A Novel and Scalable SaaS Platform with Low-tech and High-tech Access Points to Simultaneously Drive Greenhouse Gas Reductions, Promote Rural Economic Development, and Enhance the Environment

Rural communities face compounding challenges with the impacts to labor health and economic from the opioid crisis the coronavirus pandemic and now mounting pressures to reach greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions to mitigate climate change. The recent Renewable Energy for America Program as part of the Congressional Inflation Reduction Act provided a vital downpayment on the resources needed to incentivize rural businesses and communities to implement the activities needed to reach GHG goals. However the rate of change scale and complexities involved with highly varied residential and commercial building inventories is a very big challenge. This Phase I R&D proposal from Universal Schedule and Booking (USB) seeks to determine feasibility for machine learning to correlate energy efficiency and emissions profiles for these buildings on building-by-building bases without the need for widespread installation of new sensors. Sensors are often cost prohibitive have technical challenges for rural populations and introduce cybersecurity risks. The research activities include proprietary digital infrastructure to facilitate a shift in economic framework for rural communities so that the drive to reach net-zero GHG goals by 2030 2040 2050 becomes primarily an economic opportunity for rural communities and governments. In collaboration with Texas A&M University Mechanical Engineering Department the results of this SBIR/STTR research will assist USDA with reaching Federal GHG reduction goals and aligns with National Institute of Food and Agricultural Topic 8.6 Research Priorities for development of technologies that protect or enhance the environment and address climate change while promoting economic development.