Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Developing An Electromechanical Carbon Dioxide Sensor For Occupancy Monitoring, Joshua L. Jenkins, Allison K. Murray, Jeffrey F. Rhoads

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The Energy Information Administration reported in 2012 that heating and cooling processes consume nearly 35% of the total energy used by commercial buildings. In an effort to limit the amount of energy wasted in conditioning empty buildings and rooms, various occupancy detection techniques have been developed that can be paired with a smart heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) control system. This work focused on the development of a novel carbon dioxide detector that is sensitive enough to accurately determine if, and when, a room is occupied. To test the new sensor design, a customized chamber with gas inlets was …