuable insights into the intricate interplay of age, environmental factors, and individual physiology concerning insensible water loss, contributing to the broader field of human thermoregulation and indoor environmental quality.

For more information, please contact Prof. Dusan Licina.

This semester project aims to address the challenges posed by high concentrations of particles in indoor climbing gyms. The study will investigate the the concentrations of particles during climbing activities and will examined the subjective perception of occupants. Students will employ optical particle counters, a synchronized ambient particulate monitor to determine mass concentrations, number concentrations, and size distributions of particles in indoor climbing gyms. Concurrently, gym occupants will be surveyed with a number of questions related to their comfort and health aspects. The project aims to identify effective particle reduction strategies for indoor climbing gyms. This hands-on project not only addresses a practical concern in indoor climbing gyms but also provides students with an opportunity to apply scientific methodologies to real-world environmental issues. The results may contribute valuable insights to the climbing community and promote healthier indoor air quality practices.

For more information, please contact Prof. Dusan Licina.