Research Tracker

This project will research and develop new technologies and strategies to eliminate or significantly reduce energy use in standby mode by redesigning the power supply for plug load devices. This research project will also develop and demonstrate strategies to remove plug load devices from grid AC power by redesigning these devices to use DC power from photovoltaic power sources.

This project will research and develop new technologies and strategies to eliminate or significantly reduce energy use in standby mode by redesigning the power supply for plug load devices. This research project will also develop and demonstrate strategies to remove plug load devices from grid AC power by redesigning these devices to use DC power from photovoltaic power sources.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor will develop innovative methods to outcouple the light within OLED devices in order to increase external quantum efficiency. This will be accomplished through nanoscale texturing beneath the anode outside the active region, fabricating sub-anode gratings along with microlens arrays, and top emitting structures with a sub-anode grid coupled with a reflective mirror at the base.

This project will contain three elements to provide data for policymakers and businesses to explore this new market. First, this project will determine prosumer (proactive consumer) interest in a third-party demand response market by testing user acquisition via direct and non-direct engagement strategies. Second, experimentation with behavioral and automated users will allow analysis of user yield under a variety of conditions and extract a set of shadow curves that can inform how much energy load shifting can be expected under various price incentives. Finally, this project will create a novel solution for using residential telemetry to connect prosumers and their Internet of Things (IoT) devices to the market operators.

This project will contain three elements to provide data for policymakers and businesses to explore this new market. First, this project will determine prosumer (proactive consumer) interest in a third-party demand response market by testing user acquisition via direct and non-direct engagement strategies. Second, experimentation with behavioral and automated users will allow analysis of user yield under a variety of conditions and extract a set of shadow curves that can inform how much energy load shifting can be expected under various price incentives. Finally, this project will create a novel solution for using residential telemetry to connect prosumers and their Internet of Things (IoT) devices to the market operators.

GE Global Research will design, build, and demonstrate a highly efficient residential electric clothes dryer. This technology could lead to more than 20 billion kWh of energy savings per year.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will develop system-level architecture for a plug-and-play multi-sensor platform, which can utilize peel-and-stick sensors less than a quarter of an inch thick and powered by indoor, high-performance, flexible photovoltaics. By developing sensors that are multi-functional and self-powered, this innovative platform can be adopted and deployed for wider spread energy efficiency of buildings.

Iowa State University will demonstrate a way to increase the outcoupling of simple white OLEDs while maintaining a high color rendering index, by disrupting the internal waveguiding, using a unique and innovative corrugation pattern.

FXFOWLE Architects will undertake a research study to determine the viability of implementing the Passivhaus standard on tall residential buildings in New York State. Using a 25 story multifamily project currently in design as a base building, the study will investigate the detailed implications of adapting a typical tall residential building to meet the Passivhaus standard. This work will analyze the impacts from architectural, structural, enclosure detailing, materials, mechanical, zoning, financial, marketability, and constructability perspectives. Market barriers and opportunities will be identified and addressed. In addition, the study will evaluate how applying the Passivhaus standard to a tall multifamily residential building can affect resiliency and security issues

The project will produce a standardizable, transferable, climate zone-specific net zero energy ready retrofit system. This system will be tested at a multifamily affordable housing pilot site.

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.

This supplemental project has been designed to provide utilities a means of working together in a coordinated fashion to test this concept in field environments. The goals of this supplemental project are: 1. To prove the performance of universal Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) 2045 communications port (comm port) 2. Convince manufacturers that the installation of a simple comm port is very low-cost, and makes their equipment easy to incorporate into any utility demand response (DR) program nationwide so that it could eventually become standard practice on all water heaters. If that can be achieved, then the question of whether or not a customer participates in a utility DR program becomes a simpler customer choice.

The project includes feasibility and design studies followed by demonstration of a large central reverse cycle chiller (RCC) or heat pump water heaters for energy efficient production of domestic hot water in multifamily residential projects. Feasibility and design studies were completed in 2010. The first installation was completed in November 2012; a second installation was completed in the Spring 2013. The next phase of the project will include measurement and verification of energy savings. The project will conclude with a final report of lessons learned and recommendations for future applications of this technology. This project will look to answer the following research question: quantify the energy savings using a large heat pump water heater (or called RCC) vs. electric resistance domestic hot water in a multifamily (MF) application to prove the concept, and understand technical challenges and whether this is a good technology for multifamily sector.

PPG Industries, Inc. will develop high-performing dark-colored pigments for use in cool roof coatings. These pigments would satisfy customers' demand for dark-colored cool roofs and lead to 0.17 quads of energy savings annually.

This project will design and develop innovative LED lighting solutions for three key general illumination product categories. These solutions are a best-in-class medium, screw-base replacement lamp, linear tubular light emitting diode (TLED) replacement lamps and spectrally optimized, dedicated LED luminaires. Product design requirements will be based on consumer light quality and functional performance preferences determined through a series of unique laboratory-based consumer preference and product characterization studies

This project will design and develop innovative LED lighting solutions for three key general illumination product categories. These solutions are a best-in-class medium, screw-base replacement lamp, linear tubular light emitting diode (TLED) replacement lamps and spectrally optimized, dedicated LED luminaires. Product design requirements will be based on consumer light quality and functional performance preferences determined through a series of unique laboratory-based consumer preference and product characterization studies

This project will provide a detailed market segmentation and baseline energy demand assessment of the gaming market, including development of measurement and benchmarking protocols for gaming software and hardware. Top-selling gaming PCs and games are then cross-benchmarked and retrofitted to achieve maximum energy savings beyond what commercialized products currently can attain.

This project is developing a gas-fired absorption heat pump that offers a significant advancement for space and water heating technologies when compared to conventional gas heating technologies (an Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) of 140% versus 100%, respectively). This heat pump will provide efficient space and water heating for single and multi-family homes in most climate zones.

In 2013, BPA received an unsolicited proposal for a case study for a side-by-side comparison of a geothermal heat pump and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system in nearly identical multifamily housing units in Tacoma, Washington. The project provided a unique opportunity to evaluate these two technologies while providing an application for multifamily housing. The project will determine how the seasonal performance of the two systems for space conditioning and production of hot water compares. The following information will be provided for the operation of both units: quantified savings and costs over a specific baseline; understanding of the engineering design, installation, ownership, and possible utility barriers; quantified annual energy savings, benefits, and costs; documented magnitude and longevity of the incremental electric energy savings; documented operation and energy use; and described energy savings time of occurrence and duration, load shape, and lifetime.

Columbia University will use an inexpensive and widely tunable library of quantum dot (QD) synthesis reagents along with automated high-throughput synthesis and analysis tools to grade the alloy composition of QD heterostructures, in order to provide stable and efficient narrow-band red down-converters for LEDs.

Evidence in a new, groundbreaking Energy Department report, Home Rx: The Health Benefits of Home Performance, shows that home performance upgrades can improve the quality of a homes indoor environment by reducing the prevalence of harmful indoor air pollutants and contaminants. This paper is just one part of the Energy Departments broader Health and Home Performance Initiative. Another step will be to develop messaging that home performance programs, contractors, and partners can use to communicate clearly about the health benefits of home performance work with consumers and stakeholders.

The next step for the Initiative will be to engage with stakeholders to develop a roadmap to facilitate the home performance industrys incorporation of healthcare into their work. Workshops are slated for conferences in January, March, and May 2017.