Health Impacts Associated to Building Energy Consumption and Potential Response Strategies

Authors

  • Hamed Yassaghi Drexel University
  • Alison Kenner Drexel University
  • Patrick Gurian Drexel University
  • Simi Hoque Drexel University

Keywords:

Climate change, emissions, health impacts, building consumption, responses

Abstract

Climate change impacts our health directly and indirectly and is essential to develop response measures which would enhance a sustainable design and provide health co-benefits. Buildings are major consumers of fossil fuels and their direct contribution to global warming is well understood. In 2017, approximately 40% of the total energy consumption in the U.S. was consumed by the residential and commercial sector. Excessive energy consumption from inefficient buildings, in addition to the changing climate and extreme temperatures may exacerbate health impacts to occupants exposed to pollutants emitted by buildings. Therefore, applying efficient mitigating responses in buildings are necessary. In this research, external environmental and health impacts due to energy consumed in an office building in Philadelphia for winter seasons is investigated and the impact of implementing mitigating measures is assessed. EnergyPlus simulation tool will be used for modeling the U.S. Department of Energy reference office building. Hidden health costs will be measured with an impact pathway approach and will be quantified using the EcoSenseLE tool. Reducing lighting density, improving the fenestration, and modernizing the equipment are three mitigating factors which will be used. The effectiveness of the response factors will be determined for 60 years of exposure. Results of this study show improvement in fenestration to be the most cost-efficient response factor in terms of health impact.

Author Biographies

  • Hamed Yassaghi, Drexel University

    Institutions of Undergraduate and Graduate Study:
    B.S in Mechanical Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    M.S. in Energy Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Research Interests:  Building energy modeling: Climate change adaptation/mitigation; Building sustainability and resiliency: climate uncertainty; Risk assessment

  • Alison Kenner, Drexel University

    Alison Kenner is an associate professor in the Department of Politics, with a joint appointment in the Center for Science, Technology and Society. Professor Kenner's research is concerned with human-environment relations in late industrialism, particularly how people inhabit their homes, think about and experience environments, and work to create change in the world. Working in the traditions of experimental and collaborative ethnography, Kenner’s research tacks between political economy, everyday life, and the infrastructures that underpin both. Her first book, Breathtaking: Asthma Care in a Time of Climate Change (University of Minnesota Press, 2018), documents how care is materialized at different scales — from medication use to mobile phone apps and environmental policy – to address the U.S. asthma epidemic.

    Kenner’s latest research, The Energy Rights Project, investigates energy vulnerability in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region, and looks at how organizations and government policies enable affordable access to water, electricity, and heating fuel. This project is funded by a National Science Foundation standard grant through the Science and Technology Studies Program.

    Kenner’s teaching focuses on the politics of science, technology, and energy in society, and she offers courses on climate change, feminist political theory, and the politics of environmental health. Her courses are organized using feminist pedagogy, peer collaboration, and project-based learning.

    Previously, Professor Kenner co-organized Climate Ready Philly with a team of nonprofit educators in Philadelphia. Between 2014-2020 she led the Philadelphia Health and Environment Ethnography Lab, which facilitated collaborative projects between Drexel students, governmental and nongovernmental partners, and community organizations.

    Much of her academic work invests in the development of digital infrastructure for equitable scholarship and publishing. She is currently associate editor of Engaging Science, Technology, and Society, an open access journal of the Society for Social Studies of Science, and she has been involved in the development of the Platform for Collaborative and Experimental Ethnography since 2013.

     
  • Patrick Gurian, Drexel University
    DEGREES / EDUCATION
    • PhD, Engineering & Public Policy and Civil & Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 2001
    • AB, Chemistry, Harvard University, 1989
    RESEARCH INTERESTS Risk analysis of environmental and infrastructure systems, water quality, environmental standard setting, Bayesian statistical modeling, climate change adaptation in urban areas, community outreach and environmental health
  • Simi Hoque, Drexel University
    BIOGRAPHY

    High performance design, construction, and operation of the built environment is critical to managing climate change and air pollution effects. My work focuses on modeling and analysis of buildings and urban infrastructure using a systems-based computational platform.

    DEGREES / EDUCATION
    • PhD, Design Methods & Theories, University of California Berkeley, 2006
    • M.Arch., First Professional Design degree, University of California Berkeley, 2003
    • MS, Computational Analysis, Carnegie Mellon University, 1997
    • BA, Civil Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 1996

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Published

2020-05-25

Issue

Vol. 4 (2020): Buildings, Cities, and Performance II

Section

Articles