The research of this Presidential Young Investigator Award will focus on applying engineering principles to studies in building sciences and the quality of the built environment, including research in the fields of building climatology, thermal performance of passive cooling systems, modelling and assessment of human thermal comfort, wind tunnel studies of building design for natural ventilation, and numerical modelling of the behavior of indoor air pollutants. The emphasis is to continue both theoretical and empirical research in the areas of thermal response to the built environment, and the behavior and control of indoor pollutants. Through a combination of wind tunnel testing, field studies in office buildings, and controlled experiments in a controlled environment chamber, various physical effects of building interior environments on the physiology, comfort, behavior, and productivity of their occupants will be investigated. These studies will address the economic, architectural, and engineering implications. Research will also expand on previous development of a model of the convective transport and removal processes of indoor radon decay products. These studies will aid in the development of effective mitigation strategies to improve indoor air quality.
