ABSTRACT
Making the case for microgrids requires comprehensive and holistic studies of energy use in the context of social, technical, environmental, and economic issues, which are highly interdependent in nature. These interdependencies form a symbiotic socio-techno-enviro economic relationship that needs more study in order to be adequately
9.1 Economic Justification 236 9.2 Environmental Assessments 240 9.3 Community Outreach 242 9.4 Consumer Behavior 243
9.4.1 Case Study for Behavior Change in the Campus Microgrid Student Residences 246
9.5 Lessons Learned 251 References 252 Further Reading 253
characterized and understood. Some cost benefit analyses have been done in the United States,1 Europe,2 and Canada,3 although to a lesser degree. However, not enough has been done to the extent needed to understand and characterize the issues, let alone to highlight the benefits that could be achieved with microgrids. In a recent publication by Lund University, in Sweden,4 the challenges associated with broad scale projects, like those associated with climate change, have been dubbed wicked problems. Wicked problems are problems that are so complex they have many causes with a web of interdependencies influencing one another so as to make it extremely difficult to identify and target the causes without triggering unpredictable interactions.
