Towards a Sustainable University Campus - Strategic Selection of Pilot Buildings
TU Dublin is delighted to introduce three new colleagues who have recently joined the Sustainability Intelligence Team as part of the project, Towards a Sustainable University Campus.
Project Manager, Dr Ahmed Hassan, is a PhD graduate from TU Dublin with expertise in digital construction management and strategic planning. He combines academic research with practical experience to drive innovation in sustainability and digital transformation.
Postdoctoral Researcher, Dr Tarun Kumar, is an architect and a product designer with a PhD in Smart Buildings and has expertise in Artificial Intelligence. He has authored over 100 research articles and was inducted into IEEE Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) in 2020. His research interests lie in machine learning, smart cities, Digital twins, Image Analytics, and smart sensors.
Senior Smart Building Officer, Dr Kumar Raushan, is a PhD graduate from TU Dublin with expertise in smart building technologies and IoT systems integration. He leverages his academic and technical background to optimise building operations and enhance energy efficiency through innovative solutions.
The project aims to pilot a smart monitoring and reporting infrastructure by upgrading existing monitoring and control systems, digitalising three exemplar buildings, and working with cross-sectoral stakeholders through active user involvement to transform them into living laboratories. Data will provide evidence to understand, benchmark, and optimise energy usage within a user-centric approach to enable the co-creation of further decarbonisation strategies. The three-year project officially launched in January 2024, and it is planned for the pilot phase to commence in April 2025.
Together, the team are moving into the strategic pilot phase to implement the project at TU Dublin. Three buildings were chosen for the study that represent diverse challenges and opportunities, and it is hoped that that these buildings can act as exemplars for the digitalising of all other building stock across the university. The digitisation of TU Dublin’s building stock aligns with the university’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and greenhouse gas emission reduction, as outlined in it's Sustainability Strategy, while also contributing to Ireland’s national goals for decarbonisation, energy efficiency, and climate action under the Climate Action Plan. This digital transformation aims to enhance energy efficiency, optimise operational performance, and reduce carbon emissions across TU Dublin buildings. It plans to facilitate data-driven decision-making, real-time monitoring, and predictive maintenance, ensuring sustainable resource management.
Pilot Buildings
The selected pilot buildings were:
- Greenway Hub, Grangegorman
- Main Building, Tallaght,
- Áras Eolas Block E, Blanchardstown.
The selection criteria considered the diversity of buildings in terms of energy intensity, usage patterns, data completeness, and the ability to provide actionable insights for campus-wide applications.
- The Greenway Hub in Grangegorman is a data-driven facility central to TU Dublin’s research and innovation activities. It's energy-intensive nature offers a valuable opportunity to showcase the significant potential for reducing carbon footprints in high-performing spaces.
- The Main Building in Tallaght, with its large scale and complex operations, serves as a high-impact case study. The varied usage patterns of this building provide an optimal environment to test the scalability of sustainability measures in large, multi-use facilities.
- Finally, Áras Eolas Block E in Blanchardstown is a smaller, less energy-intensive building. It adds a unique perspective for optimising operations in smaller facilities to improve energy efficiency and comfort of occupants.
The selected buildings represent a diverse cross-section of TU Dublin’s assets to ensure the pilot phase delivers comprehensive and scalable insights in pursuit of expanding the project across all TU Dublin buildings. The pilot phase ultimately aims to demonstrate the impact of digital interventions on energy consumption in educational campuses. Knowledge and insights gained from the pilot phase will be collated and analysed to develop a framework for scaling successful digital solutions campus-wide. The project findings and outcomes will inform policy recommendations, support funding applications, and contribute to developing a long-term sustainability roadmap for TU Dublin and other educational institutions.