Reshma Singh

“Transforming India’s Built Environment” has its inception during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. We examined the opportunity that the lockdown offered, as a window of paused time for modern society to reconcile on the path to wellness and examine the severe parallax in the trajectory we were on. Modern communications and digital adoption provided the vital fabric to keep us together. From this fabric emerged humility, planetary solidarity and opportunity, with our resolve reaffirmed with the fresh… Show more

“Transforming India’s Built Environment” has its inception during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. We examined the opportunity that the lockdown offered, as a window of paused time for modern society to reconcile on the path to wellness and examine the severe parallax in the trajectory we were on. Modern communications and digital adoption provided the vital fabric to keep us together. From this fabric emerged humility, planetary solidarity and opportunity, with our resolve reaffirmed with the fresh air and clear view out of our windows.

Climate change is already a ravaging reality. The dual disruptions of frequent climate events and the killer pandemic have revealed how off-target and vulnerable we stand as modern society. Wellness is undeniably fundamental, emerging as a unifying theme that balances human development with environmental vitality and biodiversity revival. India, as also the rest of the world, is at a tipping point.

This white paper offers breakthrough pathways, that are generically inclusive of diverse stakeholders, and through well intended stakeholder inclusion provide meaningful takeaways for radical transformation towards achieving equitable wellness and planetary resilience by 2050.

We earnestly hope that this Whitepaper aids in furthering multi-stakeholder public-private collaborations and Indo-U.S. partnerships that drive effective action to achieve the collective vision of transforming India’s built environment. To rise to this unprecedented challenge, India needs to elevate environmental and societal wellness to the first rank of every Indian’s priorities and a central organizing principle using five levers: Research and Development, Technology, Human Capital, Policy, Economic Investment and to achieve wellness for all. Show less

As data science comes to buildings, the promise of using machine learning and novel sources of data has received much attention. Advances in machine learning and computer vision algorithms,combined with increased access to unstructured data (e.g., images and text),have created an opportunity for automated extraction of building characteristics –cost-effectively, and at scale. Acquisition of features such as footprint are time consuming and costly to acquire with today’s manual methods, but can… Show more

As data science comes to buildings, the promise of using machine learning and novel sources of data has received much attention. Advances in machine learning and computer vision algorithms,combined with increased access to unstructured data (e.g., images and text),have created an opportunity for automated extraction of building characteristics –cost-effectively, and at scale. Acquisition of features such as footprint are time consuming and costly to acquire with today’s manual methods, but can be streamlined through intelligent software-based solutions applied to satellite images. When combined with aerial RGB and thermal images, full 3D geometries and thermal maps can be constructed to determine additional characteristics such as window to wall ratio, height, number of stories and envelope thermal characteristics.In this paper we present three contributions to accelerate these high potential opportunities: (1)amethodical analysis of how these features can be integrated into today’s simulation and data driven software tools to enhance efficiency measure identification and owner/operator decision making;(2)development and accuracy testing of open source deep neural network methods to extract building footprints from satellite imagery, includingthe curation and application of openly available GIS datasets for training and continued development by others; and(3) an open framework for drone-based image capture and creation of 3D building geometries. This work represents an important bridge between high-level studies that span diverse application areas and those that detail point solutions yet cannot be easily replicated or extended. Show less

ABSTRACT

Community and city leaders are interested in achieving sustainability goals, providing resilient
energy infrastructure, and improving economic competitiveness. Community-level data
acquisition and analysis can provide energy and associated benefits that are not possible at the
single building level. However, there is a lack of organizational structure, common semantic data
models, interoperable systems, and methods to support data-driven decision-making… Show more

ABSTRACT

Community and city leaders are interested in achieving sustainability goals, providing resilient
energy infrastructure, and improving economic competitiveness. Community-level data
acquisition and analysis can provide energy and associated benefits that are not possible at the
single building level. However, there is a lack of organizational structure, common semantic data
models, interoperable systems, and methods to support data-driven decision-making for
community-scale energy supply and demand systems. We explored the need and opportunity for
a Community Energy Operations and Planning System (Community EOPS), a potential data
exchange platform. We conducted “customer discovery” interviews, and reviewed literature,
public tools, and technology platforms to identify key energy data “users” and use cases in
communities. The key users of the Community EOPS could be developers of mixed-use districts,
corporate, defense and university campus energy managers, and city managers of cities that own
their energy utility. The value could be for community planning and reporting (for energy dataintegrated land use planning and community infrastructure investments in microgrids, storage,
district heating and cooling), energy efficiency (leveraging optimizations for community scale
energy supply and demand), flexible load management (grid-edge load management to offset,
shift, and flatten loads for multiple buildings and EV fleets), cost savings and revenue generation
(participating in grid services), and social benefits such as energy resilience, equity, and awareness.We developed a conceptual Community EOPS architecture with recommendations for streamlined and prioritized data acquisition, sharing, and integration driven by prioritized use cases, common metrics, and actionable visualizations that can provide value to a community’s users. Show less

When the temperatures of photovoltaics break a threshold of 25 degrees celsius, they begin to lose efficiency. This work describes the basis of a water cooling mechanism which may be used to cool down roof mounted photovoltaics. After a thorough literature review, it was decided that running water through aluminum pipes attached to the back of a solar panel would be the most effective method. To study the effectiveness of such a system, a prototype was fabricated two panels were brought out to… Show more

When the temperatures of photovoltaics break a threshold of 25 degrees celsius, they begin to lose efficiency. This work describes the basis of a water cooling mechanism which may be used to cool down roof mounted photovoltaics. After a thorough literature review, it was decided that running water through aluminum pipes attached to the back of a solar panel would be the most effective method. To study the effectiveness of such a system, a prototype was fabricated two panels were brought out to the top of a solar deck in an engineering university building and laid out in parallel. One panel had the cooling system attached to its back and the other one had no attachments to serve as a control panel. Experimentation was performed by taking temperature measurements for one hour before activating the hydraulics for 30 minutes. It was found that a significant reduction of temperature occurred on the water-cooled panel. Show less

A significant buildings energy reduction opportunity exists in the office sector, and this market segment typically is an early adopter of new technology. There is a trend towards smart and connected offices through the internet of things (IoT) that provides new opportunities for operational efficiency and environmental sustainability practices. Leading commercial real estate companies are shifting from individual building automation systems (BAS) to partially integrated and automated energy… Show more

A significant buildings energy reduction opportunity exists in the office sector, and this market segment typically is an early adopter of new technology. There is a trend towards smart and connected offices through the internet of things (IoT) that provides new opportunities for operational efficiency and environmental sustainability practices. Leading commercial real estate companies are shifting from individual building automation systems (BAS) to partially integrated and automated energy information systems (EIS). In the U.S. and India, organizations are seeking operational excellence, enhanced tenant relationships, and topline growth. It is imperative to engage executives with decision-making power, by tapping into their interest in sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and innovation. This can enable data-driven decisions, strong energy investments, deeper energy benefits, and drive innovation in this field. However, none of this would be possible without robust, consistent building energy information to provide visibility across all the levels of decision making, i.e. from the basement where the facilities staff take operational action to the boardroom where the executives make investment decisions.
Price, security, and ease of use remain barriers to the adoption and pervasive use of promising EIS technologies in commercial office buildings. We believe that these barriers can be addressed through the development of ready, simplified, consistent, commercially available, low-cost EIS-in-a-box packages, that have a pre-defined set of hardware components and software features and functionality that are pertinent to a particular building sector. These simplified, sector-specific EIS packages can help to obviate the need for customization, and enhance ease of use, thereby enabling scale-up, in order to facilitate building energy savings. The EIS-in-a-box are adaptable in both U.S. and Indian office buildings, and potentially beyond these two countries Show less

This paper explores the role of international partnerships to facilitate low-energy building design, construction, and operations. We present the strategic approach, joint research and development outcomes, and implementation activities of a unique U.S.-India program on buildings energy efficiency, the Center for Building Energy Research and Development. We discuss the collaboration successes in both countries despite their dissimilar building contexts, implementation challenges and… Show more

This paper explores the role of international partnerships to facilitate low-energy building design, construction, and operations. We present the strategic approach, joint research and development outcomes, and implementation activities of a unique U.S.-India program on buildings energy efficiency, the Center for Building Energy Research and Development. We discuss the collaboration successes in both countries despite their dissimilar building contexts, implementation challenges and opportunities. We highlight a range of R&D outcomes, such as novel tools and technologies developed and tested by the joint teams, with their technical energy savings potential, as well as results of capacity building and technology demonstrations. A deep-dive into key new scientific methods around building energy monitoring and benchmarking that could have a significant impact on high-performance of buildings in both countries is also provided. Finally, in addition to joint R&D successes, pathways to deployment, and lessons learned are discussed as key takeaways. Show less

This document reports the findings of the energy use and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions model loosely based on three districts in the Bay Area, District A, District B, and District C.

Modeling platforms exist for city energy benchmarking, inventorying, and GHG emissions forecasting and planning. However, the wide variety and features of today's tools, their focus on a sub-set or snapshot data from various energy generation and consumption sectors, and the fact that many of them are… Show more

This document reports the findings of the energy use and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions model loosely based on three districts in the Bay Area, District A, District B, and District C.

Modeling platforms exist for city energy benchmarking, inventorying, and GHG emissions forecasting and planning. However, the wide variety and features of today's tools, their focus on a sub-set or snapshot data from various energy generation and consumption sectors, and the fact that many of them are not open data models, create sub-optimal environments for the energy analysis districts are seeking to conduct.

Hence, we have developed a new software tool with customized data and dynamic visualization; DEPICT (Decision-support and Emissions Prediction Interactive Cities Tool) to obtain energy and emissions forecasts at different stages of the districts' build-out by varying selected design parameters.

This report presents the methodology and framework we have developed to estimate whole district emissions and details the results by district, with the objective of finding insights into the main sources of emissions, and the available levers to reduce them efficiently. This document details the impact of each emissions mitigation measure investigated, along with the assumption and models that were used to reach these values. The key findings for each district are presented. Show less

Currently over $300B is spent in US cities to pay for energy. Many US cities are taking leading roles in exploring and promoting activities to improve energy efficiency and reduce cost and green house gas (GHG) emissions. This paper summarizes a series of interviews with several leading cities regarding their needs, methods and tools they are using to model energy use and evaluate policies to reduce GHG. We also present a review of several analysis tools evaluated and used to explore urban… Show more

Currently over $300B is spent in US cities to pay for energy. Many US cities are taking leading roles in exploring and promoting activities to improve energy efficiency and reduce cost and green house gas (GHG) emissions. This paper summarizes a series of interviews with several leading cities regarding their needs, methods and tools they are using to model energy use and evaluate policies to reduce GHG. We also present a review of several analysis tools evaluated and used to explore urban scale design scenarios for two new major developments in the San Francisco area. We found that cities face great challenges obtaining and managing energy use data on their building stock, and evaluating the different tools that are available to them. The wide variety and features of today’s tools, and the fact that many of them are not open data models, create sub-optimal environments to conduct the energy analysis many cities are seeking to conduct. There is a need for better data management systems and tools that are more interoperable. Show less

A Guide for High-Performance, Energy-Efficient Buildings in India

Building energy information systems (EIS) are performance monitoring software, data acquisition hardware and communication systems used to store, analyze and display building energy data. Some $60bn are spent annually on wasted energy in the US buildings, and actions taken based on EIS data can enable operational energy savings of approximately 10 per cent in the US commercial sector (approximately two quads of primary energy). However, EIS adoption is low because of various technical and… Show more

Building energy information systems (EIS) are performance monitoring software, data acquisition hardware and communication systems used to store, analyze and display building energy data. Some $60bn are spent annually on wasted energy in the US buildings, and actions taken based on EIS data can enable operational energy savings of approximately 10 per cent in the US commercial sector (approximately two quads of primary energy). However, EIS adoption is low because of various technical and market challenges. This paper aims to provide technical specifications for standardized EIS packages that can help overcome barriers and accelerate scale.A five-step approach was followed: identifying business drivers as key determinants for hotel sector-specific packages; addressing heterogeneity to develop standardized, tiered packages; determining performance metrics for key stakeholders; recommending streamlined data architecture; and developing visualization enabling insights and actions.Technical specifications for two tiers (entry and advanced) of EIS packages for hotels have been developed. EIS vendor, integrator and client organization’s facilities and IT staff have been considered as key stakeholders. Findings from six field demonstrations show benefits of cost-effectiveness, through reduced transactional, first and operational costs, scalability, by accommodating heterogeneity across the building sub-sector, simplicity, by integrating meters, gateways and software in the package and actionability in organizations, across various decision-making levels.Building owners and operators can use these specifications to ease procurement and installation of EIS in their facilities. EIS software vendors can use them to develop new product offerings for underserved sectors. Show less

Building energy information systems (EIS) are commercially available systems that building owners and facility managers use to assess their building operations, measure, visualize, analyze, and report energy cost and consumption. Energy information systems can enable significant energy savings by tracking energy use, identifying consumption patterns, and benchmarking performance against similar buildings, thereby identifying improvement opportunities. The CBERD team has identified potential… Show more

Building energy information systems (EIS) are commercially available systems that building owners and facility managers use to assess their building operations, measure, visualize, analyze, and report energy cost and consumption. Energy information systems can enable significant energy savings by tracking energy use, identifying consumption patterns, and benchmarking performance against similar buildings, thereby identifying improvement opportunities. The CBERD team has identified potential energy savings of approximately 2 quads of primary energy in the United States, while industry building energy audits in India have indicated potential energy savings of up to 30 percent in commercial buildings such as offices. Additionally, the CBERD team has identified healthcare facilities (e.g., hospitals, clinics), hotels, and offices as the three of the highest-growth sectors in India that have significant energy consumption, and that would benefit the most from implementation of EIS. Show less

Market penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) is gaining momentum, as is the move towards increasingly distributed, clean and renewable electricity sources. EV charging shifts a significant portion of transportation energy use onto building electricity meters. Hence, integration strategies for energy-efficiency in buildings and transport sectors are of increasing importance. This paper focuses on a portion of that integration: the analysis of an optimal interaction of EVs with a… Show more

Market penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) is gaining momentum, as is the move towards increasingly distributed, clean and renewable electricity sources. EV charging shifts a significant portion of transportation energy use onto building electricity meters. Hence, integration strategies for energy-efficiency in buildings and transport sectors are of increasing importance. This paper focuses on a portion of that integration: the analysis of an optimal interaction of EVs with a building-serving transformer, and coupling it to a microgrid that includes PV, a fuel cell and a natural gas micro-turbine. The test-case is the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore campus. The system under study is the Laboratory of Clean Energy Research (LaCER) Lab that houses the award winning Microgrid Energy Management System (MG-EMS) project. The paper analyses three different case scenarios to estimate the number of EVs that can be supported by the building transformer serving LaCER. An approximation of the actual load data collected for the building into different time intervals is performed for a transformer loss of life (LOL) calculation. The additional EV loads that can be supported by the transformer with and without the microgrid are analyzed. The numbers of possible EVs that can be charged at any given time under the three scenarios are also determined. The possibility of using EV fleet at NTU campus to achieve demand response capability and intermittent PV output leveling through vehicle to grid (V2G) technology and building energy management systems is also explored. Show less

“Lagos - Harvard Project on the City” (collaborative research project with Rem Koolhaas, Chuihua Judy Chung, Joshua Comaroff, Michael Cosmas, Sonal Gandhi, A. David Hamilton, Lan-ying lp,
Jeannie Kim, Gullivar Shepard, Reshma Singh, Nathaniel Slayton, James Stone, Sameh
Wahba) in Rem Koolhaas, Sanford Kwinter, Stefano Boeri, Nadia Tazi & Hans Ulrich Obrist,
Mutations: Événement Culturel sur la Ville Contemporaine (Bordeaux: Arc en Rêve Centre
d’Architecture): 650-719.