Convener: Ramin Keivani

This session presents several approaches to solving the complex problem of decreasing urban GHG emissions. Each speaker will discuss a technology, method, or program that has demonstrated potential to increase urban energy efficiency or effect behavioral change. The approaches presented in this session aim to contribute to an overall scalable shift in the way urban infrastructure is designed, built, and managed with a goal of reducing the impact cities have on climate change. Topics in this session include: • Discussion of the benefits of using Building Information Management (BIM) methods as a virtual real time decision-making tool for designing efficient and affordable buildings. • Improving urban planning by decentralizing information exchange, initiating and sustaining multi-directional dialogs through the use of Web 2.0 communication platforms. • Use of sensors and user-designed information communication technology to provide high-resolution data that incentivizes energy efficient behaviors in low-middle income neighborhoods in Managua, Nicaragua. • Numerical simulation and optimization of passive Phase Change Materials (PCM) in residential and commercial buildings to improve cooling and heating efficiency, thereby reducing CO2 emissions. • Efforts by a provincial alliance to promote smart city technologies and a specific polytechnic applied research initiative that aims to help industry and municipalities explore optimal use of distributed energy resources (solar photovoltaic, battery storage, combined heat and power, wind) to modernize electric utilities.