Area of research
Building and Construction · Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Research interest
My research focuses on understanding and modeling the interconnections between the human and the built environment. In this context, my research group focuses on two main research thrusts. In the first, we study the impact of human behaviors and actions on the built environment. For example, we use modeling and simulation to understand the impact of occupants on energy use in buildings and develop decision frameworks to sustainably retrofit existing buildings. In the second thrust, we focus on understanding the effect of the built environment on human comfort, well-being and accessibility issues. For example, we use non-intrusive methods such as low cost thermal cameras to provide personalized thermal comfort settings in single and multi-occupancy space. We also develop personalized localization and path planning methods to assist people with physical disabilities in navigating unknown building environments. My research group has expertise in energy simulation, complex adaptive systems modeling, high-level architecture and informatics, computer vision and robotics.
A scene-adaptive descriptor for visual SLAM-based locating applications in built environments
An Occupancy Grid Mapping enhanced visual SLAM for real-time locating applications in indoor GPS-denied environments
Energy modeling and data structure framework for Sustainable Human-Building Ecosystems (SHBE) — a review
Li, D., Menassa, C. and Kamat, V. (2018). “Non-Intrusive Interpretation of Human Thermal Comfort through Analysis of Facial Infrared Thermography.” Energy and Buildings , Elsevier. 176, October 2018, Pages 246-261.
— 2018cited by 0position: selected
Mantha, B., Menassa, C., and Kamat, V. (2018). “Robotic Data Collection and Simulation for Evaluation of Building Retrofit Performance.” Automation in Construction , Elsevier. August 2018, 88-102.
— 2018cited by 0position: selected
Thomas, A., Menassa, C. and Kamat, V. (2018). “A Systems Simulation Framework to Realize Net-Zero Building Energy Retrofits.” Sustainable Cities and Society , Elsevier. Volume 41, August 2018, Pages 405-420.
— 2018cited by 0position: selected
Li, D., Menassa, C. and Kamat, V. (2017). “Personalized Human Comfort in Indoor Building Environments under Diverse Conditioning Modes.” Building and Environment , Elsevier. Volume 126, December 2017, 304-317.
— 2017cited by 0position: selected
Thomas, A., Menassa, C. and Kamat, V. (2017). “Lightweight and Adaptive Building Simulation (LABS) Framework for Integrated Building Energy and Thermal Comfort Analysis.” Building Simulation – An International Journal , Springer. Volume 10, December 2017, Pages 1023-1044.
— 2017cited by 0position: selected
Lundeen, K., Kamat, V. and Menassa, C. (2017). “Scene Understanding for Adaptive Manipulation in Robotized Construction Work.” Automation in Construction , Elsevier. 82 (October 2017), 16-30.
— 2017cited by 0position: selected
Mantha, B., Menassa, C., and Kamat, V. (2017). “Task Allocation and Route Planning for Robotic Service Networks in Indoor Building Environments.” Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering , ASCE. 31 (5), 04017038, 1-16.
— 2017cited by 0position: selected
Thomas, A., Menassa, C. and Kamat, V. (2016). “A System Dynamics Simulation Framework to Study the Effect of Material Performance on a Building’s Life Cycle Energy Requirements.” Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering , ASCE. 30 (6), 04016034, 1-15. (Editor’s Choice)
— 2016cited by 0position: selected
Azar, E. and Menassa, C. (2016). “Optimizing the Performance of Energy-Intensive Commercial Buildings: An Occupancy-Focused Data Collection and Analysis Approach.” Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering , American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). 30 (5), C4015002: 1–11.
— 2016cited by 0position: selected
Azar, E. and Menassa, C. (2015). “Evaluating the Impact of Extreme Energy Use Behavior on Occupancy Interventions in Commercial Buildings.” Energy and Buildings , Elsevier. 97 (June 2015), 205-218.
— 2015cited by 0position: selected