Student Research Projects

This project, completed by Josie Caldwell, focused on how small to medium sized manufacturers can reduce the strain on the grid by participating in an emergency demand response program through utility companies. These programs provide financial incentives for facilities to reduce their energy usage during specific times the utility identifies (“event days”) when there is a large strain on the grid. This helps reduce the strain, preventing outages. Read more below.

This project, completed by Katie Tonielli, focused on how manufacturers deal with problems relating to energy resilience. This is important to understand because extreme weather puts a strain on the grid, leading to power outages and process disruptions, especially in Michigan. Speaking with the industrial facilities the MSU ITAC was doing assessments with helped illuminate what resilience issues Michigan manufacturers face and how they plan for such issues. The findings revealed that many manufacturers are investing in innovative solutions such as renewable energy sources, backup power systems, and improved energy management practices. Read more below.

This project, completed by Andreana Roxas and A’Nya Morrison, aimed to develop assessment recommendation (AR) templates for boiler related projects, to explore heat recovery projects for a boiler case study for a veterinarian laboratory clinic building on MSU’s campus, and to provide a basic training for ITAC students on boiler systems. The first goal was to suggest methods to recover excess heat from the clinic’s two fire tube boilers, which often overheat; this excess heat could then be used to heat water using hot water heat pumps. The second goal was to help ITAC students feel more comfortable with boiler system operation and recommendations, in addition to using tools that can assist in justifying boiler energy efficiency projects.

This research, completed by Victoria Redruello, aimed to improve the accuracy of envelope related energy efficiency recommendations by utilizing heat flux sensors to directly measure R-values. Accurate assessment of building envelope performance is crucial for accurate energy saving calculations and effective implementation and selection of energy efficiency strategies.

This project, completed by Yusuf Basmaci and Sean Fleming, focused on the use of large language models to help streamline parts of the ITAC assessment process. They completed a trained large language model that can analyze components of anonymized utility data and a script to input for brainstorming ideas to save energy based on key facility details. Maintaining confidentiality of the facilities was prioritized.

This project, completed by Michael Burns, focused on creating an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) calculator that expands upon the existing commercial one and also can reflect the harder- to-quantify industrial EUI. EUI is a key metric that measures a building’s energy performance relative to its size and usage. Now, analysts at the ITAC can present clients with their current EUI before an assessment is conducted as well as compare it to an expected EUI for their specific industry and the impact on the current EUI if the recommendations made were to be implemented.

This project, completed by Emma Benedek, investigated building energy modeling (BEM) as a potential tool to aid ITAC assessments by analyzing a university building the MSU ITAC had previously assessed. Though the software investigated was not the right fit for Michigan energy assessments done by the MSU ITAC, other similar software could be a better fit given the type of information and the resources the MSU ITAC has available.

During the summer, Behlul Kula conducted research to quantify the air flow volume through large openings, such as garage doors. The main objective was to more accurately calculate the energy loss caused by air entering the building when the garage/bay doors were open. Initial results revealed that there is further potential to improve the calculations. As a result, Yusuf Basmaci and Behlul Kula will continue to work on this. To conduct a more detailed examination, a weather station was installed on the roof of a building. This station measures wind speed and direction, allowing for a comparison of the readings with those taken at ground level.

Photo Caption: Weather station installed on the roof of a building (left) and anemometer readings (right)

Students Chris Conkling and Josette Suarez developed an excel based searchable photo database. This database uses key tags to identify assessment and equipment photos and sorts them based on a word search match system. This database is intended to be used for training purposes for the spring ‘24 cohort to help new students understand energy systems and equipment they will see during assessments.

Photo Caption: “Air Compressor” was searched in the photo database and results are shown.

This summer student Julianna Thompson focused on assessing the utility bill analysis for 40 of the most recent assessments to establish a benchmark for blending rates, average consumption, and average energy cost breakdowns. This is important as it allows companies to compare their rates and usage to similar companies. Additionally, the data will enhance training for the Spring ‘24 cohort and allow students to understand the endless possibilities of utility analysis.

Photo Caption: Cost breakdown of electricity and natural gas for industrial companies.