Dr. Rasoul Asaee

Research Scientist

My research interests include net-zero energy buildings, housing stock modeling, energy efficiency, and renewable/alternative energy technologies for residential and commercial buildings.

Natural Resources Canada

Current research and/or projects

My work is focused on promoting energy efficiency in the Canadian housing stock.

Research and/or project statements

Developed statistically representative archetypes for new and existing houses in major housing markets across Canada. This work used a novel data mining approach to extract data from various housing databases. Several stakeholders including NRC, Codes Canada, municipalities, and consultants adopted these archetypes for the analysis of building codes and incentive measures;
Supported the impact analysis of the net-zero energy model building code. Assessed the techno-economic feasibility of proposed changes in Canadian housing markets. Codes Canada published the results of this work to support the proposed changes at the public review stage;
Developed a measure to prevent overheating in net-zero energy ready residential buildings in Canada. Codes Canada added the proposal to the net-zero energy model building code;
Developed data mining models to study Canadian housing stock. Provided evidence to support the building codes and incentive programs;
Developed a model to assess the cost impact of various retrofit scenarios for pre-fabricated external energy retrofit. The model assisted the consultants in selecting an optimized retrofit package for a social house in Ottawa.

Professional activities / interests

Ex-officio, Technical Committee, Net Zero Energy Housing Council, Canadian Home Builders' Association
Reviewer & Session Chair, Building Simulation Conference, IBPSA
Technical Reviewer, Multiple scientific journals

Education and awards

Postdoc, The University of British Columbia, 2018
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Dalhousie University, 2016
M.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, 2011
B.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, 2008

Selected Awards:

Innovation and Energy Technology Sector - Excellence in Science Award, Ottawa, ON, 2019
IBPSA Building Simulation Conference - Best Poster Award, Rome, Italy, 2019

Key publications

Sharafian, A., Asaee, S. R., Herrera, O. E., & Mérida, W. (2019). Policy implications of liquefied natural gas use in heavy-duty vehicles: Examples in Canada and British Columbia. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 69, 123-140.
Asaee, S. R., Ugursal, V. I., & Beausoleil-Morrison, I. (2019). Development and analysis of strategies to facilitate the conversion of Canadian houses into net zero energy buildings. Energy Policy, 126, 118-130.
Asaee, S. R., Sharafian, A., Herrera, O. E., Blomerus, P., & Mérida, W. (2018). Housing stock in cold-climate countries: Conversion challenges for net zero emission buildings. Applied Energy, 217, 88-100.
Asaee, S. R., Nikoofard, S., Ugursal, V. I., & Beausoleil-Morrison, I. (2017). Techno-economic assessment of photovoltaic (PV) and building integrated photovoltaic/thermal (BIPV/T) system retrofits in the Canadian housing stock. Energy and Buildings, 152, 667-679.
Asaee, S. R., Ugursal, V. I., & Beausoleil-Morrison, I. (2017). Techno-economic assessment of solar assisted heat pump system retrofit in the Canadian housing stock. Applied Energy, 190, 439-452.
Asaee, S. R., Ugursal, V. I., & Beausoleil-Morrison, I. (2017). Techno-economic feasibility evaluation of air to water heat pump retrofit in the Canadian housing stock. Applied Thermal Engineering, 111, 936-949.
Asaee, S. R., Ugursal, V. I., & Beausoleil-Morrison, I. (2016). Techno-economic study of solar combisystem retrofit in the Canadian housing stock. Solar Energy, 125, 426-443.
Asaee, S. R., Ugursal, V. I., & Beausoleil-Morrison, I. (2015). An investigation of the techno-economic impact of internal combustion engine based cogeneration systems on the energy requirements and greenhouse gas emissions of the Canadian housing stock. Applied Thermal Engineering, 87, 505-518.
Asaee, S. R., Ugursal, V. I., & Beausoleil-Morrison, I. (2015). Techno-economic evaluation of internal combustion engine based cogeneration system retrofits in Canadian houses–A preliminary study. Applied Energy, 140, 171-183.
Asaee, S. R., Ugursal, V. I., Beausoleil-Morrison, I., & Ben-Abdallah, N. (2014). Preliminary study for solar combisystem potential in Canadian houses. Applied Energy, 130, 510-518.