Building Services Innovation
Profile
The Chair of Building Services Innovation specialises in the design and operation of building service systems, conducting research, and providing advice in three primary areas:
1. Planet:
• Energy performance
• Circular installations
• Installation-extensive design
2. People:
• (Adaptive) thermal comfort
• Airborne disease transmission
• Personal control over indoor environmental quality (IEQ)
3. Profit:
• Installations in heritage buildings
• Labour-extensive system design
• Life cycle cost optimisation
Mission
The mission of the Chair of Building Services Innovation is to enhance building systems, operations, and performance to create sustainable, comfortable, and healthy environments for people.
Education
Education for the BSc program covers topics such as thermal comfort, regulation and occupant well-being in different environments. For Master education, it involves different departments at TUD as follows:
Education 2024:
Master Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences: Climate Design, and Technoledge Health and Comfort,
Master of Mechanical Engineering: Buildings as Energy and Indoor Climate Systems,
Master Sustainable Energy Technology (SET): Heat Distribution in Buildings.
Education 2023:
Master of Mechanical Engineering: Heating and Cooling Demand of Buildings
Master Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences: Climate Design, and Technoledge Health and Comfort,
Master of Mechanical Engineering: Buildings as Energy and Indoor Climate Systems,
Master of Civil Engineering: Building Engineering
Master Sustainable Energy Technology (SET): Heat Distribution in Buildings.
The chair also participates in the Graduation Master Studio at the Architectural and Built Environment Faculty, advising students on the design and integration of various building technologies.
Research
The research focus is on two main areas: Health and Comfort, and Circular Building Installation.
• Health and Comfort:
The ongoing project MIST (Mitigation Strategies for Airborne Infection Control) is developing guidelines for ventilation and air cleaning to mitigate airborne disease transmission. Since the global impact of COVID-19, we have become acutely aware of the risks related to airborne diseases. Virologists, epidemiologists, fluid mechanics experts, and engineers are collaborating in the MIST (Mitigation Strategies for Airborne Infection Control) program to deepen our understanding and prevent the transmission of airborne viruses, infectious diseases and harmful agents, with a particular focus on addressing COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). The project has been granted substantial funding of €4.339.987,00 from the NWO (Dutch Research Council) for the next five years, reflecting the importance of this research. The MIST brought together a diverse range of expertise, including fluid dynamics, physics, molecular biology, medicine, and engineering, and partnerships with 28 companies. The project aims to develop mitigation strategies for controlling airborne infections. To achieve this goal, the following steps will be taken:
i) Advancing fundamental knowledge on virus infectivity, the spread of airborne droplets, and the effectiveness of ventilation.
ii) Developing mitigation technologies and evaluating methodologies to determine their efficacy.
iii) Disseminating program outputs through publicly available recommendations and policy guidelines.
The outcomes of this research will be translated into practical recommendations for implementing measures in the most efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable manner across various environments, including homes, hospitals, schools, and public transportation.
For more information and updates, please visit https://mist-project.nl/.
• Circular Building Installation:
Research on Circular Building Installation for Sustainable Dwellings is ongoing, starting with workshops in collaboration with the Engineering Association and funded by NWO grants. This research aims to establish design principles specifically tailored for architects and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) installers. These principles are intended to enhance the circularity of installations within residential dwellings. The proposed principles include designing installations with the ability to be easily disassembled and placing emphasis on their reusability and recyclability throughout their entire lifecycle, from initial assembly to eventual removal.
The Chair of Building Services Innovation continuously attempts to push the boundaries of building technology to promote sustainability and enhance the well-being of building occupants.