Research Tracker

S-RAM Dynamics, LLC will develop a regenerative air source heat pump for commercial and industrial HVAC applications. Initial units of this heat pump could offer a 50% improvement over existing state-of-the-art technology, leading to substantial energy-use reductions.

Los Alamos National Laboratory will develop quantum-dot down-converters to be used in LED lighting. Advancements made in this project could drive further efficiency improvements in LED lighting.

Momentive will develop next-generation LED package architectures enabled by thermally conductive composite encapsulant materials. These LED package architectures could provide more-efficient lighting options for use in U.S. buildings.

Perform NEEA Residential Building Stock Assessment (RBSA) Home data conversion to appliance control scripting via LabVIEW (http://www.ni.com/labview/) to provide an ongoing nonintrusive load monitoring (NILM) technology evaluation platform coupled with better appliance efficiency testing capability.

Appalachian State University will investigate whether investing in statewide building energy code education, training, and outreach programs can produce a significant change in residential building code compliance rates. The results of these activities provide the necessary business case to influence non-government entities, particularly utilities, to make investments in similar programs, which could lead to substantial national energy savings.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will develop and demonstrate a cost-effective, energy-efficient clothes dryer that is based on thermoelectric technology. This transformative dryer technology has the potential to save 356 TBtu/year.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in partnership with Georgia Tech and IntelliChoice Energy, will integrate its Ground-Level Integrated Diverse Energy Storage (GLIDES) system with HVAC systems to provide efficient building-integrated electrical and thermal energy storage. This system enables smarter building-grid integration, as well as the use of low-grade heat, which would otherwise be lost in traditional HVAC systems.

Iowa State University will develop an infiltration diagnostics system that uses a laser to locally heat a portion of the building envelope, and then uses an infrared camera to pinpoint air leaks. This system is able to measure and locate leaks within a building envelope, producing an energy saving potential of about 566 TBtu by 2030.

This project will develop and test the efficacy of novel light-based circadian interventions for enhancing sleep, health, alertness, performance, and quality of life in nightshift workers.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will develop a novel magnetocaloric air conditioner with the potential for efficiency improvements of up to 25% over conventional vapor compression systems. This new technology could save the U.S. 1 quad annually.

Carnegie Mellon University will develop an improved phosphor matrix to include materials that increase the thermal conductivity more than 5 times over standard matrix materials. This technology could reduce the price of light by as much as 50% - 60%.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will develop a clothes dryer that is extremely energy efficient and has a load drying time of approximately 20 minutes. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the clothes dryer industry, as well as to achieve 0.4 quads of energy savings.

Acuity Brands Lighting will develop an OLED luminaire that features DC current drivers integrated with each panel and advanced user controls. This advancement in OLED technology could lead to more-efficient OLED lighting systems and reduced energy use for building lighting.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, along with its partners, will develop a platform for design and specification of HVAC control sequences that inter-operates with both whole-building energy simulation and automated control implementation workflows. OpenBuildingControl will unify control design, evaluation, and optimization via whole-building energy simulation with control implementation, eliminating the manual translation steps currently associated with HVAC control implementation, reducing both error as well as effort and cost.

The OEI will capitalize on existing DOE investments to create an integrated open source technology platformthe OpenEfficiency Platform (OEP)capable of supporting a range of energy efficiency program types. Working closely with a group of utility program administrators, the OEI will support the design, planning, and use of the OEP in a series of commercial pilot programs for whole building energy efficiency, local government benchmarking, and auditing.

The recipient will use EnergyPlus, a building energy modeling tool, to analyze the costeffectiveness of various electricity saving/generation measures for multifamily and commercial buildings in California. For each building type and climate zone, the results will include a cost-benefit analysis for each measure individually and for an optimized package of measures that reduces net electricity consumption to achieve as close to zero net energy as is cost-effectively possible.

The recipient will use EnergyPlus, a building energy modeling tool, to analyze the costeffectiveness of various electricity saving/generation measures for multifamily and commercial buildings in California. For each building type and climate zone, the results will include a cost-benefit analysis for each measure individually and for an optimized package of measures that reduces net electricity consumption to achieve as close to zero net energy as is cost-effectively possible.

This project will develop new practical design and operation tools for radiant cooling and heating systems in order to provide a standardized guidance for radiant systems. The approach will include a combination of fundamental full-scale laboratory experiments, whole-building simulations, development of simplified models for radiant system controls, validation of these new methods in field studies, occupant satisfaction surveys, and an update to Title-24 for radiant systems. The project outcomes will include 1) a simplified tool for calculating the cooling load and cooling capacity of a radiant slab system, including calculation methods with significant direct solar radiation, 2) a simplified online operational tool for radiant slab systems, and 3) updates to the Title 24 Alternative Calculation Method Reference Manual to enable improved modeling capabilities of radiant systems.

This project will develop new practical design and operation tools for radiant cooling and heating systems in order to provide a standardized guidance for radiant systems. The approach will include a combination of fundamental full-scale laboratory experiments, whole-building simulations, development of simplified models for radiant system controls, validation of these new methods in field studies, occupant satisfaction surveys, and an update to Title-24 for radiant systems. The project outcomes will include 1) a simplified tool for calculating the cooling load and cooling capacity of a radiant slab system, including calculation methods with significant direct solar radiation, 2) a simplified online operational tool for radiant slab systems, and 3) updates to the Title 24 Alternative Calculation Method Reference Manual to enable improved modeling capabilities of radiant systems.

The purpose of this project is to fund research that will reduce the stress on current water infrastructure in California. Research will include: (1) development of high water recovery desalination processes for non-traditional waters, (2) characterizing the potential for non-traditional water use in California, (3) development of recycled water scenarios for electricity generation, and (4) improving the characterization of California's snowpack.

The purpose of this project is to fund research that will reduce the stress on current water infrastructure in California. Research will include: (1) development of high water recovery desalination processes for non-traditional waters, (2) characterizing the potential for non-traditional water use in California, (3) development of recycled water scenarios for electricity generation, and (4) improving the characterization of California's snowpack.

PARC, A Xerox Company, in partnership with Energy ETC Inc., will develop a wireless system of peel-and-stick sensor nodes that are powered by radio frequency hubs, relaying data to building management systems that can significantly reduce energy use. The wireless sensors and radio frequency hubs provide an opportunity to increase building energy efficiency by gathering and compiling data needed for building management.

The project will provide detailed cost effectiveness modeling of all electric zero net energy (ZNE) homes versus ZNE homes with gas-based heating. Evaluation will include costs of building integration, energy efficiency packages, installed equipment and lifetime investment costs such as energy costs, and infrastructure costs (natural gas pipeline and electricity distribution system). The project will provide both spatial and temporal analysis in providing cost effectiveness assessment in four California climate zones and provide cost evolution scenarios as a function of time, for example as the ZNE industry scales up and under various policy and energy cost assumptions. The analysis will provide policymakers with a better understanding of the costs and benefits of ZNE policy choices between today and future ZNE milestones (2020, 2030), and the trade-offs for all electric versus electric and gas households

The project will provide detailed cost effectiveness modeling of all electric zero net energy (ZNE) homes versus ZNE homes with gas-based heating. Evaluation will include costs of building integration, energy efficiency packages, installed equipment and lifetime investment costs such as energy costs, and infrastructure costs (natural gas pipeline and electricity distribution system). The project will provide both spatial and temporal analysis in providing cost effectiveness assessment in four California climate zones and provide cost evolution scenarios as a function of time, for example as the ZNE industry scales up and under various policy and energy cost assumptions. The analysis will provide policymakers with a better understanding of the costs and benefits of ZNE policy choices between today and future ZNE milestones (2020, 2030), and the trade-offs for all electric versus electric and gas households