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Brookfield Renewable Innovation Challenge — Best Demo

award Best Demo — 1st Place organizer Brookfield Renewable · IDEAs Clinic focus Demand-Controlled Ventilation (DCV) prototype IoT Digital Twin & Physical Model

An integrated HVAC optimization and digital twin platform ("MC Eco-Monitor") engineered for campus facilities to eliminate unnecessary fresh-air conditioning in unoccupied rooms. Combining schedule-integrated demand-controlled ventilation (DCV), multi-sensor environmental telemetry, and server waste-heat recovery, the project was awarded Best Demo — 1st Place at the IDEAs Clinic S26 Brookfield Renewable Innovation Challenge.

MC Eco-Monitor Digital Twin & Demand-Controlled Ventilation Dashboard

MC Eco-Monitor Platform. Interactive 3D building digital twin and demand-controlled ventilation dashboard developed for the challenge.

Awarded Best Demo — 1st Place across university engineering teams for the most complete physical and software prototype.
Developed the full-stack "MC Eco-Monitor" dashboard modeling 3D thermal zones, air dampers, and live CO2/temperature curves.
Integrated a physical Lego smart-building twin instrumented with microcontroller sensors to demonstrate real-time demand setback.
Official challenge repository: IdeasClinicUWaterloo/S26_Brookfield_Renewable_Innovation_Challenge.

01Live Presentation & Hardware Twin

Constructed a modular scale model of the Mathematics & Computer (MC) building integrating physical Arduino telemetry nodes.
Demonstrated live airflow modulation where rooms automatically setback conditioning when room calendar schedules indicate zero occupancy.
Presented full hardware-in-the-loop telemetry to Brookfield Renewable industry judges and Waterloo Engineering faculty.

Live Judging · Project Demo

Huamin Lu presenting the live demo to judges

Competition Team · DC Building Model

Engineering team with the physical smart building model

Competition Presentation — Demonstrating the live IoT telemetry dashboard and physical Lego building twin to industry evaluators.

Hardware Twin · Breadboard Sensor Circuit

Lego building scale model with breadboard telemetry circuit

Instrumented Scale Model — Multi-floor Lego architectural model wired to breadboard microcontrollers for localized temperature and air quality monitoring.

02Digital Twin & Energy Analytics Dashboard

Built interactive 3D floor plan projections tracking per-room temperature, CO2 concentrations, and active occupancy states.
Visualized 24-hour demand curves showing automated energy recovery and intelligent VAV damper throttling during peak usage.
Tracked server room heat harvesting metrics, redirecting thermal exhaust into lower-level building heating circuits.

3D Thermal Zones · Floor Plan

Main Dashboard · 24h Curves

Real-Time Facility Monitoring — Multi-layer 3D thermal zone inspection alongside continuous 24-hour temperature and carbon dioxide telemetry.

Energy Analytics · Heat Recycling

Digital Twin · HVAC Infrastructure

Infrastructure & Energy Optimization — Server room heat recycling tracking and schematic digital twin of cold supply and hot return air ducts.

03Interactive Live Dashboard Demo

Live Prototype. Explore the fully functional "MC Eco-Monitor" dashboard below. Switch between tabs to inspect 3D thermal zones, HVAC controls, and energy analytics.

Embedded Web Demo — Fully interactive simulation of the facility energy dashboard engineered for the competition submission.

04Award & Official Recognition

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