Dr. John Zhai is a Professor in the聽聽(CEAE) at聽聽(UCB).聽聽He has a unique and integrated background in both Mechanical and Architectural Engineering with an Engineering Doctor degree in Fluid Mechanics (, 1999) and a Ph.D. in Building Technology (, 2003).聽聽Dr. Zhai has been actively engaged in research activities in the field of fluid/thermal science and building/energy/environment technology since 1994.聽聽His particular research interests and expertise include:
- Experimental and numerical study of building thermal and environmental systems;
- Indoor environmental quality (thermal comfort and indoor air quality);
- Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system design and optimization;
- Immune and sustainable building design and technology development.
As a primary researcher, Dr. Zhai has completed a great number of notable research and consulting projects on diverse building energy and environment topics and published over 130 technical papers in reputed journals and conferences.
Dr. Zhai teaches 鈥淔luid Mechanics and Heat Transfer鈥�, 鈥淏uilding Energy Systems鈥�, 鈥淐FD Analysis for Built and Natural Environments鈥�, 鈥淏uilding Energy Laboratory鈥�, 鈥淏uilding Mechanical Systems鈥�, and 鈥淪ustainable Building Design鈥� at UCB.聽聽Dr. Zhai is also Graduate Advisor at聽Purdue聽University, Adjunct Professor at聽School聽of聽Environmental Science聽and Technology at聽TianjingUniversity,聽China,聽The聽鈥淪ea-Sky鈥� University Professor at聽School聽of聽Civil Engineering聽at聽Dalian聽University聽of Technology,聽China.聽聽He also held a 鈥淪enior Fellow鈥� position at the聽聽(a renowned sustainable building design and consulting firm).
Dr. Zhai is an active member of several professional societies, such as, ASHRAE, ASME, International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA), and International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ).聽聽Dr. Zhai was an invited member for The Committee of Immune Buildings by The US National Academies and The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), an Invited IAQ Expert for National Laboratory Assessment by The US National Academies and National Research Council (NRC), and an Invited Non-Member Roundtable Speaker by The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA).聽
Dr. Zhai has been serving as Conference Chairs, Advisory/Scientific Committee Members, Track and Session Chairs for many building-related conferences and symposiums, such as, IAQVEC 2016, Healthy Building 鈥� America 2015, ISHVAC-COBEE 2015, IBPC 2015, Cold Climate HVAC 2015, Indoor Air 2014, Building Simulation 2013, ISGMA 2013, COBEE 2012, Building Simulation 2011,聽聽IAQVEC2010, ASME Energy Sustainability Conference (ES2009 and ES2010), IBPSA Building Simulation Conference (BS2007 and BS2009), ROOMVENT 2009, COBEE2008, Indoor Air 2005, etc.聽聽Dr. Zhai is Associate Editor of Energy and Building Journal and The Open Civil Engineering Journal, Guest Editor for Building and Environment Journal, World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development Journal, Guest Editor and Editorial Board Member for Building Simulation: An International Journal, Editorial Board Member for Journal of Building Physics, Indoor and Built Environment Journal, Journal of Energy, Journal AIMS Energy, as well as invited reviewer for over 10 countries and regions.聽
Dr. Zhai has great experience managing an active research team with people with different background.聽聽In the past decade, Dr. Zhai has been constantly leading a team of 20 members with a mixture of Post-Docs, Visiting Scholars, PhD, and MS graduate students as well as few undergraduate students at UCB, working on a vast variety of building energy and environment-related research and consulting projects.聽聽His team is highly productive in publishing research on various reputed journals.聽聽Dr. Zhai received quite a few awards for his outstanding research, education and outreach activities, including the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) and Distinguished Lecturer Title from ASHRAE.