Optimal Use of Utility Infrastructure for Residential Communities: Lessons Learned from COVID-19

COVID-19大流行不仅对健康，而且对社会和经济部门都是一个紧迫和日益严重的问题。作为对这一流行病的干预反应，关闭各种公共建筑物被认为是必要的。关闭的时间和类型因这些行业的类型和工作行为而异。此外，干预时间的长度受到不确定性的影响，许多专家提出了在多个时间间隔内继续使用当前社交距离策略的干预模式。由于这一流行病，家庭已经转变为混合使用的空间，家庭教育，办公室工作，娱乐活动和社会互动已经成为常态。虽然商业建筑和运输等其他部门的运营能源使用量有所减少，但住宅部门的能源使用量一直在增加，因为居住者大部分时间都在家里。该研究旨在评估COVID-19封锁干预措施对住宅部门能源及碳排放的影响。为了实现这一目标，Wilden Living Lab（WLL）项目的监测能源数据将用于分析居住者每日、每周和每月的能源模式变化。有关封锁年度（2020年）3个月（3月、4月及5月）的数据将与前两个（2018年及2019年）疫情前年度进行比较。该研究将用于评估不同居家情景下的住宅能源、温室气体排放和经济影响。此外，还将研究整合可再生能源资源，作为类似流行病情况下的备用能源，在这种情况下，能源需求超出供应能力或停电。从这项研究中吸取的经验教训将为住宅部门的利益攸关方提供宝贵的信息。研究结果对于改进现有公用事业基础设施应急规划战略以应对可能的流行病或自然灾害具有特别重要的意义。

The COVID-19 pandemic is an urgent and growing concern for not only health but also for social and economic sectors. As an intervention response to this pandemic, closure of various public buildings, has been deemed necessary. The duration and type of closure vary with the type and work-behaviors of these industries. Besides, the length of intervention time is subject to uncertainty, with many experts proposing intervention models where the current social distancing strategies are continued over multiple time intervals. As a result of this pandemic, homes have been transformed into mixed-use spaces where home-schooling, office work, recreational activities, and social interaction have become a norm. While operational energy uses in other sectors such as commercial buildings and transportation has decreased, the energy use in the residential sector has been on the rise as occupants spend the majority of their time at home. The goal of this research is to assess the impacts of COVID-19 lockdown intervention on the residential sector energy and carbon emissions. To achieve this goal, monitored energy data of the Wilden Living Lab (WLL) project will be used to analyze the change in occupants' energy patterns on daily, weekly, and monthly scales. Data related to 3 months (March, April, and May) for lockdown year (2020) will be compared with the previous 2 (2018 and 2019) pre-pandemic years. The research will be used to assess residential energy, GHG emissions, and economic impacts under different stay-at-home scenarios. Besides, the integration of renewable energy resources as a backup source for pandemic-like situations, where energy demand is beyond supply capacity or power outage, will be investigated. The lessons learned from this study will provide valuable information for residential sector stakeholders. The results will be of particular importance in improving existing utility infrastructure emergency planning strategies in light of possible pandemic or natural disaster.