Faculty Profile
Paul Crovella

Associate Professor

Department of Sustainable Resources Management
219 Baker Lab

plcrovella@esf.edu
315-470-6839

• Personal Website
• Resume
• LinkedIn
• Researchgate
• Google Scholar

• Mass timber research group

Education

• Ph.D. Environmental and Resource Engineering, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 2016.
• M. Eng., Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Cornell University, 1990
• B. Sc., Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Cornell University, 1989

Research Interests

The primary focus of my research is on sustainable and healthy buildings.

Sustainable Construction research includes:

Mass Timber construction - Focuses on the use of wood construction as a solution to the challenges of climate change.  This includes studies on material properties of mass timber products, efficiency in the construction processes, and efficient structural systems.

Building Information Modelling - Focuses on the use of semantic-rich databases to improve the efficiency of new construction and retrofitting of existing buildings to reduce the impact on the environment.

Adaptive Reuse - Historical preservation  - Focuses on the development of tools for non-destructive testing of existing timber structures to ensure their efficient reuse.

Healthy Building research includes: 

Evidence-based design - Focuses on the impact of sustainable building features on the attitude and performance of the occupants

Deconstruction - Focuses on the impacts of building materials on the environment and surroundings.

More information about graduate studies (MPS, MS, and PhD) can be found at https://www.esf.edu/srm/graduate/scm/

Teaching

• CME 304- Environmental Performance Measures for Buildings
• CME 305 - Sustainable Energy Systems for Buildings
• CME 306 - Engineering Materials for Sustainable Construction
• CME 332 - Mechanical and Electrical Equipment
• CME 342 – Light Construction
• CME 404 - Applied Structures
• CME 405 - Building Information Modeling for Construction Managers
• ERE 596 - Seminar in Deconstruction

Selected Publications

Paul Crovella, William Smith, Jacek Bartczak, Experimental verification of shear analogy approach to predict bending stiffness for softwood and hardwood cross-laminated timber panels, Construction and Building Materials, Volume 229, 2019, 116895, ISSN 0950-0618, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.116895 .

Tinner, M., P. Crovella, & P. Rosenbaum (2018) Perceived Importance of Wellness Features at a Cancer Center: Patient and Staff Perspectives.  Health Environments Research & Design Journal, Vol 11, Issue 3, pp. 80 – 93.   https://doi.org/10.1177/1937586718758446

Crovella, P. & Kyanka, G. (2017) A non-destructive method to determine the rotational stiffness of timber frame connections., J Civil Struct Health Monit. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13349-017-0247-2 November 2017, Volume 7, Issue 5, pp 627–635

Crovella, P.L. and G. H. Kyanka 2016, Improving analysis of historic wooden structures through non-destructive testing of connections. Proceedings of the ASCE 2016 Construction Research Congress ,San Juan, Puerto Rico. 8 pp.    

Crovella, P.L. and G.H. Kyanka 2013. Preserving timber structures with nondestructive evaluation of critical joinery. Proceedings of 18th International Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation Symposium. Madison, Wisconsin. 7pp.    

Crovella, P. L. and G. H. Kyanka. 2011. Use of vibration techniques to determine the rotational stiffness of timber joints. Proceedings of the Structural Health Assessment for Timber Structures Conference. Lisbon, Portugal. 12pp.

Crovella, P.L. 2010. A Comparison of Techniques to Measure Commercial Building Infiltration Rates. IAQVEC 2010. Syracuse, NY. 8 pp.

Crovella, P L. and K.G. Gebremedhin. 1990. Analyses of light frame wood truss tension joint stiffness. Forest Products Journal, April 1990, 41-47.

Gebremedhin, K. G. and P. L. Crovella. 1990. Load distribution in metal plate connectors of tension joints in wood trusses. Transactions of the ASAE 34(1):281-7.

Crovella, P. L. and K. G. Gebremedhin. 1988. Improving wood truss design by optimizing metal plate connectors. ASAE Paper no. 88-45117. St. Joseph, MI. 19pp.

Gebremedhin, K. G. and P.L. Crovella. 1990. Analysis of light frame wood truss joints using an elastic foundation model. Proceedings of the International Timber Engineering Conference. Tokyo, Japan. 709-15.