The
Building
Decisions
Research
Group
Research on high performance building design, analysis and operation at the University of British Columbia
(Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
About the BDRG
The UBC Building Decisions Research Group (previously the ETA Lab) is an interdisciplinary research group based out of the UBC Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS).
The BDRG is a part of the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) and the Department of Mechanical Engineering. It is directed by Dr. Adam Rysanek, Assistant Professor of Environmental Systems, UBC SALA and Mech Eng. (Associate Faculty).
Research Approach
Transcending building science
The BDRG comprises engineers, designers, and building scientists working together, seeking to establish new connections within the aligned fields of building energy systems, building performance simulation, indoor environmental quality, statistics and uncertainty analysis, robust decision-making, and machine learning.
Confronting climate change and building occupant health
Post-COVID, the future of the built environment is facing significant challenges. Rapid decarbonisation of the global building stock must go hand-in-hand with improving the health, well-being, and equity of our architectural experience. We know the technologies and design measures that address one challenge are not always complementary to the others. The BDRG seeks to evaluate, highlight, and offer technology-driven solutions to these challenges.
Identifying uncertainty in search of truth
So much of what makes a building's operation complicated is driven not by phenomena we can easily predict, but by phenomena we know we can't: stochastic occupancy, personal preferences, the weather, future economic conditions, etc. The BDRG's research relies heavily on Bayes' theroem and Bayesian research methods which incorporate uncertainty in data analysis and building performance forecasting.
Our team
Dr. Adam Rysanek
Assistant Professor of Environmental Systems and BDRG Director
Sarah Crosby
PhD Candidate (Mech.)
Sanyogita Manu
PhD Candidate (Mech.)
Claude Demers-Belanger
MASc Candidate (Mech.)
Justin McCarty
Research Assistant
Denon Sheppard
Research Assistant
Brendan Buchanan Dee
MASA Candidate
The BDRG needs you.
The BDRG has open graduate research positions (MASc and PhD) and is seeking a post-doctoral research associate to join the team for Fall 2021
Funding and support
The BDRG is grateful for the support and funding received from government, industry, and research institutions, incuding:
Contact
For all enquiries, feel free to reach out by e-mail to Dr. Adam Rysanek, BDRG Director, at: arysanek <at> sala.ubc.ca
Further contact information for Dr. Rysanek can be found here.