BIO

My name is Chamarda McDonald. I am a second-year student at Florida State. I began my college journey at 16, majoring in Biology on the pre-med track and Education through the FSU-Teach program. My research interests range from topics under the scope of Biology, Health, and Equity. My goal is to pursue a career in the medical field and help bridge the gap between the healthcare system and the black community. During my time at FSU, I made the President's List for Fall 2020 and Dean's List for Spring 2021.

Analyzing the Relationship between Air Conditioning Ownership and Electricity Usage of Heat Vulnerable Groups

Abstract

While most people view access to air condition as an average utility included in most living properties, due to inequity within American society, families with low-income status don't always have access to such amenities. Moreover, those who do are not always able to use their units due to the price of energy usage. Extreme heat events impact a wide range of health consequences (McMichael, Woodruff, and Hales 2006; Hondula et al. 2015). During the COIVD-19 outbreak, many vulnerable groups, including older adults, infants, and children, chronic conditions, low income, pregnant women, people with inadequate cooling systems, people who have or recovered from COVID-19, suffer from the indoor environment (Global Heat Health Information Network 2022). Therefore, it is important to establish extreme heat intervention measures for indoor environments. The primary goal of this research is to investigate air conditioning (AC) ownership and examine whether AC ownership ensures AC utilization. Through our research project, we aim to find a correlation between energy cost and consumption in lower-income communities by analyzing the relationship between air conditioning ownership and electricity usage of heat vulnerable groups to find a correlation between income and energy usage in relation to lower-income communities with access to air condition units but are unable to use them because of costly energy consumption. If the results yield a relationship between the subjects, the data could be used to argue for equity.

Keywords: heat equity stastical analysis