Our research groups seeks to understand the impacts of climate change on urban infrastructure. We primarily focus on energy systems, as well as the water-energy nexus. By leveraging data analytics techniques, we strive to push forward scientific knowledge on the subject, while also developing practical tools that can be used create real progress in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Current Work
Household Air Conditioning Use Under Climate Change
This research focuses on projecting household air conditioning use into the future across the United States. Previous work has shown the connection between increased temperatures and air conditioning use. However, less is known about the impact climate change-induced warming will have on households. This work aimed to evaluate that connection on a nationwide scale. Results from this study have been published in Earth’s Future. A press release following the publication can be found here. A follow-up study using smart meter data across three US cities was recently published in Socio-Economic Planning Sciences.
Water-Energy Nexus
Part of our research on urban resilience focuses on understanding the impact of climate change on the water-energy demand nexus. Using a multi-outcome modeling approach grounded in data science, this work aims to project the water and electricity demand into the future under climate change. Results from this work have been published in Applied Energy, Climatic Change, One Earth, and Scientific Data. A press release following the Climatic Change publication can be found here. A press release following the One Earth publication can be found here. Currently, we are working to expand this work to evaluate the impact of specific disasters.
Response to Anthropogenic Drought in the Southwest
In this project, we are leveraging an agent-based modeling approach to simulate responses to anthropogenic droughts and climate change within the Colorado River Basin. The model accounts for local attitudes towards water conservation and regional changes to water supply. The aim is to investigate the relationships that exist between people, water, and climate change, as well as any feedback loops that emerge from the simulation. Results from this study were recently published in the Journal of American Water Resources Association.
Previous Work
Archetypes of Water Conservation Attitudes in the Southwestern United States
This study combines quantitative survey data with state-of-the-art unsupervised learning techniques. In particular, we leveraged self-organized maps and hierarchical clustering to develop seven key archetypes of water conservation attitudes in the cities of Denver (Colorado), Las Vegas (Nevada), and Phoenix (Arizona). The aim of this study is to use these archetypes to better understand the prevalence of different attitudes towards water conservation in the cities, which can ultimately be used to improve any demand management interventions through more community-specific programs. The results from this study have been published in Water Resources Management.