BeTop Lab
BeTOP is a Canadian based building material research laboratory powered by the Science Discovery Zone at Ryerson University. In BeTOP Lab we perform testing and development on innovative building materials with focus on enhancing the energy efficiency of buildings.
Behind the Scenes
Mission
The focus at BETOP is to re-imagine the role of materials in the building envelope as factors of change in building performance, indoor environmental quality and energy efficiency. To achieve this main goal, BETOP provides testing services in addition to research and development on conventional and innovative building materials.
Vision
Our prospect at BeTOP is to facilitate a platform to represent innovative alternative building materials that can change the trajectory of building envelope design and lead to more energy efficient and sustainable construction. Our objective is to build collaborations between academic and industry partners through our testing and development services. We provide testing services at affordable costs at different scales to create a profile for any specific material in a particular context. Eventually our long term goal is to evaluate the potential for market integration of the developed materials from our research.
The Faces of Our Organization
Meet the Team
Umberto Berardi
Research Director & Scientific Advisor
Dr. Berardi is a Professor at Ryerson University, in Toronto (Ontario, Canada). His main research interests are related to the study of new innovative materials for energy saving applications. He directs the BeTop Ryerson lab for new building systems and technology development and testing.
Andres Gallardo
Testing & Operation Managing Director
Andres Gallardo is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Environmental Applied Science and Management program at Ryerson University, in Toronto - Canada. His main research interests are related to the study of building systems that incorporate new bio-based construction materials for improving its thermal and energy performance. His focus is on studying bio-based phase change materials (PCM) and natural insulating products, to be used mainly in building energy retrofits for improving energy efficiency without compromising occupant thermal comfort.
Shahrzad Soudian
Material Research & Development Director
Shahrzad is a PhD Candidate in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering program at Ryerson University. She is a MASc graduate in Building Science and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Architectural Engineering. Her research focus is on advanced building materials as energy efficient building solutions. She is particularly interested in working on thermal energy storage in buildings using phase change materials (PCMs). Her current research focus is on dynamic building envelopes that incorporate PCMs, super insulations and other passive strategies for design of an adaptive envelope for energy saving and thermal comfort purposes in buildings.