Research Opportunity: Sustainable Housing Solutions
This research opportunity is part of the Urban Studies Research Program. Students who participate will work with their faculty mentor, and will also share their findings at a research symposium with students and faculty working on other projects. To learn more about the Urban Studies Research Program, see our website.
Project Title: Sustainable Housing Solutions
Faculty Member: Sarah Billington
Abstract: Cities across the U.S. and particularly in California are facing affordable housing and climate change crises. The resulting burdens from climate adaptation are likely to fall on low-income and marginalized populations with greater sensitivities to exposure and the fewest resources to adapt. Recent federal legislation (Inflation Reduction Act of 2022) includes authorization of $8.8 billion in rebates for home energy efficiency and home electrification projects and $1 billion to make America’s affordable housing stock more energy efficient. These well-intended environmental policies and programs are getting passed and being implemented without careful examination of their downstream impacts on affordable housing residents. In partnership with the local non-profit Chinatown Community Development Center, we are evaluating how the outcomes of these and similar programs are impacting the daily lives and well-being of low-income renters within Bay Area communities. Our aim is to deliver a set of recommendations for municipalities and developers to implement that support the wellbeing of low-income renters and reduce negative impacts of new policies and retrofits. This research includes (1) quantitative and qualitative examinations of unintended consequences and impacts on low-income renters affected by sustainability upgrades through surveys and interviews with residents, and (2) developing metrics for characterizing well-being impacts of sustainable building retrofit measures.
- There is a diverse list of tasks the student might help with such as (1) conducting a literature review that looks at a range of fields, including affordable housing, sustainability, and public policy,
- (2) collecting, organizing, and visualizing survey data sets using programming languages such as R,
- (3) qualitatively coding and analyzing interview transcripts,
- and (4) learning to give technical presentations and provide brief technical write-ups of their work.
Qualifications:
We prefer applicants who (1) have a strong interest in affordable housing and/or sustainable built environments, (2) have some basic experience with qualitative coding, and/or with coding in languages such as Python or R, and (3) are interested in or have experience with qualitative research. These are not hard requirements, as the Billington lab is a supportive environment for undergrads to develop new skills, though they may help determine compatibility.
Enrollment & Academic Standing
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Students must be current undergraduates in good standing at Stanford.
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Students must be enrolled in units while using VPUE grant funding, except during the Summer.
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Students may not receive both academic units and a stipend for any single project activity.
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Co-terms who have not conferred their undergraduate degree and who are still paying undergraduate (not graduate) tuition are eligible for VPUE funding.
- Coterm students should read this Registrar webpage for details on when you are switched to graduate tuition.
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Students may not be serving a suspension.
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Students may not be on a Leave of Absence (LOA) while using grant funding.
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VPUE does not use a GPA requirement for student eligibility, nor does VPUE encourage the use of GPA as a criterion for inclusion in a research opportunity.
Quarters Available:
- Summer, full-time
Stipend:
Full-time projects: $7500 + up to $1500 based on financial need and student qualification. Read more about stipends.
