ISU teams with DSM on climate change work
BUSINESS RECORD STAFF Oct 27, 2016 | 7:52 pm
1 min read time
295 wordsAll Latest News, Education, EnergyIowa State University has assembled a team of experts from diverse fields to work with Des Moines to study ways to conserve energy in an urban environment as climate change proceeds.
The big data research project could change how cities handle climate change, particularly in economically stressed neighborhoods.
The ISU researchers are developing a prototype decision-making tool that integrates data-driven science and human behavior to address environmental and social challenges, said Ulrike Passe, the lead faculty investigator. Passe is an associate professor of architecture and director of the Center for Building Energy Research.
“There’s so much unrelated data available — from census and economic information to policy studies and weather records — but it needs to be merged into a useable model,” she said in a statement. “At the same time, we need to gather new data on how people operate their buildings and how the urban context impacts those buildings.”
And city governments need to have “a data-based tool that helps them decide how to allocate resources for conservation measures like tree planting and storm water management,” Passe added.
“The creation of this decision-making system will provide staff access to an amalgamation of big data, which they presently have no way to effectively evaluate, that is a critical component to the future of successful and resilient cities,” said Scott Sanders, Des Moines city manager.
ISU President Steven Leath’s initiative for interdisciplinary research provided $375,000 in seed funding this fall for the three-year project. Some early work on how east-side residents interact with their homes already has started.
Another part of the project involves a tree inventory in the Capitol East neighborhood to help study how trees affect power bills, storm water runoff and other factors.
Read the full news release.
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