Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Agenda, Shubha Tewari

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Abstracts for six Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars.

Software-Defined Infrastructure For Iot-Based Energy Systems, Stephen Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are becoming an essential part of our everyday lives. These physical devices are connected to the internet and can measure or control the environment around us. Further, IoT devices are increasingly being used to monitor buildings, farms, health, and transportation. As these connected devices become more pervasive, these devices will generate vast amounts of data that can be used to gain insights and build intelligence into the system. At the same time, large-scale deployment of these devices will raise new challenges in efficiently managing and controlling them. In this thesis, I argue that the IoT …

Clean Energy And Climate Policy In Massachusetts, Dwayne Breger

Sustainability Education Resources

Over the past 20 years, Massachusetts has evolved as a leader in clean energy policy, which has led to market development, job and economic growth, and reductions in greenhouse gas and other emissions. This course will provide direct insights into the brief history of these policy developments, including policy objectives, legislative and regulatory roles, tradeoffs of costs and benefits, the use of analytical methods to establish program design, and stakeholder perspectives and engagement. The course will explore the market and economic development and challenges that have resulted from the policy, and explore the economic tradeoffs and distributional impacts that may …

Analytical Methods For Energy And Climate Policy, Dwayne Breger

Sustainability Education Resources

Course Description

The course will introduce students to analytical methods applicable to the evaluation of energy and climate problems and policy solutions. The methods include ethical analysis, spreadsheet analysis, lifecycle analysis, optimization and systems analysis. While applicable across many fields, the methods will be applied through class and assignments to current issues in clean energy and climate policy.

Learning Objectives

The course will provide students with the understanding and skills to analytically address issues of policy pertaining to clean energy and climate policy. Students will understand the theory and practice associated with conducting economic cost benefit analysis, optimization under constraints …

Architecture Now: A History Of Sustainable Architecture, Meg Vickery

Sustainability Education Resources

As we move further into the 21st century, architects, planners, landscape architects and the general public are increasingly concerned with climate change, environmental degradation, energy and water consumption and the role the built environment plays in contributing to or addressing these issues. Buildings consume almost 40% of the energy used in this country. The way we access buildings, the materials used to construct them, the demands of users within the building all require the earth’s increasingly precious resources. So how did we get here? How did our built environment evolve to require so much energy, water and so many resources? …

Fy 2019 Umass Amherst Electricity Data By Building, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year, UMass Amherst Utilities publishes this spreadsheet which has the monthly and annual building energy consumption of each metered building on campus. Cost data and production vs. purchased electricity data are also provided.

Umass Amherst Energy Consumption, Ghg Emissions, Energy Intensity From 2002-2017, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Data spreadsheet of GHG emissions, fuel consumption, and energy intensity for UMass Amherst between Fiscal Years 2002 to 2017.

Fy 2018 Umass Amherst Electricity Data By Building, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year, UMass Amherst Utilities publishes this spreadsheet which has the monthly and annual building energy consumption of each metered building on campus. Cost data and production vs. purchased electricity data are also provided.

Umass Amherst Energy Consumption, Ghg Emissions, Energy Intensity From 2002-2016, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Data spreadsheet of GHG emissions, fuel consumption, and energy intensity for UMass Amherst between Fiscal Years 2002 to 2016.

Fy 2017 Umass Amherst Water & Steam Data By Building, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year, UMass Amherst Utilities publishes this spreadsheet which has the monthly and annual building water and steam consumption of each metered building on campus.

Fy 2016 Umass Amherst Water & Steam Data By Building, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year, UMass Amherst Utilities publishes this spreadsheet which has the monthly and annual building water and steam consumption of each metered building on campus.

Monitoring Waste To Minimize Waste At The University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Dylan J. Masi, Timothy C. Shea, Jacob M. Downs, Amy W. Chou

Student Showcase

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to sustainability, however, the campus could further reduce its costs and save energy by optimizing the current method of waste removal. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that by the end of the century, Earth’s average temperature will rise by 11 degrees Fahrenheit unless society takes action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to the EPA, about one-third of carbon emissions in the U.S. come from transportation. Campus garbage bins are collected by carbon-emitting trucks daily, and large truckable waste compactors are collected about three times per week. The amount of harmful …

Umass Amherst Energy Consumption, Ghg Emissions, Energy Intensity From 2002-2015, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Data spreadsheet of GHG emissions, fuel consumption, and energy intensity for UMass Amherst between Fiscal Years 2002 to 2015.

Fy 2016 Umass Amherst Electricity Data By Building, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year, UMass Amherst Utilities publishes this spreadsheet which has the monthly and annual building energy consumption of each metered building on campus. Cost data and production vs. purchased electricity data are also provided.

Umass Amherst Comprehensive Campus Energy Master Plan, Rmf Engineering

Sustainability Reports & Plans

The following Comprehensive Campus Energy Plan is intended to provide the University of Massachusetts (UMass), Amherst Campus with a long range vision for efficient and reliable utility generation and delivery as well as effective energy conservation measures. While the plan is based upon a 50-year period, specific recommendations and upgrades are presented to address the short term needs associated with the 10-year capital plan.

Assignment: Climate Action Plan 3.0 (Sustainable Living), Lena Fletcher

Sustainability Education Resources

The UMass Amherst Climate Action Plan 2.0 lays out strategies to meet UMass’s energy goals by 2050, but many projects are still in the planning phase and have not been implemented on campus yet. It’s time for you to design the Climate Action plan 3.0!

As a team, you will create and present one solution from your Climate Action Plan 3.0 to help UMass become carbon neutral ahead of schedule. Your energy solution can be a policy, program, transportation improvement, or energy-saving technology. Research the Climate Action Plan 2.0 thoroughly to make sure your solution has not already been proposed.

Syllabus: Sustainable Living: Solutions For The 21st Century, Lena Fletcher

Sustainability Education Resources

In this innovative interdisciplinary course you will work with your peers to research and understand how sustainability in different contexts presents solutions to many problems facing modern society. You will work in teams to investigate, evaluate, communicate, and reflect on the multifaceted challenges associated with natural resource use, food systems, energy, transportation, waste, the built environment, water quality, and climate change. You will also research case studies, debate controversies, assess political and cultural contexts, investigate technological advances, and identify gaps in scientific knowledge. Using these resources, you and your peers will be tasked with developing your own sustainable solutions for …

Umass Amherst Energy Consumption, Ghg Emissions, Energy Intensity From 2002-2014, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Data spreadsheet of GHG emissions, fuel consumption, and energy intensity for UMass Amherst between Fiscal Years 2002 to 2014.

Fy 2015 Umass Amherst Electricity Data By Building, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year, UMass Amherst Utilities publishes this spreadsheet which has the monthly and annual building energy consumption of each metered building on campus. Cost data and production vs. purchased electricity data are also provided.

Fy 2015 Umass Amherst Water & Steam Data By Building, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year, UMass Amherst Utilities publishes this spreadsheet which has the monthly and annual building water and steam consumption of each metered building on campus.

Calculating The Campus Nitrogen Footprint, Allison Leach, Jennifer Andrews

NECSC Conference 2015

Many universities interested in sustainability have calculated their carbon footprint. The carbon footprint is well-established and understood: it tells us how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are emitted to the atmosphere as a result of university activities. While important, this calculation addresses just one part of a university’s environmental impact. Universities that want to expand their approach to sustainability can now also calculate their nitrogen footprint.

Nitrogen footprints connect entities, such as individuals or universities, with the reactive nitrogen (all species of nitrogen except N2) lost to the environment as a result of their activities. While necessary to …

Your Future In The Anthropocene, Hunter Lovins

NECSC Conference 2015

Hunter Lovins keynote address presentation

Model-Driven Analytics Of Energy Meter Data In Smart Homes, Sean K. Barker

Doctoral Dissertations

The proliferation of smart meter deployments has led to significant interest in analyzing home energy use as part of the emerging 'smart grid'. As buildings account for nearly 40% of society's energy use, data from smart meters provides significant opportunities for both utilities and consumers to optimize energy use, minimize waste, and provide insight into how modern homes and devices use energy. Meter data is often difficult to analyze, however, owing to the aggregation of many disparate and complex loads as well as relatively coarse measurement granularities. At utility scales, analysis is further complicated by the vast quantity of data, …

Fy 2014 Umass Amherst Water & Steam Data By Building, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year, UMass Amherst Utilities publishes this spreadsheet which has the monthly and annual building water and steam consumption of each metered building on campus.

Umass Amherst Energy & Emissions Data Fy2002-2013, Ezra Small

Campus Data

This spreadsheet and associated tables provides the total fuel usage and associated emissions for the UMass Amherst campus including electricity consumption for all UMass Amherst owned properties between FY2002-2013. Tab 2 provides the calculated Energy Use Intensity (EUI). Tabs 3 & 4 provide the raw GHG and kbtu energy data for the campus. Tab 5 provides the emissions factors and weather normalization factors used by the MA DOER to correctly calculate annual emissions.

Why Waste The Wind? A Look Into Small Scale Wind Energy, Mitchell Negus, Jon Swanton, Ben Chilcoat, Mark Settembrino

Student Showcase

The human race’s dependence on fossil fuels for energy generation has started to cause major changes in the environment. Climate change is a universal issue and it is evident that our current energy schematic is not sustainable. At the University of Massachusetts, small-scale wind power has the potential to be a key component in UMass’ energy portfolio as the university shifts from reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy. Strategically placed turbines would produce clean, renewable energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help to decentralize energy dependence on the Central Heating Plant. Small-scale turbines, like the eddyGT, are tested technologies …

Software Techniques To Reduce The Energy Consumption Of Low-Power Devices At The Limits Of Digital Abstractions, Mastooreh Salajegheh

Open Access Dissertations

My thesis explores the effectiveness of software techniques that bend digital abstractions in order to allow embedded systems to do more with less energy. Recent years have witnessed a proliferation of low-power embedded devices with power ranges of few milliwatts to microwatts. The capabilities and size of the embedded systems continue to improve dramatically; however, improvements in battery density and energy harvesting have failed to mimic a Moore's law. Thus, energy remains a formidable bottleneck for low-power embedded systems.

Instead of trying to create hardware with ideal energy proportionality, my dissertation evaluates how to use unconventional and probabilistic computing that …

Umass Amherst Solar Energy Plan, Ezra Small

Sustainability Reports & Plans

The Campus Sustainability Manager has drafted a solar energy plan for the core campus area. The plan looks at multiple types of solar installations such as ground mounted, roof mounted, and parking lot canopies as opportunities for helping the university in increasing it's renewable energy portfolio and meeting state mandates for renewable electricity generation.

Feasibility Study For Siting Anaerobic Digestion Facility At Umass Amherst Campus, Cdm Smith, Massachusetts Department Of Environmental Protection

Sustainability Reports & Plans

Feasibility Study for possible AD facility at UMass Amherst: Includes Assessment of Proposed Site, Potential Organic Materials Quanitities and Characteristics, Conceptual Organics Processing Facilities, Project Pro Forma Financial Analysis and Conclusions.

Fy 2013 Umass Amherst Water & Steam Data By Building, Ezra Small

Campus Data

Each year, UMass Amherst Utilities publishes this spreadsheet which has the monthly and annual building water and steam consumption of each metered building on campus.