Sustainable Buildings Technology Laboratories (Living Labs)
The Living Labs (LL) are four nearly identical, side-by-side large open-plan office spaces with reconfigurable envelope, lighting, and thermal systems and flexible controls. They can house up to 96 graduate students and staff and are used to study the impact of different building systems design and operation on energy use and indoor environmental quality, as well as on human-building interactions. Thermal comfort delivery options include air supply from the ceiling, floor or side wall along the radiant floor heating and radiant chilled beam cooling. Three of the offices have a double façade with different options for ventilation and energy recovery. Each office is served by separate primary equipment to allow custom controls as well as direct energy comparison and monitoring of energy use. Personalized controls and human response testing can be also performed, e.g., comfort, annoyance and/or productivity, to allow evaluation of promising new technologies in a real world setting.
Additionally LL provide a unique space to study the fate and transport of indoor and outdoor bioaerosols (bacteria, fungi, pollen), human-associated bioaerosol emissions (e.g. skin shedding, resuspension from flooring and clothing), and the impact of building parameters on indoor microbial communities.
In addition, 1st floor private office spaces with customized shading, lighting and thermal controls, and extensive monitoring of human-building interactions are being used as part of this research.
Air and hydronic lab research opportunities at Living Labs
Living Lab Mechanical Room