Research

Our research focuses on:

  • transforming the information of engineering systems through process simulation, statistical methods and machine learning for sustainability modeling applications (e.g., life cycle assessment, techno-economic analysis, material flow analysis).
  • building models and tools for analyzing the environmental, economic and social impacts of emerging technologies for bioenergy, biofuels and bioproducts at different scales.
  • investigating the synergies and tradeoffs between bioeconomy, circular economy and climate change mitigation through a systems modeling approach.

Our research aims to:

  • create open-access databases and models for integrated, multi-scope and multi-scale evaluation of emerging technologies and their implementation.
  • transform research outcomes into user-friendly tools and educational materials.
  • engage stakeholders from different groups, including industries, academia and government, to collaborate on sustainable bioeconomy projects.

 

Sponsored projects (ongoing)

Develop a life cycle assessment model (HWP-CASE 2.0) to improve understanding of the environmental performance of forest biomass

Principal Investigator: Qingshi Tu

Grant Program: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry

Period: September 2023 – August 2025

 
Collaborative Life Cycle Assessment for British Columbia Pulp Mills to Understand Their Roles in Sustainable Biomaterials Production

Principal Investigator: Qingshi Tu

Collaborator:

Grant Program: Mitacs Accelerate

Period: February 2024 – January 2026

 
Quantifying synergy and tradeoff between resource efficiency and climate change: Filling the fundamental knowledge gap in systems analysis and uncertainty treatment

Principal Investigator: Qingshi Tu

Grant Program: NSERC Discovery Grant

Period: April 2021 – March 2026

Next-Generation Wood Construction

Principal Investigator: Ying-Hei Chui (University of Alberta)

Project T4-2-B: LCA of material and utility flows from forest to wood buildings in Canada 

Lead Investigator: Qingshi Tu

Grant Program: NSERC Alliance Grant

Period: September 2022 – August 2026

 
Smart Engineered Wood Panels: Combining Highly Efficient Thermal and Acoustic Insulation for Sustainable Exterior Wall and Roof Building Systems

Principal Investigator: Xiaodong (Alice) Wang (University of Laval)

Co-Investigator: Qingshi Tu

Grant Program: NFRF-Research for postpandemic recovery 2022 competition

Period: February 2023 – January 2025

 
Waste? Know More! Igniting behaviours for circularity in the food supply chain

Principal Investigator: Leanne Keddie (Carleton University)

Co-Investigator: Qingshi Tu

Collaborator:

Grant Program: Imagining Canada’s Future Ideas Lab: Canada and the Circular Economy

Period: July 2022 – June 2024

 

Sponsored projects (completed)

Dataset Building for climate change cloud application

Principal Investigator: Qingshi Tu

Collaborator: Compare by Building Embodied Carbon Intensity - EC3 Developer's Blog - C-Change Labs

Grant Program: Mitacs Business Strategy Internship

Period: September 2022 – May 2023

Process simulation and LCA for hydrogen production from biomass gasification

Principal Investigator: Qingshi Tu

Grant Program: National Research Council Canada 

Period: September 2022 – March 2023

 

 

Investigating the climate change mitigation potential of industrial forest products

Principal Investigator: Qingshi Tu

Sponsor: Mercer International Inc.

Period: October 2022 – January 2023

Quantification of climate change impacts of selected construction material supply

Principal Investigator: Qingshi Tu

Collaborator: Compare by Building Embodied Carbon Intensity - EC3 Developer's Blog - C-Change Labs

Grant Program: Mitacs Accelerate PhD Internship

Period: August 2020 – June 2021

Deliverables: