CIMS Core Faculty: Gabriel Wainer
Prof. Wainer is the chair of the Advanced Real-Time Simulation Laboratory (ARS), an advanced Modeling & Simulation research laboratory, located at the Carleton University Centre for Visualization and Simulation (V-Sim). Prof. Wainer’s team research focuses on methods to generate executable simulation models derived from formal (mathematical) systems specifications. A main component of the research, which has involved collaboration with CIMS, involves integrating the simulation results obtained by the advanced simulation in the lab with visualization in Architecture.
As a part of this ongoing collaboration, ARSLab, CIMS and HBILab (Human-Building Interaction Lab) have partnered with Autodesk Research in the SUSTAIN project (SUSTAIN: Sensor-based Unified Simulation Techniques for Advanced In-building Networks), an NSERC Strategic Project focusing on improving sustainability in buildings.
The main problem we are researching is how to bridge modern building design and automation. Existing building systems collect and store vast amounts of data in temporal scales ranging from seconds to multiple years and spatial scales ranging from rooms to communities. But tools that facilitate management and visualization of these data are in their infancy. It has become abundantly clear that data availability alone has not significantly improved the way buildings operate. Current visualization methods for buildings fail to communicate the complexities of building performance and equal opportunities to improve performance.
SUSTAIN is thus focusing on the definition of new methods and tools for integrating real-time sensor data with occupancy information based on the occupants’ devices, integrating parametric data from the building to build mathematical models that can be used for both simulation and control. The formal models provide results that are being integrated in advanced visualization environments built by Autodesk (including a full campus map model built by CIMS). The research will provide Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO) professionals with methods and tools to analyze real-time data and visualize the modeling results and the analysis results into their actual designs, improving the overall process.
