In this presentation on “Housing conditions and extreme weather: Lessons from mapping and sensing community-engaged research at San Antonio,” Esteban Lopez Ochoa will explore the extent that housing conditions contribute to experiencing extreme weather conditions. Using a community based participatory approach, he outlines a three-step method used to determine built-environment conditions, engage and train community members and leaders to assess housing conditions, and deploy environmental sensors to collect data on conditions inside and outside homes. His research has found that residents with poor housing conditions are enduring worse environmental conditions inside their homes than the outside, all a consequence inoperable windows and doors, lack of or inadequate AC systems, and energy costs.
Lopez Ochoa is an associate professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he teaches courses on housing policy, urban planning methods, spatial analytics, and neighborhood analysis. His research examines housing, economic development, and spatial inequities using data-driven and urban-sensing approaches across U.S. and Latin American contexts. His work spans housing price modeling, displacement forecasting, migration, and school choice.
Part of the Spring 2026 GIS Seminar Series hosted by the Department of Urban Planning and Development, this seminar is open to all Iowa State students, faculty, and staff. Contact Professor Monica Haddad, haddad@iastate.edu, to express interest in attending and to receive the link to the online event.