From smart home controls to solar powered gas refrigeration, undergraduate HVAC&R students in their senior year are able to gain hands-on experience in their field thanks to the 2010-2011 ASHRAE Undergraduate Senior Project Grant.

The grants, totaling some $65,000, are awarded by ASHRAE to colleges and universities worldwide to promote the study and teaching of HVAC&R, encouraging undergraduate students to pursue related careers. The grants are used to design and construct projects.

This year, 14 schools from across the country and around the world were awarded grants, with Purdue University-West Lafayette ranking the highest among the applicants for their proposal to develop smart home controls. As the top grant award winner, two students from the university are invited to present their project as part of the Student Program at the 2011 ASHRAE Winter Conference in Las Vegas, Nev.

The ASHRAE grant will provide the crucial infrastructure for monitoring and controlling the mechanical, electrical, lighting and other systems in the smart house by developing the controls schematic; developing the sequence of operation; developing the control code; installing the controls and sensors; and commissioning the building systems.

The smart house will become a multidisciplinary living laboratory for large numbers of university students interested in low energy residential construction. The school also anticipates displaying the home to media, contractors and the public and predicts that at least 500 Purdue students will visit the home annually over a two-year period.

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