• Contact Info

Clements, Nick

Sr Professional Research Asst

Positions

Research Areas research areas

Research

research overview

  • Dr. Clements' current research is focused on indoor air quality and indoor environmental quality, including airborne infection control. Dr. Clements has conducted multiple human subject studies understanding human-building interactions, including how natural light, view of the outside, and biophilic design impact cognitive performance, eye strain, and stress. Dr. Clements has researched indoor air quality in hospital and residential building typologies, including a recent large scale (200+ participant) study of the impact of infrastructure construction activities on personal exposure to particulate matter in communities experiencing environmental injustices, which included a novel low-cost filtration intervention designed by Dr. Clements and his research team. Dr. Clements has been involved in multiple airborne infection control studies, including two demonstrations of expanding hospital surge capacity in the event of an airborne pandemic, both pre- and post-COVID. Recently, Dr. Clements has collaborated with an industry partner to develop a method of scaling airborne pathogen risk models using spatial measurements of a synthetic DNA aerosol tracer that simulates coughing or sneezing emissions. This tracer was used in evaluating the pathogen transmission risk in dental suites in a collaboration with the US Air Force. Dr. Clements is currently evaluating the filtration efficiency and energy use of high-performance filtration methods, aiming to optimize energy use while maintaining low air pollution exposure. Dr. Clements manages a research center focused on building energy efficiency and smart technologies, supporting research of novel heat pump designs, facade and window designs, and tools to support retrofitting buildings with modern energy systems. Dr. Clements also manages a HVAC research facility, the Larson Laboratory, evaluating the performance of a range of building systems and developing new research methologies.

keywords

  • particulate matter, aerosols, bioaerosols, dust, aerosol source apportionment, aerosol natural organic matter, filtration, applied statistics for air pollution analysis, hospital airborne infection control, airborne isolation room design, hospital surge capacity, aerosol tracers, indoor air quality, environmental justice

Teaching

courses taught

  • AREN 2120 - Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2024
    Explores fundamental principles of fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Topics include fluid statics, momentum and energy conservations; laminar and turbulent viscous flows; conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer. Emphasizes topics and problems that are important to Architectural Engineers including flow of fluids in pipes and ducts, heat transfer in buildings and building systems.
  • AREN 2121 - Heat Transfer
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2024
    This is an elective course for students who want to obtain an AREN BS degree and have taken Fluid Mechanics course but not heat transfer. This course will fulfill their curriculum requirement and allow them to take the following courses that require heat transfer knowledge. Previously offered as a special topics course.

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