Award Abstract # 2048093
CAREER: Impact of a coupled energy-carbon-water system on environmentally sustainable building designs under climate variability and automation - a diagnostic-prognostic approach

NSF Org: CBET
Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems
Recipient: TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date: February 11, 2021
Latest Amendment Date: April 2, 2025
Award Number: 2048093
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Lucy Camacho
lcamacho@nsf.gov
 (703)292-4539
CBET
 Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems
ENG
 Directorate for Engineering
Start Date: March 1, 2021
End Date: February 28, 2026 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $509,816.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $509,816.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2021 = $405,574.00
FY 2025 = $104,242.00
History of Investigator:
  • Manish Kumar Dixit (Principal Investigator)
    mdixit@tamu.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Texas A&M University
400 HARVEY MITCHELL PKY S STE 300
COLLEGE STATION
TX  US  77845-4375
(979)862-6777
Sponsor Congressional District: 10
Primary Place of Performance: Texas A&M University
3137 TAMU
College Station
TX  US  77843-3137
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
10
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): JF6XLNB4CDJ5
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): EnvS-Environmtl Sustainability
Primary Program Source: 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 7218, 1045
Program Element Code(s): 764300
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.041

ABSTRACT

Buildings consume over 40% of the global energy supply in their construction and operation as embodied (EE) and operational energy (OE), causing over 39% of total global carbon emissions and consuming an enormous amount of freshwater. To reduce the environmental burden of buildings in design and construction decisions, this project seeks to understand the interdependencies of EE and OE components, their relationship to water use and carbon emission, and the current and future impacts of the energy-carbon-water (ECW) nexus. Three research objectives will be pursued: (1) quantify EE-OE interdependencies by measuring an EE factor that represents the EE expense of saving one unit of OE; (2) examine energy-focused design decisions from an ECW perspective; and (3) investigate how fast-changing energy mix and use may influence future EE-OE interdependencies. The key educational goal is to enhance science education of environmentally sustainable buildings by embedding energy modeling and innovative Virtual Reality (VR)-based learning activities into existing curricula and research training. The educational objectives are: (1) stimulate a diagnostic-prognostic-based sustainable built environment education at the university level; (2) enhance the science education of environmental sustainability at the high school level; and (3) extend tools and resources to architects, engineers, and home builders for broader societal benefits. The research plan offers knowledge and resources to be used by students, who, in turn, create data models to help accomplish the research goal.

This study combines building information and energy models from engineering with earth science and economic models to close three knowledge gaps. First, the interdependencies of EE and OE components are not fully understood. This research aim to answer: (1) how do different EE and OE components function and influence each other? and (2) which design measures or EE/OE components may be the main driver of environmental change? Second, it is unclear how design decisions based on EE and OE would differ if energy-related carbon emission and water use are considered. This project will explore how the interplay of a complex ECW system may influence design decisions and which system may be the most impactful. Third, the forces of climate change and automation are shifting building energy use towards electricity. How such a shift may influence future ECW interactions is unclear. This study will explore how the forces of climate variability and automation may alter future states of energy use and environmental change and how such changes may affect the complex ECW system in the future. Through a more diagnostic- prognostic modeling of a building?s environmental impacts, this study seeks to close these gaps and create resources to help architects, engineers, and policy makers make scientifically-informed decisions.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Anifowose, Hassan "VR Development Techniques: A Comparative Study for Building Energy Simulation Towards Design Education" Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality , 2022 Citation Details
Dixit, Manish K. and Pradeep Kumar, Pranav "Analyzing the impact of the aspect ratio of a building on concrete use in its structure" Acta Polytechnica CTU Proceedings , v.33 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.14311/APP.2022.33.0133 Citation Details
Dixit, M K and Pradeep Kumar, P "Analyzing Embodied Energy and Embodied Water of Construction Materials for an Environmentally Sustainable Built Environment" IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science , v.1122 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1122/1/012045 Citation Details

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