University of New Haven
IN-24: Innovation A

1. Dr. Ravi Gorthala, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Haven, and a team of five graduate and undergraduate students are at work on an ambitious three-year U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project that aims to make commercial businesses’ heating, cooling, ventilation, and refrigeration systems operate efficiently. Commercial buildings expend almost 20 percent of the nation’s energy, and experts say a large percentage of that is wasted, but Dr. Ravi Gorthala, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and a team of five graduate and undergraduate students are at work on an ambitious three-year U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project that aims to make commercial businesses’ heating, cooling, ventilation, and refrigeration systems operate efficiently. The $1.2 million dollar grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), with cost-sharing by United Illuminating and Eversource through funds from Energize CT. The project is titled “Bringing Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD) Tools into the Mainstream: Retro-Commissioning and Continuous Commissioning of HVAC and Refrigeration Systems,” and Jesus Amado '19, an undergraduate mechanical engineer at work on the project, explained it this way: “Think of the check engine light or tire pressure icon in a car. They light up when there may be an engine problem or the tire pressure is low; newer cars actually show the oil level.”