Research Tracker

This work will determine the savings and the cost-effectiveness of advanced rooftop unit controller (ARC) Light Retrofits. This work will support a new evaluated measure through the development of a Standard Protocol, based on 38 Zeros meters and the ARC retrofit fan-only analysis. Utility grants will fully fund the installation of up to 30 ARC Light Retrofits, where 38 Zeros meter installations are also fully funded, with one-year of data hosting. (ARC Light Retrofits are expected to cost around $2,000, while the 38 Zeros meter installations are expected to cost around $1,500, including one year of data-hosting and retrieval of the 38 Zeros meter.) All grants will be paid by 9/15/15 because of the inability to spend money in the new rate period. Based on EER feedback, utilities will claim self-funded (non-EEI) savings as FY15 custom projects.

The goal is to develop a standard protocol to verify site-based savings for advanced rooftop unit (RTU) control (ARC) retrofits, based on manufacturer variable frequency drive (VFD) data. This will streamline the acquisition of 1 aMW of ARC retrofits and lower the cost of the impact evaluation. This project will draft a standard protocol to verify ARC retrofit site-based savings using Catalyst controller data. The project will compare best practice (unit-level, true-power over one-year with daily baseline cycling, as reported in Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) study) and four simplified savings methods, to determine a simplest-reliable method. Deliverables include a draft protocol and presentations to the RTUG and, if appropriate, to the RTF. Once approved, the standard protocol would allow the streamlined acquisition of ARC retrofits because baseline metering and long-term baseline cycling would not be required. Once 1 aMW of ARC retrofits (approximately 1,000 RTUs) are reported, several years of Catalyst controller data would be available for most of the units for the impact evaluation. Using the standard protocol and manufacturer data, no post-post cycling or additional instrumentation, such as Wattnodes for unit-level true-power, will be required.

During BPA's 2016 Multifamily Technical Advisory Group, this technology was evaluated and recommended for future research. BPA is joining with NEEA and Ecotope to conduct a bench test to determine if this will be a viable alternative to conduct future field tests in the Pacific Northwest. The bench test will be document the system performance and noise levels to determine if the unit is ready for more lab and field tests.

BPA completed four installations of the rooftop unit (RTU) Catalyst unit, a packaged controls technology providing variable frequency drive (VFD) and demand control ventilation (DCV). These controllers were retrofits for packaged HVAC systems on four BPA buildings. Installations were completed during 2014.

The project goal is to demonstrate the substantial demand response (DR) and energy savings are achievable in supermarket refrigeration systems and that the integrity and safety of refrigerated products will be maintained to minimize risks to supermarket owners and customers. The project plans to analyze supermarket refrigeration energy loads in the Pacific Northwest for both demand response and energy efficiency. The purpose is to identify the most promising control strategies and technologies that can yield energy savings and demand response as part of an integrated management approach.

This project seeks to conduct the technical analyses, demonstration, market evaluation, and regulatory engagement necessary to realize cost-effective high-accuracy measurement and verification (M&V) for northwest efficiency programs. The focus of the effort is whole-building M&V for commercial buildings.

The proposed project will demonstrate Transformative Wave Technology eIQ building management system (BMS) year-round capability for meeting BPA demand response criteria for roof top units, lighting, miscellaneous electric loads, and electric hot water heaters. The demand response that will be met will be for day-ahead response, under 10-minute response and permanent load reduction. The goal is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness, feasibility and scalability of the eIA BMS for both energy efficiency and demand response.

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will work with the Lighting Design Lab at Seattle City Light (SCL), a leading manufacturer of LED outdoor lighting and a leading controls manufacturer to demonstrate a sensor-controlled, adaptable LED lighting system in the parking lots for municipal, retail, or similar parking lot.

Working with project partners from the Seattle Lighting Design Laboratory, the Lighting Research Center (LRC) will identify a suitable outdoor lighting installation in a parking lot and conduct evaluations of energy and power use, visual responses of people in and approaching the outdoor location, and subjective ratings of safety and personal security while viewing and occupying the location. The design of the lighting installation will utilize published research on the spectral sensitivity of the human visual system for scene brightness perception and on the relationships between scene brightness and perception of safety and security previously published by the LRC project team. The proposed project will consist of a full-scale outdoor lighting demonstration at a parking lot facility within BPA service territory. The demonstration will be based on a proposed specification method for maximizing perceptions of safety and security of occupants, taking advantage of the differential spectral (color) sensitivity of the human visual system for brightness perception at nighttime light levels. Sensations of brightness are in turn strongly related to perceptions of personal safety and security in outdoor locations. It is anticipated that using white light sources such as a lighting emitting diode (LED) illumination in place of conventional high pressure sodium (HPS) illumination energy savings of 40-50% will be possible while maintaining perceptions of brightness, safety, and security.

Demonstrate Strategic Energy Management Analytics (Build Plus) in 2 buildings for 1 year. This research builds on a tool created with funding through BPAs Technology Innovation Research and Development Program. Work has continued to refine the tool and research needs to be conducted to verify savings. The tools will be installed at the facilities for up to 1 year starting in 2016 and analyses will follow in late 2017.

In this project, the Lighting Research Center (LRC) of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will expand on preliminary studies it has already completed into LED reliability to develop a cost-effective, accelerated test method for LED Lighting products that will allow accurate projection of system life for any given environmental temperature and use pattern.

The project is designed to test the ductless heat pump (DHP) in different applications. Fifty-one sites were installed to test different applications including single family, multifamily, manufactured homes , and small commercial across different climate zones. As part of the study, one year of data was collected through sub metering; and pre- and post-billing data were completed and analyzed for each site. Preliminary results have been promising for manufactured homes and single family homes with forced air furnace applications. The study was completed during the spring of 2013. Based on the findings of the study, Single Family and Manufactured Home applications provided sufficient energy savings to warrant presentation to the Regional Technical Forum as new measures in 2015. Both were given a provisional UES (deemed) measure status. DHPs in Manufactured Homes with zonal heat were given a Small Saver measure status.

The 7th Power Plan has targeted 261aMWs of savings for embedded data centers and BPA would like to develop a series of new measures to acquire these savings. Embedded Data Centers are defined as server rooms located on-site in commercial buildings which are larger than server closets but smaller than enterprise data centers. This project will inform and streamline custom projects for future Data Center Air Flow Management retrofits which may include multiple data center HVAC retrofits, including blanking panels, raising space temperatures, containment and air flow management. Up to two grants will be awarded to participate in this field study to test Data Center Air Flow Management retrofits and other HVAC solutions for Embedded Data Centers. This field study will also demonstrate and verify a Data Center Air Flow Management (AFM) energy savings calculator developed by Seattle City Light in the Data Center Track and Tune Project.

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the Northwest Food Processors Association (NWFPA) propose to carefully evaluate opportunities for energy, emission, and cost savings and non-wires solutions, including alleviation of transmission bottlenecks and fast-ramping supply capabilities with greater use and better design of combined heat and electric power (CHP) distributed generators (DGs); combined cooling, heating, and electric power (CCHP) DG; and energy storage installed on-site at energy-intensive food processing facilities.

This project will apply the framework created in the prior research to develop early deployment plans for three additional technologies and to guide early deployments with multiple utilities for five technologies, two of which were planned in prior research. The three technologies being deployed are heat pump water heaters, led menu boards, and engine generator block heaters.

The goal of this research project is to determine if it is possible to pre-heat water for swimming pools to save energy. The study is designed to show the efficacy of this application as well as the associated energy savings. In 2016, BPA engineering collected baseline operation data on the existing electric resistance water heater for a residential swimming pool. Early in 2017, the CO2HPWH was installed and monitored. The initial results showed that the system was under performing and a number of modifications are being considered. The current plan is to implement the modifications and monitor the new design through December 2017 to allow for warm and cold weather operation. A final paper will be prepared by February 2018. While this study is focused on the residential sector, the nature and results of this study are also applicable to water heating EE projects in the commercial sector. BPA will generate a summary brief which will inform the region of the results. Its important to build the body of knowledge for CO2 heat pumps and demonstrate the efficacy of a new use case.

Heating water for commercial is identified in the 7th Power Plan as desired measures. The goal of this project is to fund the design, installation, commissioning and warranty of a large commercial heat pump water heater (HPWHs) as an Emerging Technology Field Test. BPA will award fund utility grants to design, install and commissioning the unit, meter energy usage and provide data to BPA for further analyses. Each utility will also provide results regarding the design, installation, and commissioning of the unit which will be shared publically

Commercial HVAC Efficient Pumping Technology has been identified by BPA as having significant electrical energy savings potential. Grants will be awarded to BPA customer utilities to test CHEP installation for Commercial, Agricultural and Industrial applications. Pump retrofits include integrated, variable-speed HVAC system pumps ranging in size between 1/3 and 10 horse power with controls. To date, three utilities have requested financial assistance for installations. The units will be installed in 2017 and utilities will provide reports within one year to report on system performance and present information on potential market barriers.

The goal of this grant is to share the cost for the design, installation, and commissioning to replace Roof Top Units (RTU) with Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) and Variable Capacity Heat Pump (VCHP) systems. In 2016, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) identified this potential RTU replacement strategy to help meet the regions energy efficiency targets and conducted a proof of concept study for this new replacement system. NEEAs preliminary analysis estimates that an HRV and VC HP system could be combined to save over seventy percent of the energy used by RTUs. BPA is interested in obtaining field data for additional systems in the Pacific Northwest. The expected results from this project include the following: HRV and VC HP system cost effectiveness information; System performance data; Verification that whole-building billing analysis is an adequate methodology to measure savings, and Identification of best practices for installation and commissioning based on feedback from the owner, utility, designer, contractor and occupants.

In the 7th Power Plan in the Pacific NW region, Advanced Power Strips have been identified as having significant savings potential. BPA would like to test this technology in commercial settings to determine energy savings; to understand unit performance; identify best practices for installation and gather feedback from end users. BPA will work with utilities to identify potential sites.

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) will conduct pilot testing and analysis of three selected control systems to independently verify system commissioning, operation, and compatibility with two different integral LED luminaire layouts. The LRC will also quantify system operational characteristics, commissioning, and energy savings under field conditions. To begin the project, the LRC will specify a lighting control system capable of operating four integral LED suspended luminaires. The controls manufacturers selected will be CREE, Wattstopper, and Lutron. The LRC will also order eight integral LED luminaires (four luminaires from CREE Lighting with 0-10V drivers and step-dimming drivers that are used with the fixture integrated lighting sensors and four from Lithonia Lighting with 0-10V drivers). Six luminaire control system combinations will be evaluated in this project.

Installed LED Lighting fixtures and lamps at a number of different types of BPA facilities

The goal of the project is to provide background information to support listing mogul based lighting in the Designlights Consortium Qualified Product List to support cost-effective LED retrofits. This phase of the study will identify and document case studies.

The goal of this project is similar to the Unit Energy Savings (Deemed) Measure Development study with a focus on Circulatory Pumps across sectors. The study will fund the development of the Regional Technical Forum (RTF) workbook to present data to achieve RTF UES Planning Measures for Circulatory Pumps. This project will include data collection and analyses and does not involve field or primary research.

BPA is seeking to expand multifamily energy efficiency incentive offerings for new and existing construction. The goal is to identify and work out the technical challenges associated with integrating technologies into multifamily buildings. Part of the BPA new multifamily program development work requires building energy modeling comparing multifamily buildings built to Washington State code versus DOE Zero Energy Ready (DOEZER) standards. The project will assess the low-rise multifamily DOE ZER program against the 2015 Washington State Energy Code (WSEC) to coordinate the DOE ZER modeling for a target home; and model DOE ZER specifications using SEEM and compare the results to existing 2015 WSEC energy use analysis. Energy savings will be summarized and included in a report describing the analysis methodology, DOEZER and WSEC modeling specifications and the above code savings using one set of target measures.

Design guidelines have helped accelerate the deployment strategies for central hot water systems in multifamily buildings through the Pacific Northwest. This project will deliver two design guidelines for multifamily hot water recirculation loops and central heat pump hot water systems for future use by architects, engineers, contractors and developers by distilling the best practices and findings from recently completed research. Each guideline will present the operating principles, recommended design choices, and give examples where appropriate.

The objective of the research is to test the energy performance and demand reduction capabilities of phase change material (PCM) in conditioned buildings at a USAR site. PCM is a substance used to increase the thermal mass of a building due to its ability to melt and solidify at certain temperatures, providing the capability to store and release large amounts of thermal energy. PCM works in conjunction with traditional insulation to decrease heat gain (or loss) by storing and releasing heat to the conditioned space at different times of the day

This demonstration project will test the viability of replacing an RTU with Variable Capacity Heat Pump, Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) and a Dedicated Outside Air Source technologies. This project supports NEEA's HRV proof of concept project, by supporting a cold-climate installation at a BPA utility's building estimated to save 70% of the RTU energy use. Demonstration will inform future streamlined custom measures.

BPA secondary research on Single-Package, Vertical Heat Pumps (SPVHP) supports the energy savings potential, and non-energy benefits, such as better indoor air quality for modular school buildings. The project will fund the installation of up to 5 SPVHPs. Project activities include pre and post metering; units would be installed over the summer to be ready for testing in the new school year. Following the analyses of the metered data, the decision will be made whether to expand the field test to other locations.

This project proposes to design, pilot, and verify air-source, CO2 heat pump water heaters for domestic water heating in small-scale multifamily buildings. A second, significant goal of the project is to enable technology transfer.

To reduce energy use in homes that are becoming tighter, mechanical ventilation is added to maintain Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). Smart ventilation technologies are being developed to minimize the energy impact of mechanical ventilation while simultaneously maintaining IAQ. This project will demonstrate the energy savings associated with a smart ventilation technology through a combination of field testing and simulations. The target is to get close to heat recovery ventilation (HRV) performance at much lower cost and complexity; and greater reliability through smart control of simple exhaust (or supply) fans. The project will also develop recommendations for utility programs, other energy efficiency programs and for codes/standards on how to calculate credits for smart ventilation systems.

Will proven strategies from residential behavioral programs provide savings in a small commercial application? Snohomish County Public Utility District's pilot will test behavior change in the commercial sector. A solution for this sector would be highly attractive to utilities with small commercial facility end users, which represent a significant untapped energy savings resource with unique barriers to participation in behavior change programs. The pilot project is a joint venture between Snohomish County Public Utility District, PECI, Lucid, and Starbucks. The pilot will be implemented at several Puget Sound area Starbucks stores and involves providing staff with frequent energy use data and between-store competitions. If successful, the approach could be scaled to similar facilities across the region. Starbucks has over 700 stores in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Improvement on previous work: Very little work has been done in the small commercial arena and no pilots have been done with a large chain, such as Starbucks.

This data gathering and analysis project will develop reliable estimates of energy savings for Networked Lighting Controls (NLC) project and on a larger scale, accelerate the deployment and market adoption of NLC in Commercial Buildings. Advanced Lighting Controls has significant potential to accelerate LED lighting adoption. In a recent study by LBNL, multiple lighting control strategies saved an average of 38% of energy savings. However, market adoption on NLC/Advance Lighting Controls is estimated to be less then 1%. This project is designed to help BPA determine appropriate program designs, incentives, training and Qualified Products to increase deployment of NLC. The project will request data from several utilities including BPA about energy savings achieved in recent projects. BPA is partnering with Efficiency Forward (formerly DLC) to complete this project.

The research goals of the project will to identify what types of systems would provide the best baseline data for the Pacific NW (PNW). Utilizing a new portable metering system that can measure temperatures, pressures, true power, heat load, and Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) of Commercial Refrigeration, units will be installed at four different grocery stores. Sites will be selected that would be open to a large scale energy conservation project that modifies the refrigeration system. The portable Climacheck systems will remain in place a full year after the project to study the effect on the new system and quantify energy savings. After 1 year of post project data collection, the Climacheck systems may be moved around more frequently to collect shorter-term period (three, six, or nine month) data on additional sites and system types.

BPA has not provided any variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system incentives because of challenges estimating and verifying energy savings. This project will leverage BPAs AirNW Trade Ally network to identify and document VRF installations so that billing analysis can be done to determine energy savings. Activities include: billing analyses on 10 sites where the VRF system installation was the only change affecting electricity use.

Ecotope, in partnership with Vulcan Real Estate and Seattle City Light proposes to design, pilot and verify a heat pump water heating system for large multifamily buildings using the building sewage as a heat source. The waste water heat pump (WWHP) will recover waste heat streams from the building and heat water for domestic use at extremely high performance levels. The system will be built in a large multifamily building with approximately 400 apartment units. The project team will conduct a feasibility study of the system concept and a numerical model to predict the best equipment sizing and control algorithms. With the feasibility demonstrated the team will move on to full system design in a multifamily building. The team will write a measurement plan to monitor the energy use of the system. The team will commission the system, optimize its operation and prepare a set of design guidelines to be used throughout the engineering community.

This project leverages deep-retrofit work completed by NEEA, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, and provides BPA with retrofit packages for our Maintenance Head Quarter and Heavy Mobile Equipment Shop buildings. The two retrofit packages are projected to achieve 35 and 50% energy savings through upgrades to the building envelope, lighting and HVAC systems while helping BPA meet Executive Order (EO) 13693 which calls for all new federal buildings to be net zero ready by 2030 and requires that existing buildings reduce building energy intensity by 2.5% annually through 2025 while promoting deep retrofit packages for similar buildings in the region through net zero energy building guidelines. Information from this research will be applied to new retrofit packages for other commercial buildings within the BPA service territory.

This project will leverage the NEEA developed Sparktool, which is a high level decision making tool for deep energy retrofits. Research will demonstrate the tool in one building to assess its future application. This tool can be used by utilities to help their key accounts plan deep energy retrofits.