SCC-PG: Improving Low Income Households' Access to Energy in Washington, D.C.

处于贫困线或贫困线以下的家庭可以欠下他们收入的很大一部分用于水电费;在华盛顿，在接受援助之前，这一数额为20%或以上。在热浪和寒流期间，一些居民必须放弃健康，营养或教育支出来支付空调和供暖费用。提供利用可再生能源的创新技术，为服务不足的社区提供负担得起、可靠、有弹性和清洁的电力，将有助于减轻他们的负担。这项规划赠款将开发最佳做法，让城市社区居民参与有关其能源未来的决策，同时开发满足其需求的新技术。考虑到采用这一技术的筹资和政策创新，可以使得不到充分服务的社区更好地利用日益增长的信息经济带来的机会。在更广泛的意义上，通过重新思考建筑环境与社会经济系统之间的关系，该项目旨在解决低收入地区现状中的不平等问题。基础研究方面的主要创新是开发新的方法，将有意义的社区参与、创新技术、支持性公共政策和创新商业模式整合起来，以开发和实施负担得起的能源解决方案。该规划赠款旨在开发多学科方法和最佳实践，让服务不足的城市社区居民参与有关其能源未来的决策，同时还开发工程解决方案，特别是传感器驱动的微电网技术，为这些社区提供一个切实可行的选择，以获得负担得起的，可靠的，有弹性的和清洁的电力服务。该项目汇集了来自工程，法律，商业，公共卫生和可持续发展的教师和从业人员，他们将致力于开发必要的新技术，但也有能力确保城市政策促进使用该技术，有资金支持，满足社区需求，并提高对自然灾害的抵御能力。当社区合作伙伴在华盛顿特区时，该项目将确定可复制和可扩展到美国其他社区的实践和技术。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Households at or below the poverty line can owe a significant portion of their income for utility bills; in Washington D.C., this amount is 20% or more before receiving assistance. During heat waves and cold snaps, some residents must forgo expenditures on health, nutrition, or education to pay their air conditioning and heating bills. Delivering innovative technology that utilizes renewable sources to provide affordable, reliable, resilient, and clean power to underserved communities will help reduce the burden on them. This planning grant will develop best practices for engaging residents of urban communities in decisions regarding their energy future while also developing new technologies that address their needs. Taking into account financing and policy innovations to implement the technology can position underserved communities to better take advantage of opportunities in the growing information-based economy. In broader terms, by rethinking the relationship between the built environment and socioeconomic systems, this project seeks to address the inequalities that define the status quo in low-income areas. The main innovation in terms of fundamental research is to develop new methodologies for integrating meaningful community participation, innovative technologies, supportive public policy, and innovative business models to develop and implement affordable energy solutions.This planning grant aims to develop multidisciplinary methodologies and best practices for engaging residents of underserved urban communities in decisions regarding their energy future, while also developing engineering solutions, specifically sensor-driven micro-grid technologies, that offer such communities a practical option for accessing electric service that is affordable, reliable, resilient, and clean. The project brings together faculty and practitioners from engineering, law, business, public health, and sustainability who will work to develop the necessary new technology, but also have the ability to ensure that city policies facilitate using the technology, that there is financing for it, that it meets community needs, and increases resilience to natural hazards. While the community partners are in Washington DC, this project will identify practices and technologies that are replicable and scalable to other communities across the US.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.