Research

Social Behavioral Analysis for Demand Response, Renewable Technology and Energy Efficiency

Fact Sheet, pdf

Overview and Goals

CURENT’s social behavioral research applies social-psychology theories and approaches to facilitate engineering research on improving power grid stability, renewable energy penetration and energy efficiency. Goals include:

• Fostering interdisciplinary research from the areas of power systems, renewable energy, demand response (DR), occupant behaviors and social psychology.
• Integrating social-psychological factors and decision-making processes into engineering modeling to better understand demand response, customer segmentation, and acceptance of renewable energy and smart home management systems.
• Analyzing occupant behaviors in commercial buildings to improve energy efficiency based on group and organizational theories and occupant modeling.
• Providing fundamental knowledge to industry and policy makers.

Impact

• Help policy makers, industry, and researchers understand the social and human factors involved in load control and technology adoption.
• Develop updated demand response and energy efficiency solutions for industry.
• Identify new research topics in the areas of energy and social science. Build communications within and beyond CURENT, and provide engineering students with a broader viewpoint.

Network and Collaborations

• NSF RCN-SEES: Predictive Modeling Network for Sustainable Human-Building Ecosystems (SHBE)
• International Energy Agency (IEA), Enerygy in Buildings and Communities (EBC), EBC Annex 66: Definition and Simulation of Occupant Behavior in Buildings.
• Advanced Collaborative Research Organization for Smart Society (ACROSS), Waseda University, Japan. (ACROSS)

Major Projects in Process

1. Acceptance of Smart Meter Technology
2. Demand Response Incentives and Customer Segmentation
3. Occupant Behavior and Energy Use in Commercial Buildings

More information on these projects can be found on the fact sheet at the top of the page.