Openings - one PhD student position is available starting in Fall 2024 or Spring 2025. Candidates are expected to have basic knowledge about HVAC system design and simulation. Preference will be given to those who have whole-building energy simulation background with EnergyPlus, TRNSYS, and/or Trane Trace, etc. Good academic standing (GPA>=3.0) is required. Interested candidates should email their CV to yao.yu@ndsu.edu with the subject line "PhD Application". 

Dr. Yu is serving as Guest Editor for a Special Issue on “Applications of Renewable Energy Technologies on Buildings—2nd Edition” that will be published in the open access journal, Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050, IF 3.3), published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland. If you are interested in submitting a paper to this special issue, please feel free to contact me, and your article will have the chance to be published with a discount if accepted. More information can be found at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/HB55JJ87VJ 

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Amar Ali, a PhD student, joined our group! (10/2024) - Welcome!

Our article "Dual-Purpose Solar Thermal Collector for Heat and Cold Collection" was published in "Solar Today" by American Solar Energy Society (ASES) (09/2024) https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7242845161280438272/

Dr. Yu received the Professorship Award - M.A Mortenson Company Distinguished Professor (08/2024) - Thanks for the support from the M.A. Mortenson Company!

Jordan Shama joined our group as an undergraduate researcher this summer! (07/2024) - Welcome!

Our paper "A Hybrid Ground Source Heat Pump System Design for Small Residential Buildings in Hot-Climate Applications" has been published at the 6th International Conference on Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies (SCMT6), University of Lyon (ENTPE), Lyon, France, 9-14 June 2024

Our group attended the IBPSA-USA SimBuild 2024 Conference in Denver, Colorado! (05/2024) 

Dr. Yu (as PI) receives a grant from DoD STTR to collaborate with Interactive Aptitude to develop "Building Automation Systems for Efficient Twin-computation With Interfaces and Networked-tools (BASE-TWIN)". (05/2024) 

Dr. Yu co-authored a journal paper "A waste heat assessment of a manufacturing facility with consideration for demand matching through thermal energy storage" Published on Journal of Solar Energy Engineering. (05/2024)

Our group attended the Party of the Planet 2024 organized by the Fargo Red River Zoo to talk to the public and kids about building energy efficiency! (04/2024) 

Dr. Yu (Session Chair) gave the presenation "Application of salt hydrate-based thermochemical energy storage in buildings" at 2024 8th Global Energy Meet. Los Angeles, CA. (3/4-8/2024)

Bal Kharal, a PhD student, joined our group! (01/2024) - Welcome!

Abhishek Dangol, a Master student, joined our group! (01/2024) - Welcome!

Our group attended and presented at the 2024 ASHRAE Winter Conference in Chicago, IL! (01/2024) 

Dr. Yu (as PI) receives a grant from the Minnesota Department of Transportation to conduct "Cost Benefit Analysis for Sustainable Energy Building Upgrades at Safety Rest Areas and Travel Information Centers". (12/2023) 

Our paper "Application of salt hydrate-based thermochemical energy storage in buildings" has been accepted by the 2024 ASHRAE Winter Conference. (11/2023) 

Our paper "Development of a High-Efficiency and Cost-Effective Ground Source Heat Pump System for Subtropical Climate Applications" has been accepted by the 2024 ASHRAE Winter Conference. (11/2023) 

Dr. Yu (as PI) receives a grant from the Academics For The Future of Science to develope a Multi-source/Thermal-storage Heat-pump Design and Universal Controller. (10/2023) 

Dr. Yu (as PI) receives a grant from the North Dakota Department of Commerce - State Energy Program to conduct building energy audit and analysis of an academic building at North Dakota State University. (9/2023) 

Congratulations to Rui Miao, a PhD student, who took the job offer and is now working at the United Integrated Services (USA) Corp. in Phoenix! (08/2023)

Dr. Yu has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure at NDSU! (08/2023) 

Congratulations to Rui Miao, who gradauted this summer and received his PhD in Civil Engineering! (08/2023)

Our group attended and presented at the 2023 ASHRAE Annual Conference in Tampa, FL! (06/2023) 

Congratulations to Namrata Bista, a M.S. student, who took the job offer and is now working at Dynamik Design in Atlanta! (06/2023)

Congratulations to Namrata Bista, who gradauted this May and received her MS degree in Construciton Management! (05/2023)

Our group attended the Party of the Planet 2023 organized by the Fargo Red River Zoo to talk to the public and kids about building energy efficiency and our CCEE department and programs! (04/2023) 

Dr. Yu co-authored a journal paper "Environmental and economic outlook of construction and demolition waste management practices in a mid-sized city" Published on Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management. (04/2023)

Our paper "Development of a Dual-Function Solar Thermal Collector for Buildings" has been accepted and will be presented at the 2023 ASHRAE Annual Conference in Tampa, FL. (04/2023) 

Dr. Yu (as PI) receives a grant from the Community Action Partnership of North Dakota to conduct a need assessment study of low-income North Dakota individuals and families.(3/2023) 

Dr. Yu co-authored a journal paper "Simulation and optimum control of a two-stage compression air source heat pump system: a comparison of two kinds of variable volume approaches" published on Applied Thermal Engineering (3/2023)

Dr. Yu (Session Chair) gave the presenation "A new hyperloop ground source heat pump system used in a single-family house" at 2023 7th Global Energy Meet. Boston, MA. (3/6-8/2023)

Our paper "Performance Evaluation of a Hyperloop Ground Source Heat Pump System in a Residential Building" will be presented at the 2023 ASHRAE Winter Conference. (2/2023) 

Dr. Yu co-authored a journal paper "Simulation and optimum control of a two-stage compression air source heat pump system: a comparison of two kinds of variable volume approaches" Accepted by Applied Thermal Engineering (2/2023)

Dr. Yu served on the professor team of the 2023 JUMP into STEM Competition held at NREL (1/26~27/2023)

Rui Miao, a Ph.D. student, passed his thesis defense with the research topic "Development and utilization of ground and solar energy systems for space heating and cooling in buildings." (1/19/2023) - Congratulations!

Our paper "Parameter study of financial analysis for implementing solar photovoltaics structural snow fences" has been accepted and published on Sustainability. (1/2023) 

Dr. Yu gave the presenation "Multi-source heat pump systems and seasonal thermal storage" at the IGSHPA November Town Hall. Virtual. (11/09/2022)

Namrata Bista, a master student, passed her thesis defense with the research topic "Sustainable development and assessment of a college building – A case study for LEED V4 O+M rating system". (10/31/2022) - Congratulations!

Our paper "Performance Evaluation of a Hyperloop Ground Source Heat Pump System in a Residential Building" has been accepted by the 2023 ASHRAE Winter Conference. (10/2022) 

Dr. Yu gave the presenation "Impact of Indoor Environmental Quality on School Children: Preliminary Survey Result" at the 2022 NDEHA Fall Educational Conference and Meeting organized by North Dakota Environmental Health Association. Virtual. (10/18-10/20/2022)

Our group attended the 2022 Building Performance Analysis Conference and SimBuild co-hosted by ASHRAE and IBPSA-USA in Chicago! (9/2022) 

Our paper "Calibrated Dynamic Zonal Model DOMA+ using the SCE-UA Method – Application to Atrium Temperature Distribution Prediction" has been published on Science and Technology for the Built Environment. doi.org/10.1080/23744731.2022.2118498 (9/2022) 

Our paper "Calibrated Dynamic Zonal Model DOMA+ using the SCE-UA Method – Application to Atrium Temperature Distribution Prediction" has been accepted by Science and Technology for the Built Environment. (9/2022) 

Xuelei Xiao, a PhD student, joined our group! (08/2022) - Welcome!

Our paper "Cost–Benefit Analysis of Implementing Solar Photovoltaic Structural Snow Fences in Minnesota" has been published on ASCE Journal of Cold Regions Engineering. doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CR.1943-5495.0000285 (8/2022) 

Our paper "Development of a High-Efficiency and Cost-Effective Ground Source Heat Pump System for Hot-Climate Applications" has been published on Indoor and Built Environment. doi:10.1177/1420326X221115599 (8/2022) 

Xiaoou Hu, a PhD student, presented our paper "A High-efficiency and Low-cost Ground Source Heat Pump System Design for Cold-climate Application" at the 5th International Conference on Building Energy and Environment (COBEE 2022) (7/2022)

Our paper "Development of a High-Efficiency and Cost-Effective Ground Source Heat Pump System for Hot-Climate Applications" has been accepted by Indoor and Built Environment. (7/2022) 

Our paper "Cost-benefit analysis of implementing solar photovoltaics structural snow fences in Minnesota" has been accepted by ASCE Journal of Cold Regions Engineering. (5/2022) 

Our paper "A High-efficiency and Low-cost Ground Source Heat Pump System Design for Cold-climate Application" has been accepted by the 5th International Conference on Building Energy and Environment (COBEE 2022). (4/2022) 

Dr. Yu (as Co-PI) receives a grant from the Minnesota Department of Transportation to develop and build a solar snow fence.(4/2022) 

Our paper "A new dynamic zonal model with air-diffuser (DOMA) - application to thermal comfort prediction" has been published on Indoor and Built Environment. doi:10.1177/1420326X211060486 (3/2022) 

Dr. Yu was selected to participate in Phase 2 of IMPEL+ Workshop funded by the Building Technologies Office and implemented by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (https://impel.lbl.gov/). (3/2022)

Dr. Yu (Session Chair) gave the presenation "Development of a High-Efficiency, Cost-Effective Ground Source Heat Pump System for Residential Houses" at 2022 6th International Conference on Fossil and Renewable Engery. Virtual. (2/15-2/17/2022)

Dr. Yu participated in the IMPEL+ Workshop funded by the Building Technologies Office and implemented by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory https://impel.lbl.gov/innovators/2022-cohort  (2/2022)

Dr. Yu co-authored a journal paper "Advanced Manufacturing Online STEM Education Pipeline for Early-College and High School Students" published on Journal of Online Engineering Education (1/2022) 

Our paper "Evaluation of cooling performance of a novel dual-purpose solar thermal collector through numerical simulations" has been published on Applied Thermal Engineering https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.117966. (1/2022) 

Our paper "Experimental Study to Analyze Feasibility of a Novel Panelized Ground-Source Thermoelectric System for Building Space Heating and Cooling" has been published on Energies. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15010209 (12/2021) 

Our paper "Evaluation of cooling performance of a novel dual-purpose solar thermal collector through numerical simulations" has been accepted by Applied Thermal Engineering. (12/2021) 

Dr. Yu gave the online presentation "The New Energy-efficient and Cost-effective Multi-source Heat Pump System" at the 2021 Renewable Thermal Alliance webinar https://cbey.yale.edu/event/the-new-energy-efficient-and-cost-effective-multi-source-heat-pump-system. (12/16/2021)

Our previously unfunded NSF proposal was selected by the NDSU RCA Pilot Proposal Resubmission program to be further refined before its next-round submission. (12/2021)

Dr. Yu was selected to participate in the IMPEL+ Workshop funded by the Building Technologies Office and implemented by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (https://impel.lbl.gov/). (11/2021)

Rui Miao, a PhD student, passed his preliminary exam (11/2021) - Congratulations!

Rui Miao, a PhD student, was selected to receive the 2021 Cutting Edge Scholarship ($1,000) to cover the expenses to attend the Cutting Edge Conference being held in Dallas, Texas, November 15-17, 2021. (11/2021) - Congratulations!

Dr. Yu (as PI) receives the NDSU EPSCoR STEM Research and Education – Instructional Equipment Award to register the NDSU's STEM building on the Leed Online to start the process to turn this building to a high-performance green builidng by CM&E 431 students. (10/2021) 

Our paper "A new dynamic zonal model with air-diffuser (DOMA) - application to thermal comfort prediction" has been accepted by Indoor and Built Environment. (10/2021) 

Dr. Yu (as PI) receives the community-based STEM resarch award from ND EPSCoR to evaluate the impact of indoor environment quality on school children. (10/2021) 

Gaylord Olson and Yao Yu gave the presentation "Multi-Source Heat Pump System with Low Cost and High Efficiency" at IDEA2021 held in Austin, Texas (and online). (9/27 - 9/29, 2021)

Our paper "Experimental study of a newly developed dual-purpose solar thermal collector for heat and cold collection" has been published on Energy and Buildings https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.111370. (9/2021)

Dr. Yu joined the JUMP into STEM 21/22 Professor Team (https://jumpintostem.org/).  (8/2021) 

Dr. Yu (as PI) receives a grant from the State Energy Program, North Dakota Department of Commerce, to improve energy efficiency of the NDSU STEM building. (8/2021)

Dr. Yu (as Co-PI) receives a grant from the US DOE - Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) program. (8/2021)

Our paper "Experimental study of a newly developed dual-purpose solar thermal collector for heat and cold collection" has been accepted by Energy and Buildings. (8/2021)

Dr. Yu receives the RCA Internal Funding - Research Development Travel and Conference Support Award (08/2021)

Xiaoou Hu, a master student, passed his thesis defense with the research topic "Development of a high-efficiency, cost-effective ground source heat pump system for single-family houses". (08/2021) - Congratulations!

Andrea Olson (Presenter) , Zhili (Jerry) Gao, and Yao Yu gave the presentation "Community Action Statewide Needs Assessment" at 2021 Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health. (6/2 - 6/4, 2021)

Dr. Yu gave the online presentation "LEED Lab at NDSU” at USGBC + Higher Education: WNC Regional Leadership Forum by USGBC West North Central Region. (05/25/2021) 

Namrata Bista, a Master student, joined our group! (03/2021) - Welcome!

Dr. Yu (Session Chair) gave the presenation "Development of a cost-effective ground source heat pump system for maximizing the use of renewable energy." at 2021 5th International Conference on Fossil and Renewable Energy. Virtual (3/1- 3/3/2021)

Dr. Yu receives the RCA Internal Funding - Research Development Travel and Conference Support Award (01/2021)

Emmanuel Bruce-Vanderpuije, a Master student, joined our group! (01/2021) - Welcome!

Rui Miao, a PhD student, passed his qualifying exam (01/2021) - Congratulations!

Dr. Yu co-authored a conference paper "New Ways to Combine Solar Thermal with Geothermal" published on ASES Solar 2020 Proceedings (11/2020)

Dr. Yu co-authored a journal paper "Further analysis of the influence of interstage configurations on two-stage vapor compression heat pump systems" published on Applied Thermal Engineering (9/2020)

Dr. Yu (as PI) receives a grant from the State Energy Program, North Dakota Department of Commerce, to perform energy analysis and audit of the NDSU STEM building. (7/2020)

Rui Miao, a PhD student, presented our paper "Comparative study on the impact of building type and location on the system efficiency and energy-saving potential of a ground source heat pump system" at 2020 ASHRAE Annual Conference (virtual conference). (6/2020)

Dr. Yu receives RTA Seed Innovation Grant from Yale University - Center for Business and Environment  https://cbey.yale.edu/event/2019-renewable-thermal-technologies-seed-innovation-grant-recipients (4/2020)

Dr. Yu gave the online presentation "High-efficiency and low-cost heat pump system design" at 2019 Renewable Thermal Technologies Seed Innovation Grant Recipients - Renewable Thermal Alliance. (4/29/2020)

Our paper "Comparative study on the impact of building type and location on the system efficiency and energy-saving potential of a ground source heat pump system" was accepted and will be published at 2020 ASHRAE Annual Conference (virtual conference). (4/2020)

Dr. Yu (Session Chair) gave the presenation "Ground Source Heat Pump Systems Used in Cold-Climate Regions of the U.S.: An opportunity or a Challenge?" at 2020 4th International Conference on Fossil and Renewable Energy. Houston, TX (2/17-2/19/2020)

Dr. Yu gave the presentation "Use of Solar Thermal Collectors and a Horizontal Underground Loop in a Multi-Source Heat Pump System for Thermal Energy Storage." at 2020 ASHRAE Winter Conference. Orlando, FL. (2/1-2/5/2020)

Dr. Yu co-authored a journal paper "Prediction of Building Electricity Usage Using Gaussian Process Regression" published on Journal of Building Engineering (11/2019)