Professors collaborate on environment and energy projects across state

Syracuse University professors are teaming up with academics from across New York state to study and create environmental and energy technologies.

The Syracuse Center of Excellence announced in late February $109,368 in funding for eight research projects as a part of its annual Faculty Fellows program. The program helps foster collaboration between researchers at different academic institutions, said Kerrie Marshall, assistant director of communications at the center.

Fifteen cross-disciplinary faculty members from SU, SUNY-ESF and other New York colleges are contributing to the eight projects, according to a SU News release. The program also allows researchers to collaborate with companies SyracuseCoE partners with.

“Our aim is to bring together a diverse group, specifically with diverse projects, or cross-disciplinary projects,” Marshall said. “Sometimes we have researchers from more than one institution working together or an architect and an engineer working together. Diverse disciplines are brought together to further their research.”

The research projects promote sustainable well-being in urban environments, Marshall said.

SUNY-ESF professor Jamie Mirowsky will work with project leaders to measure the air quality and noise levels around Interstate 81 as the state decides how to redesign its elevated portions, Mirowsky said.

The New York State Department of Transportation in April chose a community grid option to replace the elevated portion of the I-81 viaduct in Syracuse, which reached the end of its usable life in 2017. The grid would level the viaduct and reroute traffic along city streets.

The study will be one of the first studies of air pollution around an elevated system, Mirowsky said. The project’s results can be used to assess the impact of lowering the highway, and can inform residents about what they’re being exposed to, she said.

“One of our focuses right now is, before any sort of construction starts, is that we have really good baseline measurements that we can use to compare farther down the line,” Mirowsky said.

SUNY-ESF professor Tao Wendong will research how to treat wastewater contaminants that cannot be easily removed by traditional methods, he said.

His group will study how to turn shrub willow and other waste products into Biochar, a substance that attracts contaminants, he said. The long-term goal of the project is to apply the new technology to other wastewater products and attach Biochar onto water filters, he said.

Wendong said New York state has new standards for the amount of emergency contaminants allowed in drinking water. They want to develop a technology to filter out these contaminants that would cause health risks such as cancer if not removed, he said.

Saving energy through smart building controls is the focus of engineering professor Bing Dong’s research. He will research technology such as sensors that change the room temperature and ventilation system based on the number of people in the room.

“People spend about 90% of their time in buildings, their homes, their classrooms and their offices,” Dong said. “Energy building is a very large goal.”

SU architecture professor Daekwon Park will research the development of a hybrid material that consists of agricultural waste and mycelium, a substance in a mushroom, which creates a biodegradable foam that can be used for building insulation, textiles and batteries, he said.

Artificial building materials require a lot of energy to produce and do not degrade, he said.

“You put it on the land and it stays for hundreds of years,” Park said. “And there’s so much waste if you think about how much artificial material is used in insulation in buildings, packaging materials, almost everything.”

Another project will analyze approaches to retrofitting existing buildings, said Nina Sharifi, faculty fellow and assistant professor at SU’s School of Architecture. The pilot project will install solar panels on Winding Ridge Way townhouses, she said.

“We need to be having these kinds of research, activities and conversations — people working with battery technology, energy infrastructure and transportation infrastructure,” Sharifi said. “They’re all interconnected.”