Research Interests
- Model-predictive control (MPC): what can optimal control techniques teach us about how to better operate our buildings? Are there near-optimal heuristics and rules that can be extracted from MPC and then implemented in building automation systems?
- Smart grid and energy management: I’m interested in taking the smart grid beyond the buzzword stage and exploring the truly innovative operational efficiency and behavior change benefits that will occur by providing commercial and residential building owners with more detailed information and insights about their energy use.
- Mixed-mode cooling: how do we appropriately harness free cooling in buildings through natural ventilation, while still preserving some of the mechanical cooling that building occupants expect and need in many climates?
- Passive cooling: what low-energy, non-mechanical cooling strategies can be effectively implemented in US commercial buildings? How do we use a combination of intelligent envelopes, systems and control schemes to reach near-zero energy building designs?
- Plug loads: the fastest-growing end use segment, what technologies, incentives and policy mechanisms are needed to tame unbridled growth in plug load energy use? What does this mean for the design of building systems? How do we tame these loads to make net zero or net positive energy buildings possible?
Publications and Selected Presentations
Corbin C, Henze G, May-Ostendorp P (2012): A model predictive control optimization environment for real-time commercial building application, Journal of Building Performance Simulation, DOI:10.1080/19401493.2011.648343.
May-Ostendorp P, Henze G, Rajagopalan B, Rule extraction: developing near-optimal heuristics from offline MPC studies in buildings. Presentation given at the 2011 Model Predictive Control in Buildings Workshop, June 2011.
May-Ostendorp P, et al., Model-predictive control of mixed-mode buildings with rule extraction, Building and Environment, Volume 46, No. 2 (2011), doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2010.08.004.
Felsmann, C., G.P. Henze, P. May-Ostendorp and C.D. Corbin, “Regelalgorithmen für Mixed-Mode Gebäudesysteme.” gi- Gesundheits-Ingenieur – Haustechnik – Bauphysik – Umwelttechnik, Vol. 131, No. 4 (2010), pp. 203-207.
May-Ostendorp P, et al., Energy-Optimal Control for Mixed-Mode Buildings. Poster presentation at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s 2010 Energy Frontiers, April, 2010.
Lowering the Cost of Play: Improving the Energy Efficiency of Video Game Consoles. For the Natural Resources Defense Council, November 2008 (with Riley Neugebauer and Brooke Frazer, Ecos Consulting; Noah Horowitz, NRDC).
Vairamohan B, May-Ostendorp P, Beck N, “How Low Can You Go?” The role of power electronics in achieving higher levels of efficiency for desktop computers, Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2008, pp.423-428, 24-28 Feb. 2008 doi: 10.1109/APEC.2008.4522756
Tuning in to Energy Efficiency: Prospects for Energy Savings in TV Set-Top Boxes. For the Natural Resources Defense Council, June 2007 (with Noah Horowitz, NRDC and Blake Riley-Orth, Ecos Consulting).
Final Field Research Report, a report detailing field measurements of plug load energy use patterns conducted in California homes, prepared for the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research program, October 31, 2006 (with Suzanne Foster Porter and Laura Moorefield).
Designing Battery Charger Systems for Improved Energy Efficiency: A Technical Primer. For the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research program, September 2006 (with Tom Geist and Haresh Kamath, EPRI Solutions; Suzanne Foster Porter, Ecos Consulting).
Herb K, May-Ostendorp P, Calwell C, Lean, Green, and Solid State: Measuring and Enhancing Computer Efficiency, in the Proceedings of the ACEEE 2006 Summer Study Conference on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Asilomar, CA, August 2006.
Calwell C, Fernstrom G, May-Ostendorp P, Building a Better Bulb: Technologies, Policies, and Programs Behind the Battle to Increase the Efficiency of General Service Incandescent Light Bulbs, in the Proceedings of the ACEEE 2006 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Asilomar, CA, August 2006.
Herb K, May-Ostendorp P, Calwell C, Howard A, In Search of Synergy: The role of benchmarking in measuring and enhancing computer efficiency, Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment, San Francisco, CA, May 2006.
May-Ostendorp P, The Efficiency of Internal Power Supplies: Test Procedure and Policy Developments, presentation at the Applied Power Electronics Conference, Dallas, Texas, March 23, 2006.
High Performance Buildings: Data Centers Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), prepared for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for its California Energy Commission’s PIER (Public Interest Energy Research) initiative on efficient data centers, July 2005 (with My Ton, Ecos Consulting, and EPRI Solutions).
NRDC TV Energy Efficiency Research, presentation to the TV International Stakeholder Meeting, San Francisco, California, June 28, 2005.
Recommendations for Tier I ENERGY STAR® Computer Specification, presentation for the ENERGY STAR® Stakeholders Meeting hosted by Dell Computers, Austin, Texas, June 21, 2005 (with Noah Horowitz, NRDC; Chris Calwell and Kim Herb, Ecos Consulting).
May-Ostendorp P, Calwell C, 80 PLUS: A Strategy for Reducing the Inherent Environmental Impacts of Computers, in Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment, New Orleans, LA, May 18, 2005.
Televisions: Active Mode Energy Use, New Horizons for Energy Efficiency, report prepared for the Natural Resources Defense Council, March 2005 (with Chris Calwell and Suzanne Foster).
Tuning in to Energy Efficiency: Prospects for Saving Energy in Televisions, summary report prepared for the Natural Resources Defense Council, December, 2004 (with Noah Horowitz, NRDC).
Cellular Phones: Advancements in Energy Efficiency and Opportunities for Energy Savings, prepared for the Natural Resources Defense Council, October, 2004 (with Chris Calwell and Suzanne Foster).
Chinn D, Kurfess T, May-Ostendorp P, Three Dimensional Imaging of LIGA-Made Microcomponents, Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, vol. 126, issue 4, pp. 813-821, November 2004.
Dartmouth College Senior Honors Thesis: Solar Greenhouse Design for the Dartmouth Organic Farm. Designed and simulated sustainable solar greenhouse for the Dartmouth Organic Farm using MATLAB/Simulink. Designed energy analysis for greenhouse allowing optimal energy efficiency while retaining required growing conditions. May 2003.
