Power at Home

The Power at Home project focuses on aligning decarbonization and energy efficiency with the realities of how people live in New York. Standard energy models often assume a uniform nine-to-five lifestyle, which does not capture the range of daily rhythms across the city. The Columbia Building Energy Research Lab and the Living Data Lab are partnering to study real patterns of energy use among residents, including night shift workers, early morning caregivers, and artists who keep later schedules. By collecting and analyzing this data, the project builds a more accurate and more equitable understanding of energy demand. The goal is to support engineering and policy decisions that reflect the diversity of New Yorkers and advance a cleaner and more resilient energy future.

The Power at Home project is about making decarbonization and energy efficiency more human. Too often, energy models assume we all live the same nine-to-five, median income, in-bed-by-ten life but that’s not how New York or all New Yorkers work. The Columbia Building Energy Research Lab (Mechanical Engineering) and the Living Data Lab (Urban Planning)are working in tandem to help the city decarbonize. We are developing bespoke, personalized solutions to energy problems —a framework that matches the intricacy, nuance, and differences in our communities. 

We’re studying how people actually use energy day to day: the night shift workers, the parents up before dawn, the artists who start their day at sunset. By collecting data on real living patterns, we’re building a more accurate, more equitable picture of energy demand and solutions for a cleaner planet—one that can inform engineering and policy decisions that meet people where they are! 

Because if every New Yorker has their own way of living, energy solutions should, too. 

Columbia Affiliations
The Department of Mechanical Engineering