Ryerson receives funding to prototype cloud-based switching system for residential HVAC

Ryerson University engineering students will design and prototype a cloud-based smart dual fuel switching system (SDFSS) for residential hybrid HVAC systems.

The university received a grant for the project from ASHRAE as part of the organization’s 2018 Undergraduate Program Equipment Grants. Awarded grants – totalling over $113,000 – were presented to 25 undergraduate projects globally.

Consisting primarily of graduate students, and some undergraduate, the project will focus on natural gas furnaces and air-sour heat pumps.

The team, under of the supervision of Alan Fung, associate professor in mechanical and industrial engineering (MIE), has performed an implementation and demonstration of the system in a net-zero energy house near London, ON with Union Gas Limited.

The ASHRAE funding will be used to setup a similar experimental system for the university’s academic program so that Ryerson engineering students can learn various technical aspects of modern advanced, connected and sustainable residential HVAC systems.

The award will also be used to support a multi-disciplinary (MIE and electrical and computer engineering) undergraduate capstone project team this fall to develop the SDFSS as part of Ryerson’s engineering laboratory. www.ryerson.ca