Energy & CivilizationStudent Project Showcase: Fall 2022

Group Members

Catherine Chu, Gabriel Gonzalez, Harsha Gundala

Problem Identification Video

Project Report

Executive Summary

By 2050, around two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities, whether that be condensed or spread out. With urbanization continuing to grow and dominate common living, we must be mindful of our planning of city infrastructure as well as the appliances that come along with this type of living. People are expecting a higher quality of life within the residential households and in terms of living a city life. Residents that reside in urban areas are also known to struggle with their mental health a lot more, as with urbanization, there is a deemed stereotype of a fast-paced life.

Our problem statement poses this: Inefficiency in the electricity usage of the residential sector causes an overconsumption of energy, which contributes to climate change and other environmental problems. With the transition to machine learning, it is imperative that smart cities, especially households, are working efficiently for users and for the end product to be as sustainable and ethical as possible. According to the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, the residential sector accounts for about 21% of total U.S. energy consumption in 2020. Water heating, lighting, and refrigeration are used world-wide, especially in the U.S., and used yearly for home energy uses. This is because a lot of these appliances are being left on overnight, known as “vampire electronics”, which slowly utilizes electricity throughout the night and pulls a strain on residents’ electricity bill. In 2019, the average household energy consumption released 17,320 lbs. of CO2 emissions; this is emitting 70% more CO2 emissions in comparison to the average passenger vehicle. This is a huge issue that must be addressed for the future and in the rest of this analysis, we will be going in depth on what individuals can do to reduce their consumption of energy in their households.

Final Paper: The Inefficiencies in Energy Delivery and Consumption