News

Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Czech Technical University in Prague offers doctoral position regarding topic: Energy flexibility of buildings and HVAC systems for operation within smart power grid

Supervisor: prof. dr. Ir. Jan Hensen, co-supervisor: Ing. Martin Barták, Ph.D.

Effective operation of the smart grid requires improvement of energy accumulation within the distribution system and its control in order to accommodate the intermittent production of renewable energy sources. One of the possible strategies for increasing the accumulation potential in the building sector is application of advanced energy management that enables to utilize existing thermal (e.g. building construction, water storage tanks) and electrical capacity (e.g. batteries) in flexible manner. Such energy management improves the accumulation potential of entire distribution system that increases the renewable energy share in the grid. Project is focused on demand response strategies for residential and office buildings that respect occupant thermal comfort.

Keywords: building energy flexibility, demand response, smart grid, thermal comfort, building energy simulation, advanced building control.

We offer:

• Interesting and creative work in current scientific topic
• Pleasant and friendly working environment
• Flexible working hours
• Cooperation with academic and industrial partners
• Competitive salary      

We require:

• Completed university degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Civil)
• Open-mind and desire to learn new things
• Professional working proficiency level of English
• Interest in smart building management
• Beneficial traits: experiences with building energy simulation tools (TRNSYS, E+, ESP-r, IDA-ICE, etc.) or other general simulation tools (e.g. Matlab, Python, etc.)

In this project, the doctoral candidate will develop numerical models of buildings and HVAC systems. The numerical models will be used to analyze building energy flexibility and also as a design-support tool for integrated building management that is being developed at the University Center of Energy Effective Building (UCEEB). In addition, the candidate will execute measurements and evaluation of occupant thermal comfort in residential and office buildings. The access to the selected buildings, representing the case-studies of this research, will be provided by the industrial partner ELPRAMO s.r.o.

Expected period of the doctoral study: 1/10/2019 – 1/10/2023
Application deadline: 15/7/2019
Contact for application: Ing. Vojtěch Zavřel, Ph.D.; Vojtech.Zavrel@fs.cvut.cz