Profile
| Keywords: | Indoor air quality;, Advanced HVAC systems;, Health exposure assessment;, Building energy;, Green buildings |
Dr. Zhong is the director and founder of the Built Environment Technology Lab (BETLab). She has extensive research and industrial experience in the field of a healthy indoor environment, with an in-depth understanding of heat and mass transfer in buildings, physicochemical purification technologies, catalysis, and nanotechnology. She is a dynamic researcher who is highly proficient in applying experimental, computational, and field approaches to her research. Her speciality areas include building material characterization, air cleaning & odor control, indoor air science, resilience and indoor environmental quality, the design of advanced HVAC systems and green buildings, smart sensors and controls, and health exposure assessment. Her impactful research has been cited by multiple media websites, including Science Newsline, phys.org, Science News, CIHR, and Global News. She is a technical committee member on the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Zhong's research is supported by CIHR, NSERC, MITACS, and Alberta Innovates. FES Funded ProjectsOutputs
| Title |
Category |
Date |
Authors |
| Improving building energy performance with phase change materials: a case study in Alberta for energy-savingsT01-C01 University of Alberta | Publication | 2024-06-05 | | | Optimizing phase change material integration in residential building envelopes for year-round energy efficiency in cold climatesPhase Change Materials (PCMs) hold significant potential for improving traditional building envelopes by mitigating indoor temperature fluctuations and reducing energy demands through their Thermal Energy Storage (TES) properties. A crucial objective in designing PCMs-enhanced building envelopes is to optimize their energy-saving performance under varying conditions. This simulation study focuses on a residential building in Alberta, Canada, analyzing both steady (normal) and intermittent (night) operation schedules. The aim is to identify PCM specifications that maximize year-round energy-saving. The two main variables of PCM specifications investigated are the midpoint melting temperature (T_mid) and the installation position (PCM layer on the interior or exterior side of the insulation layer). Preliminary simulations show that PCMs installed in the interior outperform those installed in exterior locations. If true, the optimization problem is simplified to a one-dimensional model, with T_mid being the continuous variable optimized to minimize cooling, heating, and total energy demand on an annual basis, respectively. The co-simulation of EnergyPlus and GenOpt platforms is employed for optimization. Results indicate that the PCM configuration with the optimal midpoint melting temperature T_mid resulted in total energy-saving of 6.65% at 21.71℃ for the steady schedule and 5.21% at 22.04℃ for the intermittent schedule. And the ratio of energy-saving for cooling was higher under intermittent operation (28.42% at 23.27℃) than under steady operation (22.38% at 22.76℃). Relatively satisfactory heating or cooling energy-saving was achieved when T_mid was set within ±0.5℃ of the heating setpoint or 1 ~ 2℃ below the cooling setpoint, respectively. For residential buildings in cold climates, the melting heat of PCMs primarily originates from indoor sources rather than outdoors. While the energy savings from PCMs during the winter are modest, their ability to mitigate indoor temperature fluctuations is significantly enhanced under intermittent operations, showing promise in enhancing thermal comfort and improving building energy flexibility.T01-C01 University of Alberta | Publication | 2025-03-17 | | | Framework for design and optimization of a retrofitted light industrial space with a renewable energy-assisted hydroponics facility in a rural northern canadian communityThe purpose of this study is to develop a design framework for retrofitting a light industrial building with a hybrid renewable energy-assisted hydroponics farming system for production of fresh food in rural north Canadian communities. This design protocol is targeted at facilities in rural areas of northern Canada, which could benefit from better access to fresh food, especially given the harsh climate as well as the long and limited transport routes. The process includes 1) a review of the existing building; 2) estimation of design loads for system sizing, such as temperature and humidity control, adequate lighting, airborne carbon, and water; 3) multi-objective genetic algorithm optimization of the hybrid renewable energy system for minimal operating cost and emissions; and 4) comparison of costs and greenhouse (GHG) emissions of the proposed farming operation with the traditional food supply chain. To demonstrate the proposed methodology, a case study building in a rural community in Alberta, Canada was evaluated for retrofit. The results showed that the GHG emissions generated from local hydroponic lettuce production, aided by a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES), are three times greater than those emitted by transporting an equivalent quantity of food from southern California, USA. On the other hand, the life cycle cost showed that the cost to produce lettuce from the case study facility is comparable to the price of lettuce available from traditional import, which shows a promising potential to provide fresh and cost-competitive food in the community, among other qualitative benefits gained from this empowering opportunity.T14-P04 University of Alberta | Publication | 2021-05-16 | | | Evaluate the application of ground-source heat pumps under freezing soil conditions in AlbertaT05-Q01 University of Alberta | Publication | 2022-03-15 | Yaren Dincoglu, Ali Mirzazade Akbarpoor, Zhong, L. | | A comprehensive review of the application of solar assisted ground source heat pump (SAGSHP) systems in CanadaT05-Q01 University of Alberta | Publication | 2022-03-15 | | | Technical assessment of frozen soil on geothermal heat pump technology in western CanadaT05-Q01 University of Alberta | Publication | 2023-04-18 | | | Impact of soil freezing on the thermal performance of geothermal borehole heat exchangers across Canadian climatesT05-Q01 University of Alberta | Publication | 2024-03-09 | |
|
|
