Maoran Sun: Scenario-based strategies for decarbonizing Hard-to-Decarbonize housing

Supervisor: Dr Ronita Bardhan

Research overview:

As the urban population continues to expand and is expected to comprise 80% of the total population in 2050, it is crucial to ensure the sustainability and energy efficiency of cities. Among all the homes globally, Hard-to-Decarbonize (HtD) buildings are estimated to be a quarter of them. Identifying the HtD houses and proposing strategies for these houses is important to reach the global net zero target. However, the study of HtD houses has historically been neglected. Previous studies mainly focus on simulating, predicting, and understanding attributes that are directly related to energy usage and efficiency. My research aims at building a comprehensive understanding of HtD buildings, with publicly available data and deep learning methods.

Biography:

Maoran Sun is an urban researcher and data scientist. Prior to attending Cambridge, he worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a research fellow. Maoran holds Master’s in Design Studies and Urban Design from Harvard University and Bachelor in Urban Planning from Southeast University. He is interested in building energy environmental justice and urban studies with an approach of combining geospatial data science and deep learning.