Manish Dixit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn his study, Dixit will develop innovative, scenario-based models to assess buildings\u2019 current and future environmental sustainability. His findings will inform building design, energy policy, and education in the architecture, engineering and construction sectors.<\/p>\n
Researchers have determined that current modes of energy use are significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn fuel climate change.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuildings consume more than 40 percent of the global energy supply in their daily operating energy,\u201d said Dixit. \u201cBut it doesn\u2019t stop there. They also consume embodied energy \u2014 the energy required for the extraction, processing, manufacture and site delivery of materials for a building\u2019s construction.\u201d<\/p>\n
This level of energy use provides an opportunity to lower buildings\u2019 energy footprints. A first step is analyzing their operating energy and embodied energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem is that operating energy and embodied energy are interdependent,\u201d said Dixit. \u201cReducing one may increase the other. This interdependency must be examined to help make truly environmentally friendly design decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
His models will also include energy-related water use related to building construction and operation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnergy use doesn\u2019t just incur greenhouse gas emissions, it depletes earth\u2019s freshwater too, in an era when global water resources are shrinking,\u201d he said. \u201cThe public would be surprised to know how much freshwater is consumed to generate electricity, whether it\u2019s from a renewable or nonrenewable source.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dixit\u2019s energy-carbon-water models will offer buildings\u2019 environmental assessments for the present time, as well as the multidecade period of a building\u2019s \u201clife.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the global climate is rapidly transforming, and building energy use is shifting increasingly toward electricity due to the forces of automation, digitalization, urbanization, and globalization, it is essential to build scenarios of future building energy use patterns and energy mix,\u201d said Dixit.<\/p>\n
Energy production is also moving gradually more towards renewable energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is another reason why modeling needs to be created in present and future contexts,\u201d said Dixit. \u201cBecause today\u2019s building designs will affect decades of energy use over their service life, it is critical to understand how their future energy use will change to make design decisions that ensure environmental sustainability not just today but in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dixit\u2019s findings will help designers, engineers, homebuilders, educators, and researchers across the globe in their efforts to deliver environmentally sustainable buildings, and will be available to inform education at the university and K-12 levels.<\/p>\n
Contact: Richard Nira, rnira@arch.tamu.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As climate change is fueled in part by buildings\u2019 energy use, CoSci prof Manish Dixit is studying how to reduce it with a National Science Foundation grant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":6640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[87,63],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
CoSci prof's study aims at reducing buildings' energy use - Texas A&M<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n