Grant: Alliance Grants
Carleton University
$50,000.00
Pre- and post-COVID-19 household energy data analysis to support utility and property management policy_x000d_ _x000d_ _x000d_
FY 2020-21
Summary
With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, we do not have a complete picture yet of what the impacts are. The energy supply sector has been greatly affected as a result of the virus-induced restrictions that have been rolled out by policymakers from closures to work-from-home orders. Households energy consumption has increased due to both conventional demand (space heating, hot water, cooking and dish washing, etc.) and new demand (related to teleworking). With the upcoming planned re-opening, teleworking will continue, but office life - in some form - will too. This will return the non-residential energy demand, to some extent, to its regular level along with the increased household demand, which will put more pressure on the energy supply capacity. In this regard, there are myriad challenges that grid operators, housing providers, and their customers face, from the supply chain to broader questions about the economic impact, uncertainty in demand projections, and the ability of end customers to pay their bills.
The goal of the project aims to uniquely explore these research problems from two different angles: supply-side (Hydro Ottawa) and demand-side (Ottawa Community Housing). The proposed research represents a unique contribution to the energy sector across Canada and will address several existing challenges. The planned outcomes of this partnership are (i) development of a representative households' energy demand daily profile resulting from COVID-19, (ii) gain insights about the energy-related attitudes, behaviours, and beliefs of knowledge-based workers who are now forced to work from home as a result of COVID-19 policies, and (iii) develop evidence-based guidance/recommendations in terms of electricity pricing policy, approaches to energy efficiency measures, long-term adaptation if telework becomes popular. This project is equally important for utilities and building managers as it is for individual households, regarding the economics and availability of energy supply. Moreover, it has environmental implications because of the potential long-term impacts of energy-related behaviour and habits.
Program
Alliance Grants
Recipient
Location
Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
554549-2020
Name nom
O'Brien, William
Department département
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Organization id
23
Institution établissement
Carleton University
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2020
Competition year année de concours
2020
Award amount
50000
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
600
Area of application group en
Construction, urban and rural planning
Area of application group fr
Construction, urbanisme et aménagement rural
Area of application en
Construction, urban and rural planning
Area of application fr
Construction, urbanisme et aménagement rural
Research subject code
1000
Research subject group en
Civil engineering
Research subject group fr
Génie civil
Research subject en
Civil engineering
Research subject fr
Génie civil
Installment
inst:1 - 1
Partie
1
Nb partie
1
Application title
Pre- and post-COVID-19 household energy data analysis to support utility and property management policy_x000d_
_x000d_
_x000d_
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, we do not have a complete picture yet of what the impacts are. The energy supply sector has been greatly affected as a result of the virus-induced restrictions that have been rolled out by policymakers from closures to work-from-home orders. Households energy consumption has increased due to both conventional demand (space heating, hot water, cooking and dish washing, etc.) and new demand (related to teleworking). With the upcoming planned re-opening, teleworking will continue, but office life - in some form - will too. This will return the non-residential energy demand, to some extent, to its regular level along with the increased household demand, which will put more pressure on the energy supply capacity. In this regard, there are myriad challenges that grid operators, housing providers, and their customers face, from the supply chain to broader questions about the economic impact, uncertainty in demand projections, and the ability of end customers to pay their bills.
The goal of the project aims to uniquely explore these research problems from two different angles: supply-side (Hydro Ottawa) and demand-side (Ottawa Community Housing). The proposed research represents a unique contribution to the energy sector across Canada and will address several existing challenges. The planned outcomes of this partnership are (i) development of a representative households' energy demand daily profile resulting from COVID-19, (ii) gain insights about the energy-related attitudes, behaviours, and beliefs of knowledge-based workers who are now forced to work from home as a result of COVID-19 policies, and (iii) develop evidence-based guidance/recommendations in terms of electricity pricing policy, approaches to energy efficiency measures, long-term adaptation if telework becomes popular. This project is equally important for utilities and building managers as it is for individual households, regarding the economics and availability of energy supply. Moreover, it has environmental implications because of the potential long-term impacts of energy-related behaviour and habits.
