- Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
- J. Mike Walker ’66 Career Development Professor
- Phone: 979-845-4931
- Email: zoneill@tamu.edu
- Office: MEOB 326
- Website: Research Webpage

Educational Background
- Ph.D., Oklahoma State University – 2004
- M.S., Tongji University – 2000
Research Interests
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- Building/HVAC&R energy efficiency
- Intelligent building controls and optimization
- Grid-interactive efficient buildings
- Heat pump technologies
- Uncertainty quantification in building energy systems
- Well-being in the built environment
Industry Experience
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- 5 years of industry research experience – Principal Investigator, Staff Research Engineer/Scientist with United Technologies Research Center (UTRC), East Hartford, CT.
- Two years of industry consulting experience – Energy Analyst with Cimetrics, Boston, MA.
Awards & Honors
- 2021 IBPSA Fellow
- 2021 ASHRAE Fellow
- 2020-2022 Texas A&M J. Mike Walker ’66 Faculty Fellow II
- 2020 Texas A&M Engineering Genesis Award
- 2019 ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award
- 2019 The University of Alabama President’s Faculty Research Award
- 2018 IBPSA-USA Emerging Contributor Award
- 2017 ASHRAE Innovative Research Grant (IRG) Award
- 2016 Educator of the Year, from ASHRAE Birmingham Chapter
- 2015 DOE IAC Junior Faculty Research Award
- 2010 United Technologies Research Center Outstanding Achievement Award
Selected Publications
- Lu, X. , V. Adetola and Z. D. O’Neill. 2021. What Are The Impacts on the HVAC system When It Provides Frequency Regulation? – A Comprehensive Case Study with a Multi-Zone Variable Air Volume (VAV) System. Energy and Buildings. 243(2021): 110995 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.110995
- Pang, Z. , Y. Chen, J. Zhang, Z.D. O’Neill, H. Cheng, and B. Dong. 2020. How Much HVAC Energy Could Be Saved from the Occupant-Centric Smart Home Thermostat: A Nationwide Simulation Study. Applied Energy. (2020): 116251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116251
- O’Neill, Z.D. , Y. Li , H. Cheng, X. Zhou and S. Taylor. 2019. Energy Savings and Ventilation Performance from CO2-based Demand Controlled Ventilation: Simulation Results from ASHRAE RP-1747. (ASHRAE RP-1747). Science and Technology for the Built Environment. 26 (2): 257-281. https://doi.org/10.1080/23744731.2019.1620575
- Zhang, Y. , Z.D. O'Neill, B. Dong and G. Augenbroe. 2015. Comparisons of Inverse Modeling Approaches for Predicting Building Energy Performance. Building and Environment. 86 (2015): 177-190. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2014.12.023.
- Eisenhower, B., Z.D. O’Neill, S. Narayanan, V. A. Fonoberov and I. Mezic´. 2012. A Methodology for Meta-model Based Optimization in Building Energy Models. Energy and Buildings. 47:292-302 DOI:10.1016/j.enbuild.2011.12.001.