PhD student at Aalto University School of Engineering, Finland
Eerika Janhunen is a visiting research scholar at the Center for the Built Environment at UC Berkeley. Eerika holds a BSc and MSc degrees in Mechanical Engineering and is in the final stages of obtaining her PhD in Real Estate Business at her home university, Aalto University School of Engineering, Finland.
Eerika’s research interest includes smart building evaluation frameworks with special expertise in a European Union-based Smart Readiness Indicator (SRI). The main aim of the indicator is to engage buildings as active energy market participants while increasing energy-efficient operation and occupant wellbeing. The framework evaluates building smartness in nine main domains: heating, domestic hot water, cooling, mechanical ventilation, lighting, dynamic building envelope, electricity, electric vehicle charging, and monitoring and control.
In her dissertation research, Eerika introduced and applied the SRI framework to validate smartness on technology, building, and city levels in Finland and evaluated the economic feasibility of smartness for real estate owners. At UC Berkeley, Eerika is interested in testing and validating the applicability of the SRI framework in California.