Dalla Lana School of Public Health

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CivMin Distinguished Lecture Series
by Prof. Kristen Cetin
Michigan State University

Climate Change, COVID-19, and Housing:
The impacts of COVID-19 and a changing climate on housing for diverse populations
IN-PERSON LECTURE
FREE TO ATTEND

PLEASE REGISTER IN ADVANCE
A REMINDER WILL BE SENT VIA EMAIL

Monday, September 18, 2023 at 12:30 p.m.
LOCATION TBD – WILL BE SENT VIA EMAIL

Description
Housing is a critical part of our daily lives and a place where we spend much of our time, yet the changing climate, COVID and other factors are impacting how homes are used, how they perform, and how and when they use energy. This seminar will discuss will discuss recent research in this area

Abstract
COVID-19 and its aftermath has impacted how we use our homes, how much we work from home, and therefore how our homes use energy and interact with the increasingly dynamic electric grid. Similarly, our changing climate has had substantial impacts on housing, particularly in areas most prone to the impacts of climate change such as in Alaska. This seminar will provide an overview of efforts to assess the state of housing in an era of increased working from home and climate extremes, particularly across diverse populations. Case studies will focus on impacts of a changing climate on rural Alaskan housing, and impacts of COVID-19 and the years that follow post-COVID on home occupancy, activities, work-from-home time, and energy use for different socioeconomic groups in the U.S. Moving forward there is interest in identifying paths forward to better support guidance/standards for the operation of residential buildings given the concerns raised by the changes in how homes are being used. This seminar will summarize these recent efforts within ASHRAE and the Residential Building Committee.

Bio
Dr. Kristen Cetin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University. She is also the Director of the MSU Industrial Assessment Center. She leads a diverse research group dedicated to advancing smart infrastructures system research and education. Her research group’s work focuses on the investigation of the performance of buildings, building systems, and other infrastructure and the development of solutions to improve the energy performance, efficiency, and energy demand contributions of the built environment.