University of Waterloo researchers have developed a new method that can significantly reduce energy loss in buildings. By identifying 28 major heat loss regions in a multi-unit residential building, the team found that fixing 70 percent of these areas could lead to energy savings of 25 percent. Building enclosures rely on heat and moisture control to prevent energy loss due to airflow leakage, which can make buildings less comfortable and more expensive to maintain – a problem that is likely to worsen due to climate change.
Manual inspection of buildings is time-consuming and infrequently done, leading to widespread energy inefficiency. To address this issue, researchers at Waterloo developed an autonomous, real-time platform that combines artificial intelligence, infrared technology, and a mathematical model to better identify areas of heat loss in buildings. This innovative platform aims to make buildings more energy efficient and help reduce energy consumption and costs for building occupants.
In a study conducted on a multi-unit residential building in the Canadian prairies with extreme climate conditions, the research team used AI tools to analyze thermal images in real-time. The program achieved an 81 percent accuracy rate in detecting regions of heat loss in the building envelope, leading to enhanced comfort for occupants and lower energy bills. Dr. Mohamad Araji, director of Waterloo’s Architectural Engineering Program and head of the Symbiosis Lab, emphasized the importance of the almost 10 percent increase in accuracy provided by the AI-based model.
The new AI tools have eliminated human error in examining results and increased the speed of data analysis by a factor of 12 compared to traditional building inspection methods. Future expansions of this work may involve the use of drones equipped with cameras to inspect high-rise buildings, with the goal of analyzing buildings more efficiently and leading to significant energy savings. Araji hopes that their methodology can be utilized to analyze buildings and promote energy efficiency on a larger scale.
University of Waterloo is recognized for its leadership in sustainability research and education, as well as its role as a catalyst for environmental innovation, solutions, and talent development. The development of this autonomous, real-time platform represents a step towards creating more environmentally friendly buildings and reducing energy consumption in the built environment. By combining AI technology with infrared imaging and mathematical modeling, the research team is paving the way for more efficient and cost-effective building inspections to address energy loss issues in buildings.
