PhD student in Building Science, Technology and Sustainability
Ruiji Sun is a Ph.D. candidate in Building Science at UC Berkeley. His dissertation focuses on causal inference in the built environment — establishing causal relationships from correlations or associations. Other research interests include thermal comfort, HVAC controls, personalized environmental systems, and building performance simulation. Ruiji’s practical experience includes collaborating with electric vehicle companies on cabin comfort and HVAC controls, and contributing to the development of gbXML and Brick schema for building energy modeling and building automation systems. He received an M.S. degree in Sustainable Design from Carnegie Mellon University. He majored in Mechanical Engineering (HVAC&R) and minored in Architecture at Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, China. He has also served as a board member of IBPSA-USA and the student president of ASHRAE at UC Berkeley.