STANDARD GRANT: Indexing Energy Performance in Housing Servicescapes: A Multiscale Study in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region

该项目探讨能源脆弱性作为一个社会和技术问题。当一个家庭无法维持适合健康和福祉的温度水平时，就会出现能源脆弱性。现有的研究表明，诸如可用住房数量、能源市场和政府政策等因素都导致了能源脆弱性，而能源脆弱性对老年人、残疾人、租房者和低收入家庭产生了不利影响。该项目的研究人员将使用人种学观察，深入访谈和焦点小组研究相结合的方法来了解美国三个县的能源脆弱性程度，能源供应商如何解决这个问题，以及能源脆弱性如何与能源性能机制相关。该研究将为制定新的政策和见解提供重要信息，有助于减少未来的能源脆弱性。该项目采用多地点人种学方法，结合参与者观察，深入访谈和焦点小组，以探讨：（1）美国三个不同县的能源脆弱性;（2）能源服务组织用于解决能源脆弱性的社会技术战略;（3）能源服务组织用于解决能源脆弱性的社会技术战略。以及（3）能源绩效机制如何在不同的空间和时间尺度上塑造能源效率。研究将通过能源协调机构（ECA）进行，ECA是一个多州的非营利组织，与州和联邦计划合作，以解决能源脆弱性，并在四个ECA能源中心。将利用对媒体报道和能源协调机构内部报告和文件的定性分析来补充其他形式的数据收集。主要目标是促进对美国能源脆弱性动态的理解，分享这些见解，以找到帮助减少能源脆弱性的方法，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过利用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响进行评估，被认为值得支持审查标准。

This project explores energy vulnerability as a social and technical problem. Energy vulnerability occurs when a household cannot afford to maintain temperature levels suitable for health and wellbeing. Existing research shows that factors such as the amount of available housing, energy markets, and government policies all contribute to energy vulnerability, and that energy vulnerability disproportionally affects the elderly, the disabled, renters, and low-income families. The investigator on this project will use a combination of ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews, and focus group research to understand the extent of energy vulnerability in three US counties, how energy providers work to address it, and how energy vulnerability relates to energy performance mechanisms. This research will provide important information for developing new policies and insights that could help to reduce energy vulnerability in the future.The project uses a multi-site ethnographic approach incorporating participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus groups to explore: (1) energy vulnerability across three different US counties; (2) the sociotechnical strategies used by energy services organizations to address energy vulnerability; and (3) how energy performance mechanisms shape energy efficiency at different spatial and temporal scales. Research will be conducted through the Energy Coordinating Agency (ECA), a multi-state nonprofit organization that works with state and federal programs to address energy vulnerability, and at four ECA energy centers. Qualitative analyses of media reports and internal reports and documents from the Energy Coordinating Agency will be used to supplement other forms of data gathering. The main goals are to advance understanding of the dynamics of energy vulnerability in the US, to share these insights to find ways to help reduce energy vulnerability, and to show how energy performance can be used as an analytic framework for theorizing how humans interact with technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.