Carnegie Mellon University

Ken-Opurum stands at the head of a conference table and is making a presentation

October 21, 2020

Ken-Opurum Awarded Business Case Award

Ken-Bobuchi holds up her award in the online award ceremonyThe Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) awarded Bobuchi Ken-Opurum, PhD Candidate in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Management (AECM), the Business Case Award at the annual Climate Corps Summit. The award recognizes that the project, completed at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Resiliency, presented the strongest case for a project recommendation, backed by sound quantitative analysis and with a high likelihood of implementation.

Ken-Opurum was enlisted to develop a decision support tool for assigning monetary values to the benefits of resilient design practices. She created a quantitative benefits calculator with standardized formulas that can be used across city agencies and designed a GIS interface to help visually highlight the risks of climate stressors on geographical regions.

The calculator will help agencies to streamline the quantitative analysis process for resiliency projects and the use of GIS provides important context to help bring equity to the forefront of resilience investments.

Ken-Opurum is advised by Erica Cochran Hameen.

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This story demonstrates CMU's work toward attaining Sustainable Development Goal 11 of the 17 Global Goals to create a more equitable and viable planet by 2030.