Scientific Director and Principal Investigator (Dr. Andreas K. Athienitis)
Dr. Athienitis is the Network leader. He is responsible for directing the scientific development of the Network, overseeing its research and developing with the Scientific Committee the Network Strategic Plan.
Dr. Andreas K. Athienitis
Dr. Andreas K. Athienitis is the Scientific Director of the NSERC Solar Buildings Research Network and a Concordia University Research Chair, Tier I in Integration of Solar Energy Systems into Buildings. He obtained a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering (1981) from the University of New Brunswick and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo (1985). He is currently a Professor of Building Engineering. His research interests are in solar energy engineering, energy efficiency, optimization and control of building thermal systems, building integrated photovoltaics and daylighting. He is the author of more than 150 refereed papers, the Mathcad electronic book "Building Thermal Analysis" and the graduate level book "Thermal Analysis and Design of Passive Solar Buildings". He is a recipient of several awards, including ASHRAE Willis H. Carrier best paper award. He has served as Associate Editor of the ISES Journal "Solar Energy" and in ASHRAE Technical Committees. He participates in policy-forming government committees and is a consultant to major utilities and government departments. He has played a key role in the engineering design of several award-winning low energy solar houses and green buildings which include building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal systems, geothermal heating/cooling and advanced daylighting. He was recently profiled as one of 25 most important innovators in Quebec by Actualité Magazine (Sep. 15, 2009).