David Yuill

Contact Information:

Scott Campus (Omaha)
PKI 104E
(402) 554-4176
dyuill@unl.edu

Richard L. McNeel Associate Professor
Courtesy appointment in Mechanical and Materials Engineering

Academic Degrees

  • Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University
  • M.A.E., Architectural Engineering, University of Nebraska
  • B.S., Architectural Engineering, University of Nebraska

Certifications

  • P.E.

Recruiting new Ph.D. students

I am always seeking motivated students to join my research group and pursue a Ph.D. We are a busy group with a diverse set of research activities (see our research group page). If you are highly motivated, a good communicator, with a background in mechanical or HVAC engineering and strong technical skills, contact me to see whether you might be a good fit. Include your GRE (and TOEFL if not a native English speaker) scores in your email.

Experience

Service:

Professional Organization Activity

  • Chair, ASHRAE Handbook Committee, 2017-2018
  • Chair, ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals Committee, 2013-2017
  • Member, ASHRAE Handbook Committee, 2007-2018
  • Voting Member, ASHRAE Technical Committees (recurring, 2004-present):

TC 1.2 – Instruments and Measurements 
TC 6.6 – Service Water Heating
TC 7.5 – Smart Building Systems 

  • ANSI/ASHRAE Standards Project Committees:

Vice-chair, Guideline 2 – Engineering Analysis of Experimental Data, 2009-2010
Vice-chair, Standard 207p – Laboratory Method of Test of Fault Detection and Diagnostics Applied to Commercial Air-Cooled Packaged Systems, 2012-present
Member, Standard 41.3 – Standard Methods for Pressure Measurement, 2006-2014

License:
Registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) in Mechanical Engineering

Research Projects:

  • Evaluation of Fault Prevalence in Commercial Buildings
  • A Field Study to Characterize Fault Prevalence in Residential Comfort Systems
  • Fault Detection and Diagnostics for Residential HVAC Systems
  • Heat Pump Grain Storage System Development and Demonstration
  • Investigation of Airside Fouling of Outdoor Heat Exchangers
  • Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD) Methods for Supermarkets
  • Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Currently Utilized Diagnostic Protocols
  • Development of an Evaluation System for Fault Detection and Diagnosis Tools Applied to Vapor Compression Air-Conditioning Systems
  • Test Methods for Evaluating Fault Detection and Diagnostic Systems
  • Diagnostic Protocol Evaluator
  • Development of an Accurate Feed-Forward Temperature Control Tankless Water Heater
  • Multiple Space Effects on Ventilation Efficiency in Standard 62.1 
  • A Validation Study of the Air-Handling System Models in EnergyPlus
  • Western Power Grid Peak Demand Reduction Program
  • Development of a Fan Airflow Station
  • Immune Buildings
  • Improvement of Laboratory Exhaust Fan Systems 
  • Development of a Field Procedure to Measure the Airtightness of Wall Construction Elements in Houses
  • A study of Radon Concentrations in Residential Sewer Connections
  • A Study of Radon Concentrations in Rural Manitoba
  • Investigation of Indoor Air Quality, Air Infiltration Rates and Air Tightness of a 78-House Sample

Areas of Research and Professional Interest

  • High performance sustainable buildings
  • Energy conservation through smart buildings
  • Fault Detection and Diagnostics (FDD) in HVAC systems
  • Performance of FDD
  • HVAC Controls
  • Ventilation and indoor air quality
  • Smart Building Technology
  • Building energy modeling

Research Profiles:

Courses Taught

About David Yuill

David Yuill joined the faculty of the Durham School in 2014. He previously spent several years in industry, doing retro-commissioning, HVAC system design, and research.

Honors and Awards

  • 2022 Richard L. McNeel Associate Professorship
  • 2021 Outstanding Faculty Award, Architectural Engineering Student

    Leadership and Advisory Committee (AESLAC)

  • 2020 Best Paper Award – Science and Technology for the Built Environment
  • 2020 College Faculty Research & Creative Activity Award

  • 2019 ASHRAE Exceptional Service Award
  • 2018 College of Engineering Faculty Service Award
  • 2017 UNO Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award
  • Architectural Engineering 2017 Outstanding Faculty Award 
  • 2016 ASHRAE New Investigator Award
  • ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award
  • Architectural Engineering 2008 Teaching Award
  • Student Paper Competition, 2nd Place – International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference 2012
  • ASHRAE Graduate Fellowship
  • Outstanding Graduating Senior 2001 – University of Nebraska
  • Dean’s List – University of Nebraska
  • Chancellor’s List – University of Nebraska
  • Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society

Selected Publications

Reviewed Articles:

  • Yuill, D.P. 2018. Method for Radon Measurement in Residential Sewer Connections. Proceedings of 5th International High Performance Buildings Conference, Paper 3195, West Lafayette, July 11, 2018.

  • Behfar, A. and D.P. Yuill. 2018. Numerical Simulation of Fault Impacts for Commercial Walk-in Freezers. Proceedings of 17th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference, Paper 2261, West Lafayette, July 10, 2018.

  • Mehrabi, M. and D.P. Yuill. 2018. Evaluation of the Effect of Washing on the Heat Transfer Capacity and Air-Side Flow Resistance of Air Cooled Condensers. Proceedings of 17th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference, Paper 2216, West Lafayette, July 10, 2018. (Finalist for student paper award)

  • Behfar, A. and D.P. Yuill. 2018. Evaluation of Gray Box Thermostatic Expansion Valve Mass Flow Models. International Journal of Refrigeration (accepted).

  • Behfar, A., D.P. Yuill, and Y. Yu. 2018. Supermarket System Characteristics and Operating Faults (RP-1615). Science and Technology for the Built Environment (in press) DOI: 10.1080/23744731.2018.1479614.

  • Mehrabi, M. and D.P. Yuill. 2018. Development of a method for testing air-side fouling effects on outdoor heat exchangers (RP-1705). ASHRAE Conference Paper, Chicago, IL, January 22, 2018.

  • Mehrabi, M. and D.P. Yuill. 2018. Generalized effects of faults on normalized performance variables of air conditioners and heat pumps. International Journal of Refrigeration 85 (2018): 409-430.

  • Behfar, A., D.P. Yuill, and Y. Yu. 2017. Automated fault detection and diagnosis methods applied to supermarket equipment (RP-1615). Science and Technology for the Built Environment 23(8): 1253–1266.

  • Yuill, D.P. and M. Mehrabi. 2017. Simplified models of fault effects on unitary air-conditioning equipment for use in building simulation tools. Proceedings of Building Simulation 2017. August 7-9, San Francisco, CA.

  • Mehrabi, M. and D.P. Yuill. 2017. Generalized effects of refrigerant charge on normalized performance variables of air conditioners and heat pumps. International Journal of Refrigeration 76 (2017): 367-384.

  • Yuill, D.P. and J.E. Braun. 2017. A figure of merit for overall performance and value of AFDD tools. International Journal of Refrigeration, 74 (2017): 649-659.
  • Yuill, D.P. and J.E. Braun. 2016. Effect of the distribution of faults and operating conditions on AFDD performance evaluations. Applied Thermal Engineering, 106 (2016): 1329-1336.
  • Mehrabi, M. and D.P. Yuill. 2016. Normalized effect of condenser fouling and refrigerant charge on performance of vapor compression air conditioning systems. Proceedings of 16th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference, Paper 2465, West Lafayette, July 2016.

  • Yuill, D.P. and J.E. Braun. 2016. A Prediction Method for Overall Economic Value of Fault Detection and Diagnostic Tools for Rooftop and Split Systems. Proceedings of 16th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference, Paper 2364, West Lafayette, July 2016.

  • Yuill, D.P., H. Cheung and J.E. Braun. 2014. Validation of a Fault-Modeling Equipped Vapor Compression System Model Using a Fault Detection and Diagnostics Evaluation Tool. Proceedings of 15th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference, Paper 2606, West Lafayette, July 2014.

  • Yuill, D.P., H. Cheung and J.E. Braun. 2014. Evaluation of Fault Detection and Diagnostics Tools by Simulation Results of Multiple Vapor Compression Systems. Proceedings of 15th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference, Paper 2605, West Lafayette, July 2014.
  • Yuill, D.P. and J.E. Braun.  2013. Evaluating the performance of FDD protocols applied to air-cooled unitary air-conditioning equipment. HVAC&R Research, Vol. 19, Issue 7.
  • Yang, H., H. Li and D.P. Yuill. 2013. A Self-Validation Method for Regression Models of Unitary HVAC Equipment Based on Manufacturers’ Data. HVAC&R Research, Vol. 19, Issue 2. 
  • Yuill, D.P., G.K. Yuill and A.H. Coward. 2012. Experimental validation of the multiple-zone system ventilation efficiency equation of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1 (1276-RP).  HVAC&R Research, Vol. 18, Issue 3.
  • Yuill, D.P. and J.E. Braun. 2012. Evaluating Fault Detection and Diagnostics Protocols Applied to Air-cooled Vapor Compression Air-conditioners. Proceedings of 14th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference, Paper 2470, West Lafayette, July 2012.
  • Yuill, D.P., A.H. Coward and G.P. Henze. 2010. Performance Comparison of Control Methods for Tankless Water Heaters. HVAC&R Research, Vol. 16, Issue 5.
  • Henze, G.P., D.P. Yuill and A.H. Coward. 2009. Development of a Model Predictive Controller for Tankless Water Heaters. HVAC&R Research, Volume 15, Issue 1.  (Top-ten most cited article of 2009-2010).
  • Yuill, D.P, A.H. Coward, and G.K. Yuill. 2008. Measurement and Analysis of Vitiation of Secondary Air in Air Distribution Systems (1276-RP). HVAC&R Research, Volume 14, Issue 3.
  • Wang G., M. Liu, Y. Cui, and D. Yuill. 2004. Retrofit of Constant Speed Fan Laboratory Exhaust Systems Using Multi-stack and Variable Speed Drive Techniques. ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 126, Issue 1.
  • Liu, M., G. Wang, Y. Cui, and D. Yuill. 2003. Optimal System Design and Control of Constant Air Volume Exhaust Systems. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium of HVAC, Beijing, China, October 9-11, 2003.
  • Yuill, D.P, N. Redmann, and M. Liu. 2003. Development of a Fan Airflow Station for Airflow Control in VAV Systems. Proceedings of ASME Solar Energy Conference, ISEC 2003, Kohala Coast, Hawaii, March 15-18, 2003. 

Book Chapters:

  • Yuill, D.P., 2016, Evaluating the Performance of Automated Fault Detection and Diagnosis Tools, in Q. Zhang, S.E. Li, and K. Deng (eds.), Automotive Air Conditioning. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland.
  • Yuill, D.P. and J.E. Braun, 2015, Evaluating performance of FDD for unitary systems, in B. Capehart and M. Brambley (eds.), Automated Diagnostics for Facility Equipment, Systems and Whole Buildings, Fairmont Press, Lilburn, GA.
  • 2013 ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals, contributor to Chapter 16 – Ventilation and Infiltration and to Chapter 36 – Measurement and Instruments. ASHRAE, Atlanta, GA. 
  • 2009 ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals, contributor to Chapter 36 – Measurement and Instruments, ASHRAE, Atlanta, GA.


Software: