Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1983. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-70). / A prototype for a dwelling heat loss compensator is introduced in this thesis, along with its measured thermal performance and suggestions for its future development. As a heat loss compensator, the Sol-Clad-Siding collects, stores, and releases solar heat at room temperatures thereby maintaining a neutral skin for structures, which conserves energy, rather than attempting to supply heat into the interior as most solar systems do. Inhabitants' conventional objections to passive-solar systems utilized in housing are presented as a contrasting background. The potential of the outer component, a Trans-Lucent-Insulation as a sunlight diffuser and transmitter (65 to 52% of heating season insulation) and as a good insulator [0.62 W/(sq m) (°K) [0.11 Btu/(hr) (sq ft) (°F) 1] are described. The performance of the inner component, a container of phase-change materials as an efficient vertical thermal storage is discussed, and areas for future research are addressed. A very brief application of this passive-solar curtain wall system for dwellings is also given. / by Doru Iliesiu. / M.S.

In this thesis, we study economics and operations of cloud computing, and we propose new matching methods in observational studies that enable us to estimate the effect of green building practices on market rents. In the first part, we study a stylized revenue maximization problem for a provider of cloud computing services, where the service provider (SP) operates an infinite capacity system in a market with heterogeneous customers with respect to their valuation and congestion sensitivity. The SP offers two service options: one with guaranteed service availability, and one where users bid for resource availability and only the "winning" bids at any point in time get access to the service. We show that even though capacity is unlimited, in several settings, depending on the relation between valuation and congestion sensitivity, the revenue maximizing service provider will choose to make the spot service option stochastically unavailable. This form of intentional service degradation is optimal in settings where user valuation per unit time increases sub-linearly with respect to their congestion sensitivity (i.e., their disutility per unit time when the service is unavailable) -- this is a form of "damaged goods." We provide some data evidence based on the analysis of price traces from the biggest cloud service provider, Amazon Web Services. In the second part, we study the competition on price and quality in cloud computing. The public "infrastructure as a service" cloud market possesses unique features that make it difficult to predict long-run economic behavior. On the one hand, major providers buy their hardware from the same manufacturers, operate in similar locations and offer a similar menu of products. On the other hand, the competitors use different proprietary "fabric" to manage virtualization, resource allocation and data transfer. The menus offered by each provider involve a discrete number of choices (virtual machine sizes) and allow providers to locate in different parts of the price-quality space. We document this differentiation empirically by running benchmarking tests. This allows us to calibrate a model of firm technology. Firm technology is an input into our theoretical model of price-quality competition. The monopoly case highlights the importance of competition in blocking "bad equilibrium" where performance is intentionally slowed down or options are unduly limited. In duopoly, price competition is fierce, but prices do not converge to the same level because of price-quality differentiation. The model helps explain market trends, such the healthy operating profit margin recently reported by Amazon Web Services. Our empirically calibrated model helps not only explain price cutting behavior but also how providers can manage a profit despite predictions that the market "should be" totally commoditized. The backbone of cloud computing is datacenters, whose energy consumption is enormous. In the past years, there has been an extensive effort on making the datacenters more energy efficient. Similarly, buildings are in the process going "green" as they have a major impact on the environment through excessive use of resources. In the last part of this thesis, we revisit a previous study about the economics of environmentally sustainable buildings and estimate the effect of green building practices on market rents. For this, we use new matching methods that take advantage of the clustered structure of the buildings data. We propose a general framework for matching in observational studies and specific matching methods within this framework that simultaneously achieve three goals: (i) maximize the information content of a matched sample (and, in some cases, also minimize the variance of a difference-in-means effect estimator); (ii) form the matches using a flexible matching structure (such as a one-to-many/many-to-one structure); and (iii) directly attain covariate balance as specified ---before matching--- by the investigator. To our knowledge, existing matching methods are only able to achieve, at most, two of these goals simultaneously. Also, unlike most matching methods, the proposed methods do not require estimation of the propensity score or other dimensionality reduction techniques, although with the proposed methods these can be used as additional balancing covariates in the context of (iii). Using these matching methods, we find that green buildings have 3.3% higher rental rates per square foot than otherwise similar buildings without green ratings ---a moderately larger effect than the one previously found.

As one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, the electricity sector is anticipated to go through the following transitions in order to meet deep decarbonization targets for a sustainable future: 1) on the supply side, the electric grid is increasing its reliance on renewable generation, such as wind and solar; 2) on the demand side, heating is shifting from direct burning of fuel on site to electric, namely heat pumps. This dissertation evaluates the benefits of selected methods to alleviate pressing challenges associated with the electricity sector transitions on both the supply side and the demand side. First, on the supply side, the benefits of renewable generation forecasting coupled with storage are evaluated for an electric grid with high wind energy penetration and load following generation served by fossil fuels. A time series based forecasting method is found to have high forecasting accuracy and low computational costs. This methodology is applied to a real world situation in Sao Vicente, an island with 30% current wind energy penetration. The simulation results show that coupling forecasting and energy storage would further increase the wind penetration up to 38% without additional installation of wind turbines. Second, on the demand side, the benefits of demand side management using heat pumps enabled by the inherent thermal storage of the building envelope are evaluated during extreme cold events when the electric demand peaks and the wind power is often highly fluctuating. A second order thermal model is developed to thoroughly characterize the thermal inertia and leakage of the building envelope and quantify the amount of flexibility the building envelope is able to provide. This methodology is applied to five historical extreme cold events in New York City and the simulation results show that the requirements for short term ramping due to high wind variability are greatly reduced through the sequential controls of the heat pumps. This dissertation also studies the implications of the electricity sector transitions on the residential sector with regard to costs, energy, missions, and policy. Four representative residential city blocks located in three different climate regions of the United States are analyzed using fine spatial and temporal real historical consumption and weather data. Residential blocks in different climate regions have different weather patterns, demand profiles, and local renewable resources. Future energy scenarios with electric heating at high renewable penetration levels are modeled and compared for the representative residential city blocks. Detailed costs comparisons are evaluated for various technological interventions including 1) air source and ground source heat pumps; 2) battery and thermal storage; and 3) wind and solar generation. This dissertation finds that 1) the optimal wind and solar generation mix varies with location and amount of storage and 2) battery storage is more cost effective than thermal storage, ground source heat pumps, and overbuilt renewable generation. In addition, optimal pathways to deep decarbonization for these representative residential city blocks are proposed and compared. Strategic actions are identified for the homes and suggestions are discussed for policy makers and local utilities. This dissertation through its methodologies and analysis enables home owners and policy makers to make cost assessments in achieving the goals of deep decarbonization.

Thesis. 1976. M.Arch.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Rotch. / Bibliography: leaves 66-67. / by Simon Wiltz. / M.Arch.

In the light of advancing climate change and the anticipated scarcity of affordable fossil fuels, a transition towards more sustainable energy systems is vital to allow for the long-term sustainability of human wellbeing. Energy is a key sustainability issue, at the heart of the complex interactions of socioeconomic and biophysical systems. The overall aim of this study is to contribute to furthering the understanding of these systems interactions. It intends to deliver methodological insights on how to identify and appraise favourable energy futures in a changing and uncertain world. In order to cope with the complexity and uncertainty of future developments and with the plethora of partly contradictory social preferences, a participatory approach was combined with scenario development and the application of an appraisal tool that takes account of the multidimensionality of system interlinkages. In a case study for Austria, favourable renewable energy scenarios were developed in a participatory setting, involving key Austrian energy stakeholders. The scenario development consisted of two stages: first an exploratory stage with stakeholder engagement and second a modelling stage generating forecasting-type scenarios. Accordingly, the scenarios consist of a narrative part, the storyline, and a modelled, quantitative part. The application of Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) allowed the integration of multi-dimensional sustainability information (social, environmental, economic, and technological criteria) and the social preferences of the stakeholders into the appraisal of the energy scenarios. In the case study presented, five renewable energy scenarios for Austria for 2020 were compared against 17 sustainability criteria. The study illustrates how the combined use of participatory scenario building techniques and MCA acknowledges and integrates inherent complexity, irreducible uncertainty, multi-dimensionality, and, a multiplicity of legitimate perspectives in the appraisal. The main empirical result of the sustainability appraisal undertaken shows that, contrary to the current energy policy in Austria, a profoundly decentralised energy system (scenario E) and an innovative long-term investment strategy (scenario C) rank highest, whereas the renewable strategy based on biomass (scenario D), which represents the dominant political trajectory in Austria's renewable energy policy, ranks very low. The research demonstrates the integration of biophysical, social, economic, and, technological appraisal criteria, presents and discusses best practice criteria, and, illustrates the challenges and opportunities to incorporate bio-physical aspects into the concept of sociotechnical systems and their transitions in the light of a more sustainable development.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 196-198). / A design that proposes the redefinition of the role of a power plant facility within a community by creating a humane environment for recreation, education, community gathering, living, and energy production; rather than the traditional remote and often inhumane environments of the present. This thesis explores the design of a small scale alternative energy plant as the center of a new framework for revitalizing small industries, developing industrial cogeneration of energy, and redeveloping mixed use commercial, office, and residential areas within the context of a deteriorated urban neighborhood. Located in a historic area of Rockford, Illinois, the design incorporates some fifty new passive solar residences and a 34,000 square foot clean energy plant within an eleven and one- half acre inner-city site. Fueled by the sun, the wind, the Rock River, and the community's municipal refuse and sewage, this neighborhood alternative energy plant (NAEP) represents not only a renewable energy resource, but both a recreational and educational resource as well. The challenge of this project is to provide an integrated alternative method for both producing power and participating in its production. Included in the design of this NAEP are: an overview of alternative energy use in architecture and community planning; a history of small scale power generation within the context of the neighborhood; a master plan for the site; design of the facility; and energy and economic analysis, designed to demonstrate the viability of the project within a contemporary marketplace. / by Douglas James Brooks. / M.Arch.

Thesis. 1978. M.Arch.A.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 155-156. / M.Arch.A.S.

Thesis. 1975. B.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / Bibliography: leaves 72-73. / by Carol J. Mancke. / B.S.

Thesis. 1977. M.Arch.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography : leaf 92. / by Alva Tabor III. / M.Arch.

A criação e aplicação de uma política (ou conjunto de políticas) de incentivo à eficiência energética, composta por um conjunto harmônico e coeso de instrumentos adequados à realidade nacional, resultará em: 1) aumento da competitividade da indústria nacional; 2) expansão da oferta de energia a custo mínimo; e 3) avanços no sentido de aproximar a economia nacional de um modelo ambientalmente sustentável. Adicione-se a estes 3 pontos, que importa que se implantem políticas públicas de apoio à eficiência energética, pois, além da larga escala em que muitos dos investimentos em eficiência energética precisam ser coordenados, alguns destes forçosamente devem ser públicos por serem destinados a corrigir falhas de mercado. O conhecimento dos diversos instrumentos de políticas de incentivo à eficiência energética existentes propiciará às instâncias decisórias envolvidas melhores condições para a elaboração e implantação daqueles que se mostrarem mais necessários e eficazes para a realidade nacional. Devido a fatores econômicos e ambientais, diversos países implantaram, ao longo da História, políticas de apoio à eficiência energética. Cada uma destas políticas se valeu de algumas dentre diversas ferramentas, tais como a criação de normas regendo os desempenhos mínimos obrigatórios de equipamentos consumidores de energia, a criação de assimetrias de mercado que favoreçam economicamente a penetração de tecnologias, produtos e serviços energeticamente eficientes e a sinalização fiscal e tarifária no sentido do uso eficiente da energia por parte dos diversos setores consumidores, entre outras. Os países da OCDE (Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico) têm um amplo histórico de implantação de políticas de incentivo à eficiência energética. Isto se deve a diversos fatores, tais como a necessidade de reduzir a dependência de fontes externas de energia, problemas ambientais (dado que muito da geração nestes países é termoelétrica - problemas com poluentes gasosos, tais como os gases de efeito-estufa - ou nuclear - problemas com o manejo de resíduos radioativos) e a alta competitividade dos mercados globais (a melhoria contínua da eficiência energética dos processos produtivos é uma questão de desenvolvimento tecnológico com implicações na produtividade industrial destes países, sendo neles amplamente incentivada). Assim sendo, se estudou mais detalhadamente os instrumentos de políticas de incentivo à eficiência energética adotados por alguns países da OCDE que se caracterizam por elevados consumos energéticos, bem como os adotados por países da OCDE com culturas mais próximas da brasileira (Portugal e Espanha) e aqueles adotados por México e Chile (economias latino-americanas de porte significativo) e pelo próprio Brasil (para que se possa comparar os instrumentos estudados com aqueles que já se encontram em curso em território nacional). Os instrumentos adotados de modo conjunto pelos países da União Européia são apresentados em capítulo próprio, dada sua natureza única. Para fins de exeqüibilidade deste trabalho, foram analisados principalmente os instrumentos referentes à eficiência energética dos usos finais de energia elétrica e hidrocarbonetos. Na seqüência, estes programas e iniciativas são analisados de modo a se chegar a uma classificação dos mesmos por modo de operação. Finalmente, discorre-se sobre os elementos mais significativos dentro do espaço amostral estudado, elaborando-se assim uma base de dados que possa subsidiar a elaboração de uma política nacional de eficiência energética. / Setting up and enforcing a policy (or policies) fostering energy efficiency, comprising a harmonic and coherent tool-set appropriate to the Brazilian reality will bring: 1) better competitivity for our industry; 2) larger energy supplies at minimal costs; and 3) enhancing of Brazilian economy\'s environmental sustainability. Add up to this that establishment of public policies on energy efficiency is highly needed since, besides their requirements on large scale coordination of investments, many must be provided by government, for they are meant to overcome market failures. Knowing the diverse available instruments of energy efficiency fostering policies will give our decision makers better grounds on which to prepare, elaborate, enact and enforce those that turn out to be the best options for the country. Due to both environmental and economic concerns, many nations implemented a wide range of energy efficiency policies in the course of History. Each of those deployed some among many tools, such as the setting up of mandatory minimum efficiency performance standards for energy using equipment and appliances, the creation of market asymmetries financially favoring the uptake of energy efficient technologies, goods, and services and fiscal and taxing signals raising awareness of energy using sectors on efficient energy use, among others. OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries have a long history on enacting energy efficiency policies. This is due to several factors, such as the need to reduce dependence on external energy sources, environmental problems (since much of the power generation in those nations is thermo electrical - troubles with gaseous pollutants, such as greenhouse gases - or nuclear - troubles in handling nuclear wastes), and the fierce competition in the global market (continual enhancing of productive processes energy efficiency is a matter of technological development presenting strong implications in the industrial productivity of those countries, so they are highly supportive of it). Being things that way, we studied in greater detail the energy efficiency policies of some markedly energy intensive OECD countries, as well as those adopted by OECD countries featuring cultures more alike Brazilian culture (Portugal and Spain) and those adopted by Mexico and Chile (significant Latin-American economies) and Brazil itself, so one may compare the previously presented measures and programs to what is already in course here in Brazil in terms of energy efficiency policies. Instruments jointly deployed by European countries in the scope of the European Union and their Framework Programs are set apart in their own chapter in this thesis, due to their unique nature. To allow for a feasible survey, we restricted ourselves mostly to the analysis of instruments related to energy efficiency in the final uses of electric power and hydrocarbons. As a next step, those programs and initiatives are analyzed in order to assemble a table of categories by means of which they may be sorted by main operational characteristics. Finally, representative elements in this sampling space are described in some detail, assembling thus an initial database on which one may elaborate when bringing to light and enforcing a Brazilian policy on energy efficiency.