Climate Futures grants fuel faculty solutions: microgrids, DIY home rehab, mussel-based insulation

Taubman College faculty-led projects aimed at expanding renewable energy usage in Ann Arbor, rehabbing vacant homes in Detroit, and converting invasive mussels harvested from the Great Lakes into insulation have received Climate Futures Research Grants.

The one-time grant program aims to accelerate faculty-led climate action and/or resilience through research and creative practice. Winning projects reflect the program’s goals of producing strong interdisciplinary and community partnerships, innovative approaches, and clear potential for measurable impact. Launched at Taubman College in 2024, Climate Futures amplifies architectural, design, and planning contributions to climate action and a sustainable built environment.

Projects were selected by external jurors Surbhi Agrawal, Product Strategist and Data Scientist, Sasaki; Jeana Ripple, Principal and Co-Founder, Mir Collective, and Associate Professor & Chair of Architecture, University of Virginia School of Architecture; and Emily Korman, Resiliency Capital Planning Manager, New Jersey Transit. Following a blind review process, the jury selected three projects to receive a $15,000 award.

Community Energy Futures: Interaction Design to Study New Social Dynamics in Microgrid Energy Sharing

The transition to sustainable energy is one of the paradigmatic challenges of the 21st century, unfolding at many scales. In 2024, residents of Ann Arbor voted to create a community-owned Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU). This is a pioneering effort to operate an opt-in energy utility that provides 100% renewable energy from local solar and battery systems to participating homes and businesses. It is a first-of-its-kind attempt in the U.S. to produce and transmit energy through a community-owned utility that operates in parallel with existing utility options. Ann Arbor’s SEU is positioned as a blueprint for other cities, offering a scalable model for integrating local renewables and accelerating decarbonization. This project aims to anticipate and inform SEU policy decisions shaping new social interactions through microgrid scenarios.

Principal Investigator: Matthew Wizinsky, Associate Professor of Practice in Urban Technology

Co-investigator: Zachary Kaiser, Associate Professor of Design, Technology, and Society, Michigan State University

Additional Team Members: Jack Bernard, B.S. Urban Tech ’27; Pranav Boopalam, B.S. Urban Tech ’27; Elijah Stowell, B.S. Urban Tech ’27

Home Rehab Kit: Increasing Climate Resilience through DIY Strategies

Detroit’s aging housing stock presents both a critical climate challenge and a major opportunity for equitable climate action. Thousands of homes, many owned or formerly owned by the Detroit Land Bank Authority (DLBA), remain vacant or underutilized due to deferred maintenance, limited access to capital, and the technical complexity of rehabilitation. Even when brought into basic compliance with DLBA and/or Detroit ordinances, many homes fall short of modern energy performance standards, leaving residents burdened by high energy costs and contributing to unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions. This project builds on ongoing research conducted in partnership with the DLBA to beta-develop and test a weatherization-focused Home Rehab Kit. This free, public, online resource will be designed to help rehabbers working on severely distressed properties improve energy efficiency through accessible, do-it-yourself (DIY) strategies.

Principal Investigator: Adam Fure, Associate Professor of Architecture

Co-investigators: Ellie Abrons, Associate Professor of Architecture; Sharon Haar, Professor of Architecture; Matthew Wizinsky, Associate Professor of Practice in Urban Technology; Scott TenBrink, Lecturer III, School of Information

Softshells: Invasive Entanglements in Passive Biomass Insulation

Environmental awareness and climate change policies have sparked a renewed interest in alternative solutions to fight the invasive quagga mussels in the Great Lakes Region. As researchers undertake non-destructive mussel removal mechanisms, the question emerges: “What can we do with the overwhelming excess of quadrillions of quagga biomaterial once they are out of water?” In response, this research helps develop locally tailored passive cooling strategies using the natural thermal properties of the biomatter of the quagga mussel as an opportunity for the fabrication of alternative by-products for the architectural residential industry.

Principal Investigator: Ana Morcillo Pallares, Associate Professor of Architecture

Co-investigators: Jonathan Rule, Associate Professor of Practice in Architecture; Harvey Bootsma, Professor and Associate Dean at the School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Lars Junghans, Associate Professor of Architecture.

Additional Team Members: Krzysztof Lower, M.Arch ’27; Amber Mortzfield, M.Arch ’27