Michael Blackhurst, PhD

The Environmental Policy Analysis program at the Center for Social and Urban Research is led by Dr. Mike Blackhurst.  The Environmental Policy Analysis program integrates engineering and social science methods to addresses society’s environmental challenges through open source publications and decision support resources.  The Environmental Policy Program also serves to connect researchers at the University of Pittsburgh to sponsors and interests external to the University.  We work with sponsors big and small across a wide variety of research and outreach domains. 

Below are several informative links regarding environmental policy:

Lead Water

 Predicting Lead Water Service Line Locations for Improving Mitigation Strategies

  Do lead water laterals affect property values?  A Case Study of Pittsburgh, PA

Energy Efficiency

  A Primer on Energy Efficiency:  Challenges and Opportunities

  Energy Savings and the Rebound Effect with Multiple Energy Services and Efficiency Correlation

  Designing building energy efficiency programs for greenhouse gas reductions

Decentralized water resources

  Feasibility of Water Efficiency and Reuse Technologies, Demand-Side Strategies for Urban Water Management

  Incentivizing Decentralized Sanitation: The Role of Discount Rates

Energy end use modeling

  Cross Comparison of Empirical and Simulated Models for Calculating Residential Electricity Consumption

Climate action planning

  Preparing US community greenhouse gas inventories for climate action plans

  Do US Metropolitan Core Counties Have Lower Scope 1 and 2 CO2 Emissions than Less Urbanized Counties?

  Historical Footprinting and Implications for Sustainability Planning: A Case Study of the Pittsburgh Region

Green stormwater infrastructure

  Wet Weather Management in Pittsburgh: Thinking Beyond Cost Effectiveness

  Parcel Scale Green Infrastructure Siting and Cost Effectiveness Analysis

  Cost Effectiveness of Green Roofs