Constantine Spandagos

faculty Bio

I develop and apply computational and behavioral methods to improve the analysis, design, and governance of energy systems and environmental policy. Working at the intersection of engineering, behavioral decision science, data science, economics, and public policy, I examine how human behavior, emerging technologies, and institutional conditions shape system performance and policy outcomes. My research integrates energy systems modeling and optimization, artificial intelligence methods (machine learning and fuzzy logic), agent-based modeling, econometrics, and surveys to build technically rigorous and behaviorally realistic tools that advance a sustainable, reliable, and affordable energy future for all.

My work can be best described on the basis of the following themes: 

*Theme 1: Behavior-informed modeling of socio-technical energy systems. I develop interdisciplinary methods for understanding how increasingly complex interactions among people, technologies, and institutions shape the performance of socio-technical energy systems. A particular focus is on translating empirical knowledge of human decision-making into mathematical representations that inform simulation and optimization models. The objective is to generate more realistic assessments of the viability, performance, pace of adoption, and broader impacts of emerging energy innovations.

*Theme 2: Energy behaviors and technology adoption. I investigate how individuals and communities adopt energy technologies and practices, and respond to policy interventions. A particular focus is on understanding how these decisions are shaped by behavioral, economic, social, and institutional conditions, and how they vary across populations, technologies, and contexts. The objective is to inform more effective, inclusive, and enduring approaches to technology adoption, energy conservation, demand flexibility, and public support for energy system transformations.

Theme 3: Viable and beneficial energy innovations. I evaluate whether changes in energy systems deliver their anticipated benefits under real world conditions and identify the tradeoffs and unintended consequences that may arise. I focus on how benefits, costs, and risks are distributed, and whether innovations advance affordability, reliability, resilience, environmental performance, and community well-being. The objective here is to identify designs and governance approaches that deliver broad public benefits while limiting disproportionate burdens on households and communities.