Create Synergy Between Human and Building !

Mission

The Human Building Synergy Laboratory (HUBS) paves the way for smart and sustainable built environments through innovative solutions to Architectural & Civil Engineering.

In so doing, HUBS builds on the fourth industrial revolution's advances to be creative & revolutionary, and push the boundaries of Architectural & Civil Engineering.

  • How can buildings self-adaptively condition their spaces?
  • How can buildings non-invasively and effortlessly collect occupants' data?
  • How can individuals effectively communicate with buildings?
These endless research questions are what HUBS addresses.

Current and Past Projects

Current Projects
  • Collaborative Research: Empowering STEM Education by Creating Benchmarking Models for GenAI Learning Assistants (Link)

    Sponsor: National Science Foundation, Project Timeline: 10.2025 - 09.2028

    Role: PI (non-leading institution; Lead PI: Dr. Namgyun Kim at Texas A&M University)

  • AZTI SPR-804: Potential Revenue Generation Through Arizona Rest Areas

    Sponsor: Arizona Department of Transportation, Project Timeline: 08.2025 - 07.2026

    Role: Co-PI (PI: Dr. Ali Shamshiripour)

  • Benefits of Smart Electric Panels for SRP Sustainability Goals

    Sponsor: Salt River Project, Project Timeline: 08.2024 - 07.2026

    Role: PI

Past Projects
  • Towards All-Electric Buildings in the SRP Territory

    Sponsor: Salt River Project, Project Timeline: 08.2024 - 07.2025

    Role: PI

  • Enhancing Environmental and Energy Equity: Advanced Indoor Heat Stress Sensing for Diverse Populations

    Sponsor: SensorLab (UArizona), Project Timeline: 08.2023 - 07.2024

    Role: PI

  • Emergency System for Collaborative and Active Protection and Evacuation (ESCAPE)

    Sponsor: Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities (WAESO), Project Timeline: 08.2024 - 05.2025

    Role: PI

  • Modeling Distributed Energy Resource Solar Generation Output

    Sponsor: Salt River Project, Project Timeline: 08.2024 - 07.2025

    Role: Co-PI (PI: Dr. Chris Chaeha Lim)

Previous Affiliations
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • ASHRAE Standard 140 Maintenance and Development (Link)

    Sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy
    Involvement: 02.2022 - 05.2022

  • EnergyPlus Development (Link)

    Sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy
    Involvement: 05.2021 - 05.2022

  • Healthy Buildings (Link)

    Sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy & General Services Administration
    Involvement: 07.2020 - 05.2022

  • Quantification of HVAC Energy Savings for Occupancy Sensing in Buildings Through an Innovative Testing Methodology (Link)

    Sponsor: Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)
    Involvement: 07.2020 - 02.2022

  • Building Energy Codes Program (Link)

    Sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy
    Involvement: 07.2020 - 02.2022

Virginia Tech
  • Human-Aware Environments for Distributed Building Systems Operations (Link)

    Sponsor: National Science Foundation
    Involvement: 08.2017 - 05.2020

Research Portfolio

Project Categories

Occupant Comfort, Behavior, and Health

Taking care of individuals' diverse needs!

Occupant comfort and behavior research
Smart Building Control

Adaptive to human dynamics and customized to individuals.

Smart thermostat and HVAC control systems
Grid-Interactive Effective Buildings

Communicative for a sustainable future!

Building energy efficiency and management
Building Energy Modeling

Reflecting the reality onto physics-based modeling!

Building energy efficiency and management
Urban Energy Modeling

Analyzing the butterfly effect!

Community-scale building energy research

Intellectual Properties

Software

Residential Occupancy Schedule Simulator

Taking care of individuals' diverse needs!

Residential Occupancy Schedule Simulator

Interested in our research?

HUBS offers more than what you'd expect!

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