Schneider Electric donates to Ryerson’s Smart Building Analytics Living Lab

Schneider Electric Canada donates $1M to Ryerson Smart Building Lab: (l-r) Adrian Thomas (vp, buildings, Schneider), Tom Duever (Dean, faculty of engineering and architectural science, Ryerson), Jenn McArthur (assistant professor, department of architectural science, Ryerson), Juan Macias (sr. vp digital energy solutions/prosumer, Schneider), Dr. Mohamed Lachemi (president and vice-chancellor of Ryerson), Steven Liss (vp, research and innovation, Ryerson), Ian Mishkel (vp, university advancement and alumni relations, Ryerson), Alan Fung (associate professor, mechanical and industrial engineering, Ryerson) and Bala Venkatesh (academic director, centre for urban energy, Ryerson)

Schneider Electric Canada has announced, in partnership with Ryerson University, a donation of $1 million in kind to design and build the new Smart Building Analytics Living Lab—the first of its kind in Canada.

With the new lab, to be located at Ryerson’s 111 Bond St. building in Toronto and expected to open late 2019, students in engineering, architectural science, and computer and data science programs will have access to tools to develop, test, and optimize modern technologies and approaches within the building management space.

The lab will be used to demonstrate savings in energy consumption and in capital and operating expenses for buildings of all sizes.

“Our partnership with Ryerson University and the building of the Smart Building Analytics Living Lab reflects the need for advancement of data analytics and the use of IoT (Internet of Things) technologies to lower energy use in urban areas by providing higher building efficiencies,” says Juan Macias, senior vice president, digital energy solutions/prosumer at Schneider Electric.

The laboratory will assist with increasing knowledge and experience in key areas including:

• improved understanding of emerging heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems
• optimization and performance improvement of existing HVAC systems
• new data analytics algorithms, predictive models, and machine learning approaches to support building performance improvement in real-time, considering both human effects as well as environmental conditions

The Smart Building Analytics Living Lab will be used as a direct connection into the real world of building management systems and energy management. From the facility, the Ryerson team will connect to building control systems using Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Building software platform, including access control, lighting control, security, energy and HVAC systems.

“The convergence of Information Technology and Operational Technology means bringing together applications and devices in innovative ways, and tying together systems that have primarily operated in isolation,” said Susan Uthayakumar, country president, Canada, Schneider Electric. “Along with growth in numbers of devices and increased functionality, bringing these systems together introduces integration on a new scale. The Ryerson lab is a great forum to test these new integration possibilities.”