Alain Makhoul, PhD, P.Eng

I support decarbonization, retrofit, and building performance studies for complex facilities, with a focus on making energy and carbon reduction strategies technically credible before they become capital decisions. • Lead detailed building performance and energy modelling work (IES VE) for commercial, healthcare, and post-secondary facilities, supporting decarbonization roadmaps, retrofit studies, funding applications, and investment-grade decision-making. • Develop and calibrate whole-building energy models, integrating drawings, utility data, BAS trends, site information, equipment data, schedules, and engineering assumptions. • Evaluate decarbonization measures involving heat pumps, heat recovery, electrification, hydronic optimization, BAS/control strategies, refrigeration efficiency, and central plant upgrades. • Use modelling as a technical due diligence tool, testing assumptions, checking physical consistency, reviewing system interactions, and identifying uncertainty before savings are used for project decisions. • Identify modelling and assumption gaps in third-party or preliminary analyses, improving the credibility of savings estimates and reducing technical risk before funding or capital decisions. • Analyze real-world HVAC performance drivers, including load profiles, part-load behaviour, control logic, ventilation, reheat, simultaneous heating and cooling, and plant constraints. • Build hourly analytical tools and system-level models for boilers, CHP systems, hydronic loops, thermal loads, envelope performance, and space-level heating/cooling behaviour. • Translate complex modelling results into clear engineering, financial, and carbon-reduction outputs, including energy savings, GHG reductions, lifecycle cost impacts, payback, and implementation considerations. • Bring a research-trained engineering approach to consulting work, combining first-principles thermal systems knowledge, model validation, data analysis, and practical HVAC judgment.

I taught and supervised graduate-level work in building energy systems, renewable energy, refrigeration, passive design, and applied engineering analysis, with a strong focus on connecting theory to practical design decisions. • Developed and taught graduate-level courses in renewable energy systems, industrial refrigeration, passive building design, and building energy modelling. • Supervised graduate student projects focused on passive building design, energy performance, thermal analysis, and renewable energy integration. • Reviewed and guided student projects involving load calculations, lifecycle cost analysis, capital budgeting, energy conservation measures, and cost-performance trade-offs. • Provided technical guidance on HVAC design, ventilation, thermal comfort, and energy efficiency, with reference to ASHRAE 62.1, 55, and 90.1. • Mentored students and early-career engineers on engineering judgement, modelling assumptions, design corrections, and the practical limits of simplified calculations. • Led applied research and teaching activities that connected sustainable design, building energy performance, and real-world implementation constraints.

(Computational modelling, CFD & experimental research) • Developed innovative computational models in MATLAB to significantly reduce simulation time for load calculations and thermal analysis of combined displacement and personalized ventilation systems. • Conducted 100+ CFD simulations using ANSYS Fluent on full-scale computational domains, accurately capturing airflow patterns, flow separation, and thermo-environmental behaviour. • Performed parametric hourly simulations for buildings equipped with displacement and mixed ventilation systems, delivering detailed analysis of energy consumption and thermal comfort. • Enhanced local thermal comfort prediction by coupling a 17-segment bioheat model with real-time CFD thermo-environmental solutions. • Designed innovative localized and personalized ventilation systems, achieving up to 34% energy savings and improving air quality and ventilation effectiveness by up to 32%, exceeding ASHRAE 62.1 performance benchmarks. • Collaborated with the Human Research Protection Program to design and execute experimental setups in environmental chambers, ensuring compliance with health, safety, and ethical requirements for human-subject testing. • Supervised technicians, established project timelines, and coordinated deliverables for complex R&D activities. • Communicated technical findings through formal reports and international conference presentations, incorporating peer feedback to refine analysis and conclusions. • Served as Session Chair (Ventilation and Air Distribution) at the 23rd IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (Prague).

I worked on advanced refrigeration and heat pump system performance, with a focus on thermodynamic modelling, two-phase flow, expansion-loss recovery, and seasonal efficiency evaluation. • Developed thermodynamic and energy performance models for refrigeration systems using a customized VBA-based simulation framework and manufacturer compressor performance data. • Designed and assessed an innovative two-phase turbine concept to recover expansion losses and improve refrigeration system COP. • Modelled high-speed turbine nozzles for two-phase flow applications, including pressure gradients, expansion behaviour, and operating stability. • Performed model validation and iterative refinement to improve physical consistency and confidence in simulation results. • Contributed to applied research connected to French heat pump seasonal COP rating methods, linking modelling and experimental insights to standardization work. (Research conducted under senior academic supervision of Nobel Prize laureates within a leading European research environment in thermal and thermodynamic systems.)

Engineering of Energy Conversion Machines