Concordia Journal Home > Archives > January 29, 2009 issue >

Shedding light on solar energy 

PhD student in Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering Liam O'Brien holds up a solar panel in the Solar Energy and Lighting lab on the 16th floor of the EV building. O'Brien is part of a team designing solar houses that have net-zero energy, meaning they produce as much energy as they use. O'Brien is currently developing a software tool to help architects and engineers conceptually design a net-zero house in as little as 15 minutes.

A former aerospace student, O'Brien chose to redirect his focus into environmental engineering because he wanted to go into, "a little more ethical field," and saw the potential for a growing industry.

"Buildings use around 40% of Canada's energy, and it feels like there's a lot of room for improvement. So, even if we can cut that in half, we could see a huge potential for savings," O'Brien said.