Grant: Industrial Research Chairs for Colleges Grants

Executive SummaryOver the last two decades there has been significant advancement in the development of technologies known as Building Automation Systems (BAS), which enable energy to be fully managed at the building level. This advancement has been driven by the need for energy usage cost reductions in the construction and building management sector, as 70% of the total energy expenditures in the US is attributed to buildings, as is 40% of global carbon emissions, a staggering number. The potential market size for BAS is also significant. A $279 billion investment opportunity in energy retrofits of existing buildings in the US could eliminate 600 million metric tons of CO2 emissions and potentially result in a potential $1 trillion in energy savings over 10 years.The proposed NSERC IRCC Chair in Smart Connected Buildings: Intelligent Building Automation Systems will enable Canadian companies to take a leadership role in the global BAS market via: (i) leadership of an applied research program that develops intelligent BAS systems (IBAS) achieving a significant increase in energy management efficiency; (ii) enabling Canadian building energy management companies to be more successful in developing and commercializing new IBAS products and services nationally and internationally; (iii) supporting construction sector companies in IBAS adoption through unbiased technology/product assessment and hands-on support in case-studies; (iv) facilitating cultural change within different construction sector stakeholders groups to enable collaboration on IBAS solutions across all the phases of the building life-cycle; (v) enhancing George Brown College capacity in research and training.