![\"ENG's](\"\/cise\/files\/2013\/03\/SmCity_Cassandras1.jpg\" "\\"CITIES\\"")
As both an engineer and a motorist, Christos Cassandras<\/a> feels the pain of drivers on Commonwealth Avenue. Although he usually leaves work after the evening rush has waned, he invariably hits a red light at the BU Bridge, even when there\u2019s no traffic coming on the cross street. After that, it\u2019s one red light after another along the avenue with its synchronized traffic lights\u2014\u201cjust to make my life as miserable as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Wouldn\u2019t it be nice if communicating \u201csmart\u201d lights could sense when there\u2019s no oncoming traffic and wave you through, the College of Engineering professor mused to a packed house attending Wednesday\u2019s Smarter Cities conference at the Photonics Center. That dream could be realized someday by the nascent technologies Boston and other cities are pioneering to collect, analyze, and act on data such as traffic counts, according to Cassandras and other speakers.<\/p>\n In fact, we already have a high-tech version of the old-fashioned parking garage. Cassandras, who teaches electrical and computer engineering, said data shows motorists in major urban downtowns, including Boston\u2019s, cruise an average of eight minutes in search of a parking space. BU has one garage linked to a \u201csmart\u201d parking system<\/a>: motorists can check an app on their handheld devices to see if there\u2019s an open space in the garage. (Reserving it, however, is one bug that still remains to be ironed out, Cassandras said.)<\/p>\n IBM bankrolled the conference as part of its Smarter Cities program, which supports data gathering to improve environmental, health, safety, and productivity initiatives in communities where company employees work and live. Lucy Hutyra<\/a>, a College of Arts & Sciences assistant professor of earth and environment, is working with a grant<\/a> from the IBM program to calculate better traffic counts in Boston and their related greenhouse gas emissions, which foster climate change.<\/p>\n Tag-teaming with Cassandras on his presentation to the assemblage of BU, IBM, and municipal leaders, Hutyra proposed creating a center or institute at the University to study and coordinate projects in environmental sustainability.<\/p>\n Boston has cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below the 1990 levels, and Mayor Thomas Menino (Hon.\u201901) has targeted a reduction of 25 percent below that year\u2019s levels over the next seven years. Statewide, Massachusetts hopes for a whopping 80 percent cut in emissions by 2050. The problem, Hutyra said in an interview, is that current emissions counts aren\u2019t very good: they\u2019re based on taking gas consumption and industrial activities and estimating average emissions resulting from each. Traffic counts are used occasionally as well, she said, although they aren\u2019t conducted frequently enough to be of much value. She said that depending on who\u2019s measuring, current emission estimates for Massachusetts can vary by as much as 40 percent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cNobody\u2019s trying to cheat,\u201d Hutyra said. It\u2019s just that \u201cwe need better verification.\u201d That could be achieved with laser spectroscopy technology that measures emission levels directly in the atmosphere; BU has such a sensor atop CAS measuring carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. It\u2019s part of a network of half a dozen sensors that BU and Harvard colleagues have established. \u201cI think there\u2019s a tremendous opportunity to create an integrated center or institute,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would be a University-wide hub institute, which would have coalitions and partnerships with the private sector and government.\u201d Budgeting such a center would require \u201ca foundation or a company or a benefactor,\u201d and \u201cin order to make that work, you need one or more iconic, visionary faculty leader to help coordinate it. Just one idea proposed at Smarter Cities conference BU Today article by Rich Barlow As both an engineer and a motorist, Christos Cassandras feels the pain of drivers on Commonwealth Avenue. Although he usually leaves work after the evening rush has waned, he invariably hits a red light at the BU Bridge, even when there\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1500,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12240"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1500"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12240"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35376,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12240\/revisions\/35376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Estimates](\"\/cise\/files\/2013\/03\/SmCity_CO2-Emissions-1.jpg\")
\nA center would enable government-corporate-academic partnerships, such as her Smarter Cities project, to \u201cbe more than one-offs\u2014be something that is sustainable and something that can grow and evolve over time,\u201d Hutyra said. She has discussed her idea for such a center with ENG Dean Kenneth Lutchen, another conference speaker, who expressed support in an interview.<\/p>\n![\"Hutyra](\"\/cise\/files\/2013\/03\/SmCity_Hutyra.jpg\" "\\"CITIES\\"")
\n\u201cThe next step is to identify how the key stakeholders would like to integrate and work at a University hub institute or center,\u201d Lutchen said, \u201cand identify what should be the portion of it that the University has to ante up, both with some staff resources and faculty time, and what should be the contributions from external constituents such as companies, foundations, or perhaps government funding.\u2026I think we\u2019re potentially a year or maybe two away from a major center.\u201d
\nHe noted that BU\u2019s Sustainable Neighborhood Laboratory<\/a> (SNL) already works with IBM, the city, and other businesses to make Boston \u201csmarter.\u201d For example, SNL and partners are working to collect and analyze data about energy use in Boston residential buildings and hotels<\/a> to improve energy efficiency. One result: the Lenox Hotel recently installed energy-efficient windows, lighting, and insulation.
\nIn another project, SNL is working with Roxbury\u2019s Madison Park Development Corp., which operates more than 1,000 housing units for low-income Bostonians, to study energy use in those homes and how to make them more efficient.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"