Hoque receives NSF CAREER grant to study urban development impacts

Hoque receives NSF CAREER grant to study urban development impacts

Cities today contribute almost two-thirds of the world’s primary energy demand. By 2030, this fraction is projected to increase to three-quarters, matching the urban sector’s expected share of global energy-related CO2 emissions. The current urban outlook demands a comprehensive understanding of urban sustainability policies to address climate change and energy security. Dr. Simi Hoque, assistant professor in Building and Construction Technology, has been awarded an NSF CAREER grant, valued at over $550.000 to develop an Integrated Urban Metabolism Analytical Tool (IUMAT) to measure, evaluate, and predict the impacts of energy and water use, land use, and transportation systems at an urban scale. This interdisciplinary project will involve a collaborative research coalition comprised of Amherst Town Conservation Department, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland, and faculty from Civil Engineering and Urban Planning at UMass-Amherst. Broadly, IUMAT will be applied to evaluate city sustainability planning scenarios and support outreach STEM activities among middle...
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Hoque Co-PI in $1M NSF grant to study intelligent building systems

Hoque Co-PI in $1M NSF grant to study intelligent building systems

Together with Co-PIs Prashant Shenoy in Computer Science and David Irwin in Electrical and Computer Engineering, BCT faculty member Simi Hoque has received a three-year, $1M grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to work with Holyoke Gas & Electric Co. (HG&E) to develop smart energy services that will improve grid efficiency, encourage energy conservation and promote local renewable energy sources such as rooftop solar. This grant was awarded through Utility Driven Smart Energy Services and will be used to design more intelligent technologies and systems for buildings. Hoque and her students will be studying building occupants' behavior to understand how they interact with energy-using equipment in their homes in order to design systems and incentives that motivate energy awareness and energy conserving behavior. Link: http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/umass-amherst-researchers-receive-1...
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BCT students involved in energy assessment of local food co-op

Together with BCT faculty member Ben Weil, several energy auditing BCT students participated in the project mentioned below. They conducted a thermographic scan and pressure test of the building and will be calibrating an energy model to allow the co-op to size a heating system that will primarily use waste heat from the refrigerators and the freezers. QUABBIN HARVEST ZERO NET ENERGY BUILDING GRANT February 25, 2015 The Massachusetts Pathways to Zero grant program of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources has approved the application from the North Quabbin Community Food Coop for funding a Zero Net Energy Design.  Quabbin Harvest, a community based grocery store is, by nature, an energy intensive operation.  A zero net energy building is very energy efficient produces what little energy it does consume through on-site renewable energy (over the course of a year). The task is to find ways to operate both the building and the store without any extra energy that would normally be required from traditional sources. "Massachusetts is supporting...
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Weil and Clouston Participate in NSF Grant to Fund Sustainable Agriculture, Clean Energy Partnership with HCC, Hampshire

The National Science Foundation has awarded an $810,000 grant to Holyoke Community College, in partnership with UMass Amherst and Hampshire College, to create collaborative programs combining clean energy studies with sustainable agriculture and share new resources that will benefit students at all three schools. The grant supports a series of joint courses, the first of which will begin in the summer of 2015. Professors Peggi Clouston and Ben Weil of the Environental Conservation Department are working with John Gerber, professor of sustainable food and farming in the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, to create course content relating to agricultural structures, energy efficiency, and on-farm renewable energy. The grant will also fund new clean energy and agriculture equipment that will be used by students and researchers from all three schools, including a micro-farm greenhouse demonstration and training facility at the Agricultural Learning Center on North Pleasant Street. The micro-farm greenhouse demonstration and training facility will be managed by Amanda Brown and the UMass student...
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BCT’s Damery Instrumental in Bringing $6M in Funding to UMass Amherst to Form New Energy Extension Initiative

As announced at yesterday's day-long workshop “Helping Communities with Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency”, BCT's faculty member David Damery was instrumental in bringing this important energy extension initiative to UMass. From the press release: AMHERST – Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rick Sullivan today announced a four-year, $6 million grant to form a new UMass Amherst Energy Extension Initiative. It will serve as a resource on renewable and clean energy options for cities and towns, industry, hospitals, colleges and universities, nonprofits and other organizations across the Commonwealth. “This investment shows the Patrick administration is committed to keeping Massachusetts a national clean energy leader,” said Secretary Sullivan. “The initiative will help municipalities as well as organizations across the Commonwealth cut their energy use, create jobs and protect the environment.” He made the announcement during a day-long workshop, “Helping Communities with Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency,” today on the UMass Amherst campus for city and town energy managers, mayors, other officials, businesses and planners. The...
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