NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) for FY 2013 in New Zealand

Gulbinas Rimas V, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds Rimas Gulbinas of Virginia Tech to conduct a research project in Engineering during the summer of 2013 at Lincoln University in Christchurch, New Zealand. The project title is "Understanding Human Network Effects on Energy Consumption at the Workplace." The host scientist is Dr. Shannon Page. The EAPSI fellowship is enabling Rimas to exchange research methodologies and data analysis techniques with leading building energy efficiency researchers in New Zealand. This project invents novel analysis techniques that integrate methods from systems analysis and modeling, organizational theory, and statistics to understand how organizational and social networks within commercial buildings impact energy (and more broadly, resource) consumption. It introduces an energy feedback software system, designed by the Fellow, to New Zealand researchers and allows the Fellow and host scientists to discuss ideas for future system improvements and applications. Broader impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. Furthermore, the the Fellow will hold workshops at multiple New Zealand universities and present in greater detail the research described in current and planned publications. For the research to have a significant impact on carbon emission reductions, a global network of international experts in energy efficiency is required. The EAPSI collaboration will expand the Fellow's collaborative network in the area of energy efficiency and help move research in this field beyond national borders.