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CBE Research and the role of Community Engagement

In FY24, CBE researchers have been awarded a number of grants and contracts for projects that include a community engagement component, defined as “collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial creation and exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity,” by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.  In FY24 (July 2023 – June 2024), CBE researchers were awarded 17 grant and contract awards,…

Integrated Design Lab releases their 2023-2024 Annual Report

The Integrated Design Lab has released their 2023-2o24 Annual Report, available here. The Integrated Design Lab is lead by Christopher Meek and Heather Burpee. Christopher Meek is a Professor in the CBE Department of Architecture, and Director of the Integrated Design Lab. Heather Burpee is a Research Professor in the CBE Department of Architecture, and Director of Education and Outreach for the Integrated Design Lab.

Life Cycle Lab receives EPA award for $10M, 5-year collaborative research project

The University of Washington’s Life Cycle Lab, with Lab Director and Professor of Architecture Kate Simonen, has been awarded a $10 million, 5-year collaborative research project from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The project is entitled “Validating and Extending Research and Education for Life Cycle Assessment (VERE-LCA)” and the work will be done in partnership with collaborators from Howard University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and CBE UC Berkley. Read more about the EPA funding and other projects that were awarded…

Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD)

PCAD archives a range of information on the buildings and architects of California, Oregon and Washington. Also included are professionals in other fields who have made an impact on the built environment, such as landscape architects, interior designers, engineers, urban planners, developers, and building contractors. Building records are tied to those of their creators (when known) and include historical and geographical information and images. Bibliographical information, such as magazine and book citations and web sites, has also been linked for creators and their partnerships and structures.

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From Tweets to Energy Trends (TwEn): An exploratory framework for machine learning-based forecasting of urban-scale energy behavior leveraging social media data

Abbasabadi, N., & Ashayeri, M. (2024). From Tweets to Energy Trends (TwEn): An exploratory framework for machine learning-based forecasting of urban-scale energy behavior leveraging social media data. Energy and Buildings, 317, 114440-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114440

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Abstract

TwEn framework links tweet frequency with urban energy use patterns. AI models forecast energy from social media data sourced from X. Framework predicts NYC electricity use with high accuracy. Tweet frequency’s seasonal stability enhances energy research. Real-time social data can aid sustainable urban energy policy. Understanding energy behavior is crucial in addressing climate change, yet the accuracy of energy predictions is often limited by reliance on oversimplified occupancy data. This study develops an exploratory framework, from Tweets to Energy Trends (TwEn), leveraging machine learning and geo-tagged social media data to investigate the social dynamics of urban energy behavior. TwEn explores the relationship between social media interactions, specifically the frequency of tweets using data from the X Platform, and energy use patterns on an hourly basis. Employing various machine learning models, including artificial neural networks (ANN), decision tree (DTREE), random forest (RDF), and gradient boosting machine (GBM), the study evaluates their efficiency in both static and time-series forecasting of energy use trends and investigates the capability of social media data in predicting urban energy patterns. In addition, the study carries out a series of sensitivity analyses to provide an examination of the data and models. Furthermore, comprehensive data acquisition methods are developed and implemented. Tested on New York City using actual hourly electricity consumption data, the framework demonstrates significant predictive power of tweet frequency on urban electricity use. The framework also exhibits significant seasonality in X data, identifying patterns and trends that can inform time series urban building energy models (UBEM). The results offer new insights into the determinants of urban energy behavior and provide crucial perspectives for augmenting UBEMs, ensuring they are closely aligned with the complex social dynamics of contemporary urban environments. By integrating both digital and physical data, this study sheds light on urban energy behavior, supporting the formulation of effective and sustainable energy policies for urban futures.

Keywords

Occupancy; Social Media; Time Series Forecast; Urban Building Energy Modeling (UBEM); Urban Energy Behavior

Products from 2023 Inspire Fund Cohort

A cohort of 4 projects were awarded Inspire Funds in April 2023. The report-outs from these projects are described below with a summary of project work and progress. The 2023 cohort of Inspire Fund awardees met with the 2024 cohort of awardees in May 2024 to share their accomplishments, successes, and challenges, and to foster a connection between these research teams as resources to one another. The 2024 cohort has begun their projects and will share their products in 2025….

AquaponicsOpti

Aquaponics OPTI: sustainable food production

Sustainable food production depends on the recovery of water, energy, and nutrients from waste streams within existing supply chains. Greenhouse hydroponic systems (HYP) and recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) are two intensive food production systems that in combined production as an aquaponics system (AP) can utilize fish wastes as fertilizers, while recycling water and energy to increase both systems’ sustainability and efficiency.

Johnston-Hastings Endowment 2024-2025 Awardees Selected

The 2024-2025 Awardees for the Johnston-Hastings Endowment Publication and Travel awards have been selected. The Johnston-Hastings Endowments are in honor of Emeritus Professor Norman J. Johnston and his wife, L. Jane Hastings, established and endowed travel support and publications support funds to provide money for activities of faculty and students in the College. Publications endowment support is for work that has been accepted for publication rather than the writing thereof. Such support is needed for publication; especially where a University…

EarthLab Awards Innovation Grants to Two Projects with CBE Researchers

EarthLab announced their Innovation Grants for 2024-25 for projects focused on Climate and Social Justice. The awardees were announced in March 2024, and 2 of the 5 selected projects include CBE researchers. Project Title: Catalyzing Just Circular Communities: A Feasibility Study of a Large-Scale Anaerobic Biodigester to Generate Hyper-local, Community-Owned Clean Energy Infrastructure in Seattle’s South Park CBE Team Members: Catherine De Almeida, Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture; Gundula Proksch, Associate Professor, Architecture. Project Title: Healing Amazonian Soils with Science and…

2021 Carbon Leadership Forum Material Baseline Report (version 2)

Carlisle, S., Waldman, B., Lewis, M., and Simonen, K. (2021).  2021 Carbon Leadership Forum Material Baseline Report, (version 2). Carbon Leadership Forum, University of Washington. Seattle, WA. July 2021. University of Washington ResearchWorks Archive.

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Abstract

The building industry has an essential role to play in tackling climate change associated with building construction and materials manufacturing. Our present understanding of the importance of embodied carbon has been enabled by rigorous quantitative modeling that tracks carbon emissions across the full life of materials and products, using life cycle assessment (LCA). In recent years, the building industry has adopted LCA as the globally accepted method for evaluating and communicating environmental impacts, and applied these methods to the study of materials, products, and assemblies. LCA data and results are essential for guiding science-based efforts to decarbonize buildings and infrastructure.

The Carbon Leadership Forum is part of a broad movement working to drive down the embodied carbon of building materials and products by encouraging the disclosure of high-quality embodied carbon data by manufacturers. It is essential that designers, owners, and policymakers have access to verified, third-party reviewed and published data on building materials and products in order to facilitate procurement decisions, set decarbonization targets, and inform design. One tool for achieving this goal has been the collection and use of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) to inform decision-making.

The development of a material baseline originated in support of the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3). The EC3 Baseline was originally published in 2019. This document supersedes the baseline dated May 2020. The EC3 tool and its open-access database of digital EPDs are one source for accessing and evaluating available EPDs and the relative carbon impacts that they report. Such databases support designers, owners, and policymakers in selecting low-carbon products during procurement and design. These databases are dynamic, updated constantly as new products are added and upstream data on key processes, such as carbon intensity of regional electricity grids, are revised.