Interview: Zhengbo Zou and Bryan Archibald, Co-Leads of Leak Detection Project
We sat down with Zhengbo Zou, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering and Bryan Archibald, Manager of Maintenance Planning, UBC Building Operations discussing their Campus as a Living Lab Project.
The project aims to address the issue of energy loss in buildings due to faults in HVAC systems. The team discovered a gap in information about the conditions over the ceilings of many existing buildings, which can lead to energy loss if not fixed. The solution they proposed was to use a robot capable of inspecting mechanical and electrical equipment over the ceilings and identifying faults, which would save facility managers time and effort.
The project was initiated last summer, and the team was able to develop a prototype during that time. They have since reached out to multiple faculty members and municipalities, including Vancouver, Richmond, and Surrey, to collaborate on the project.
Zhengbo shared, “the significance of the project lies in the need for more personnel to manage the buildings, and the project aims to provide facility managers with more information to perform proactive and preventive work. This is particularly important for municipalities, which have a limited budget and cannot hire many people to manage the buildings.”
The team envisions a natural and effortless human-robot collaboration, with facility managers maximizing the robot's potential and not interfering with daily work. This aligns with UBC's sustainability goals, as building energy consumption is an integral part of achieving global sustainability.
The team plans to conduct a before-after study to measure the energy savings resulting from fixing the faults in buildings. The project is collaborative and involves faculty members from different fields and building owners of large mixed-use facilities.
The project promises to be a significant contribution to building energy consumption and sustainability, providing a solution to a critical problem affecting municipalities and building owners.