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Carol Menassa, Ph.D.

My research focuses on understanding and modeling the impact of occupants on energy use in buildings, and developing decision frameworks to sustainably retrofit existing buildings. I use several tools such as energy simulation, complex adaptive systems modeling, high-level architecture and informatics. I also have research projects focused on international construction, integrated project delivery and quantitative assessment of project manager competencies. My research is funded by the National Science Foundation, the Construction Industry Institute, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and the Wisconsin Energy Research Consortium.

Selected Publications
  1. Li, Da., and Menassa, C. and Karatas, A. (2016). "Energy Use Behaviors in Buildings: Towards an Integrated Conceptual Framework." Energy Research and Social Science, Elsevier. 23 (January 2017), 97-112.

  2. Thomas, A., Menassa, C. and Kamat, V. (2016). “A System Dynamics Simulation Framework to Study the Effect of Material Performance on a Building's Life Cycle Energy Requirements.” Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, ASCE. 30 (6), 04016034, 1-15. (Editor’s Choice)

  3. Mantha, B., Menassa, C., and Kamat V. (2016). "A Review of Data Types and Data Collection Methods for Building Energy Monitoring and Performance Simulation", Advances in Building Energy Research, Taylor and Francis. 10 (2), 263-293.

  4. Azar, E. and Menassa, C. (2016). “Optimizing the Performance of Energy-Intensive Commercial Buildings: An Occupancy-Focused Data Collection and Analysis Approach.” Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). 30 (5), C4015002: 1-11.

  5. Azar, E. and Menassa, C. (2015). “Evaluating the Impact of Extreme Energy Use Behavior on Occupancy Interventions in Commercial Buildings.” Energy and Buildings, Elsevier. 97 (June 2015), 205-218.

  6. Stephan, K. and Menassa, C. (2015). “Modeling Effect of Building Stakeholder Interactions on Value Perception of Sustainable Retrofits.” Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, ASCE. 29 (04), B4014006, 1-16.

  7. Azar, E. and Menassa, C. (2014). “A Comprehensive Framework to Quantify Energy Savings Potential from Improved Operations of Commercial Building Stocks.” Energy Policy, Elsevier. 67 (April 2014), 459–472.

  8. Azar, E. and Menassa, C. (2014). “A Framework to Evaluate Energy Saving Potential from Occupancy Interventions in Typical US Commercial Buildings.” Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering - Special Issue on Computational Approaches to Understand and Reduce Energy Consumption in the Built Environment, ASCE. 28 (1), 63–78.

Interesting Facts

In my free time, I enjoy doing yoga, swimming and exercising in general. I also like to watch cooking and home improvement shows. One the most relaxing activities for me is cooking. 

I am very passionate about traveling and visiting new places and learning about new cultures.

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