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At least 199 records · Page 11

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DOE OSTI2014

Challenges of Achieving 2012 IECC Air Sealing Requirements in Multifamily Dwellings

While previous versions of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) have included provisions to improve the air tightness of dwellings, for the first time, the 2012 IECC mandates compliance verification through blower door testing. Simply completing the Air Barrier and Insulation Installation checklist through visual inspection is no longer sufficient by itself. In addition, the 2012 IECC mandates a significantly stricter air sealing requirement. In Climate Zones 3 through 8, air leakage may not exceed 3 ACH50, which is a significant reduction from the 2009 IECC requirement of 7 ACH50. This requirement is for all residential buildings, which includes low-rise multifamily dwellings. While this air leakage rate requirement is an important component to achieving an efficient building thermal envelope, currently, the code language doesn't explicitly address differences between single family and multifamily applications. In addition, the 2012 IECC does not provide an option to sample dwellings for larger multifamily buildings, so compliance would have to be verified on every unit. With compliance with the 2012 IECC air leakage requirements on the horizon, several of CARB's multifamily builder partners are evaluating how best to comply with this requirement. Builders are not sure whether it is more practical or beneficial to simply pay for guarded testing or to revise their air sealing strategies to improve compartmentalization to comply with code requirements based on unguarded blower door testing. This report summarizes CARB's research that was conducted to assess the feasibility of meeting the 2012 IECC air leakage requirements in 3 multifamily buildings.

&#8203↗

DOE OSTI2014

The Effect of Job Performance Aids on Quality Assurance

Job performance aids (JPAs) have been studied for many decades in a variety of disciplines and for many different types of tasks, yet this is the first known research experiment using JPAs in a quality assurance (QA) context. The objective of this thesis was to assess whether a JPA has an effect on the performance of a QA observer performing the concurrent dual verification technique for a basic assembly task. The JPA used in this study was a simple checklist, and the design borrows heavily from prior research on task analysis and other human factors principles. The assembly task and QA construct of concurrent dual verification are consistent with those of a high consequence manufacturing environment. Results showed that the JPA had only a limited effect on QA performance in the context of this experiment. However, there were three important and unexpected findings that may draw interest from a variety of practitioners. First, a novel testing methodology sensitive enough to measure the effects of a JPA on performance was created. Second, the discovery that there are different probabilities of detection for different types of error in a QA context may be the most far-reaching results. Third, these results highlight the limitations of concurrent dual verification as a control against defects. It is hoped that both the methodology and results of this study are an effective baseline from which to launch future research activities.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2015

High Performance Walls in Hot-Dry Climates

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2015

Post-Closure Inspection Report for the Tonopah Test Range, Nevada, for Calendar Year 2014

This report provides the results of the annual post-closure inspections conducted at the closed Corrective Action Units (CAUs) located on the Tonopah Test Range (TTR), Nevada. This report covers calendar year 2014 and includes inspection and repair activities completed at the following CAUs; CAU 400: Bomblet Pit and Five Points Landfill (TTR); CAU 407: Roller Coaster RadSafe Area (TTR); CAU 424: Area 3 Landfill Complexes (TTR); CAU 453: Area 9 UXO Landfill (TTR); and CAU 487: Thunderwell Site (TTR) Inspections were conducted according to the post-closure plans in the approved Closure Reports and subsequent correspondence with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. The post-closure inspection plans and subsequent correspondence modifying the requirements for each CAU are included in Appendix B. The inspection checklists are included in Appendix C. Photographs taken during inspections are included in Appendix D. The annual post-closure inspections were conducted on May 28, 2014. Maintenance was required at CAU 407. Animal burrows were backfilled and erosion repairs were performed. Vegetation monitoring was performed at CAU 407 in June 2014. The vegetation monitoring report is included in Appendix E.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

DOE OSTI2014

Challenges of Achieving 2012 IECC Air Sealing Requirements in Multifamily Dwellings

While previous versions of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) have included provisions to improve the air tightness of dwellings, for the first time, the 2012 IECC mandates compliance verification through blower door testing. Simply completing the Air Barrier and Insulation Installation checklist through visual inspection is no longer sufficient by itself. In addition, the 2012 IECC mandates a significantly stricter air sealing requirement. In Climate Zones 3 through 8, air leakage may not exceed 3 ACH50, which is a significant reduction from the 2009 IECC requirement of 7 ACH50. This requirement is for all residential buildings, which includes low-rise multifamily dwellings. While this air leakage rate requirement is an important component to achieving an efficient building thermal envelope, currently, the code language doesn't explicitly address differences between single family and multifamily applications. In addition, the 2012 IECC does not provide an option to sample dwellings for larger multifamily buildings, so compliance would have to be verified on every unit. With compliance with the 2012 IECC air leakage requirements on the horizon, several of Consortium for Advanced Residential Building's (CARB’s) multifamily builder partners are evaluating how best to comply with this requirement. Builders are not sure whether it is more practical or beneficial to simply pay for guarded testing or to revise their air sealing strategies to improve compartmentalization to comply with code requirements based on unguarded blower door testing. This report summarizes CARB's research that was conducted to assess the feasibility of meeting the 2012 IECC air leakage requirements in 3 multifamily buildings.

2012 IECC↗

DOE OSTI2015

High Performance Walls in Hot-Dry Climates

High performance walls represent a high priority measure for moving the next generation of new homes to the Zero Net Energy performance level. The primary goal in improving wall thermal performance revolves around increasing the wall framing from 2x4 to 2x6, adding more cavity and exterior rigid insulation, achieving insulation installation criteria meeting ENERGY STAR's thermal bypass checklist. To support this activity, in 2013 the Pacific Gas & Electric Company initiated a project with Davis Energy Group (lead for the Building America team, Alliance for Residential Building Innovation) to solicit builder involvement in California to participate in field demonstrations of high performance wall systems. Builders were given incentives and design support in exchange for providing site access for construction observation, cost information, and builder survey feedback. Information from the project was designed to feed into the 2016 Title 24 process, but also to serve as an initial mechanism to engage builders in more high performance construction strategies. This Building America project utilized information collected in the California project.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2015

Smart Grid Demonstration Project (Final Report)

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) organized the NRECA-U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Smart Grid Demonstration Project (DE-OE0000222) to install and study a broad range of advanced smart grid technologies in a demonstration that spanned 23 electric cooperatives in 12 states. More than 205,444 pieces of electronic equipment and more than 100,000 minor items (bracket, labels, mounting hardware, fiber optic cable, etc.) were installed to upgrade and enhance the efficiency, reliability, and resiliency of the power networks at the participating co-ops. The objective of this project was to build a path for other electric utilities, and particularly electrical cooperatives, to adopt emerging smart grid technology when it can improve utility operations, thus advancing the co-ops’ familiarity and comfort with such technology. Specifically, the project executed multiple subprojects employing a range of emerging smart grid technologies to test their cost-effectiveness and, where the technology demonstrated value, provided case studies that will enable other electric utilities—particularly electric cooperatives— to use these technologies. NRECA structured the project according to the following three areas: Demonstration of smart grid technology; Advancement of standards to enable the interoperability of components; and Improvement of grid cyber security. We termed these three areas Technology Deployment Study, Interoperability, and Cyber Security. Although the deployment of technology and studying the demonstration projects at coops accounted for the largest portion of the project budget by far, we see our accomplishments in each of the areas as critical to advancing the smart grid. All project deliverables have been published. Technology Deployment Study: The deliverable was a set of 11 single-topic technical reports in areas related to the listed technologies. Each of these reports has already been submitted to DOE, distributed to co-ops, and posted for universal access at www.nreca.coop/smartgrid. This research is available for widespread distribution to both cooperative members and non-members. These reports are listed in Table 1.2. Interoperability: The deliverable in this area was the advancement of the MultiSpeak™ interoperability standard from version 4.0 to version 5.0, and improvement in the MultiSpeak™ documentation to include more than 100 use cases. This deliverable substantially expanded the scope and usability of MultiSpeak™, the most widely deployed utility interoperability standard, now in use by more than 900 utilities. MultiSpeak™ documentation can be accessed only at www.multispeak.org. Cyber Security: NRECA’s starting point was to develop cyber security tools that incorporated succinct guidance on best practices. The deliverables were: cyber security extensions to MultiSpeak™, which allow more security message exchanges; a Guide to Developing a Cyber Security and Risk Mitigation Plan; a Cyber Security Risk Mitigation Checklist; a Cyber Security Plan Template that co-ops can use to create their own cyber security plans; and Security Questions for Smart Grid Vendors.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2016

Assessing Potential Energy Cost Savings from Increased Energy Code Compliance in Commercial Buildings

The US Department of Energy’s most recent commercial energy code compliance evaluation efforts focused on determining a percent compliance rating for states to help them meet requirements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. That approach included a checklist of code requirements, each of which was graded pass or fail. Percent compliance for any given building was simply the percent of individual requirements that passed. With its binary approach to compliance determination, the previous methodology failed to answer some important questions. In particular, how much energy cost could be saved by better compliance with the commercial energy code and what are the relative priorities of code requirements from an energy cost savings perspective? This paper explores an analytical approach and pilot study using a single building type and climate zone to answer those questions.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2016

LAFD: TA-15 DARHT Firefighter Facility Familiarization Tour, OJT 53044, Revision 0.2

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL or the Lab) will conduct familiarization tours for the Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) at the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) Facility, TA-15-0312. The purpose of these tours is to orient LAFD firefighters to the DARHT facility layout and hazards. This document provides information and figures to supplement the familiarization tours. The document will be distributed to the trainees at the time of the familiarization tour. A checklist (Attachment A) has also been developed to ensure that all required information is consistently presented to LAFD personnel during the familiarization tours.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Post-Closure Inspection Report for the Tonopah Test Range, Nevada. For Calendar Year 2015, Revision 0

This report provides the results of the annual post-closure inspections conducted at the closed corrective action units (CAUs) located on the Tonopah Test Range (TTR), Nevada. This report covers calendar year 2015 and includes inspection and repair activities completed at the following CAUs; CAU 400: Bomblet Pit and Five Points Landfill (TTR); CAU 407: Roller Coaster RadSafe Area (TTR); CAU 424: Area 3 Landfill Complexes (TTR); CAU 453: Area 9 UXO Landfill (TTR); and CAU 487: Thunderwell Site (TTR) Inspections were conducted according to the post-closure plans in the approved closure reports and subsequent correspondence with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. The post-closure inspection plans and subsequent correspondence modifying the requirements for each CAU are included in Appendix B. The inspection checklists are included in Appendix C. Field notes are included in Appendix D. The annual post-closure inspections were conducted on May 12, 2015. Maintenance was required at CAU 453. Cracking along the north trench was repaired. One monument is missing at CAU 424; it will be replaced in 2016. Postings at CAUs 407, 424, 453, and 487 contain contact information for TTR Security. It was noted that protocols may not be in place to ensure that the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office (NNSA/NFO) is notified if access is needed at these sites. NNSA/NFO is working with the U.S. Air Force and Sandia to determine whether more appropriate contact information or new protocols are warranted for each CAU. Based on these inspections, there has not been a significant change in vegetation, and vegetation monitoring was not recommended at CAU 400 or CAU 407 in 2015.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2014

Human Health Science Building Geothermal Heat Pump Systems

The grant objectives of the DOE grant funded project have been successfully completed. The Human Health Building (HHB) was constructed and opened for occupancy for the Fall 2012 semester of Oakland University. As with any large construction project, some issues arose which all were overcome to deliver the project on budget and on time. The facility design is a geothermal / solar-thermal hybrid building utilizing both desiccant dehumidification and variable refrigerant flow heat pumps. It is a cooling dominant building with a 400 ton cooling design day load, and 150 ton heating load on a design day. A 256 vertical borehole (320 ft depth) ground source heat pump array is located south of the building under the existing parking lot. The temperature swing and performance over 2013 through 2015 shows the ground loop is well sized, and may even have excess capacity for a future building to the north (planned lab facility). The HHB achieve a US Green Building Counsel LEED Platinum rating by collecting 52 of the total 69 available LEED points for the New Construction v.2 scoring checklist. Being Oakland's first geothermal project, we were very pleased with the building outcome and performance with the energy consumption approximately 1/2 of the campus average facility, on a square foot basis.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2016

Design Guidance for Computer-Based Procedures for Field Workers

Nearly all activities that involve human interaction with nuclear power plant systems are guided by procedures, instructions, or checklists. Paper-based procedures (PBPs) currently used by most utilities have a demonstrated history of ensuring safety; however, improving procedure use could yield significant savings in increased efficiency, as well as improved safety through human performance gains. The nuclear industry is constantly trying to find ways to decrease human error rates, especially human error rates associated with procedure use. As a step toward the goal of improving field workers’ procedure use and adherence and hence improve human performance and overall system reliability, the U.S. Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program researchers, together with the nuclear industry, have been investigating the possibility and feasibility of replacing current paper-based procedures with computer-based procedures (CBPs). PBPs have ensured safe operation of plants for decades, but limitations in paper-based systems do not allow them to reach the full potential for procedures to prevent human errors. The environment in a nuclear power plant is constantly changing, depending on current plant status and operating mode. PBPs, which are static by nature, are being applied to a constantly changing context. This constraint often results in PBPs that are written in a manner that is intended to cover many potential operating scenarios. Hence, the procedure layout forces the operator to search through a large amount of irrelevant information to locate the pieces of information relevant for the task and situation at hand, which has potential consequences of taking up valuable time when operators must be responding to the situation, and potentially leading operators down an incorrect response path. Other challenges related to use of PBPs are management of multiple procedures, place-keeping, finding the correct procedure for a task, and relying on other sources of additional information to ensure a functional and accurate understanding of the current plant status (Converse, 1995; Fink, Killian, Hanes, and Naser, 2009; Le Blanc, Oxstrand, and Waicosky, 2012). This report provides design guidance to be used when designing the human-system interaction and the design of the graphical user interface for a CBP system. The guidance is based on human factors research related to the design and usability of CBPs conducted by Idaho National Laboratory, 2012 - 2016.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2017

LAFD: TA-16 HE Facility Familiarization Tour, OJT 55258

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will conduct familiarization tours for personnel of the Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) at TA-16 high explosives (HE) facilities. These familiarization tours are official LANL business; the purpose of these tours is to orient LAFD firefighters to the facility so that they can respond efficiently and quickly to a variety of emergency situations. This orientation includes, among other topics, ingress and egress of the area and buildings, layout and organization of the facility, evacuation procedures and assembly points, and areas of concern within the various buildings at the facility. LAFD firefighters have the skills and abilities to perform firefighting operations and other emergency response tasks that cannot be provided by LANL personnel who have the required clearance. This handout provides details of the information, along with maps and diagrams, to be presented during the familiarization tours. The handout will be distributed to the trainees at the time of the tour. A corresponding checklist will also be used as guidance during the familiarization tours to ensure that all required information is presented to LAFD personnel.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Los Alamos County Fire Department LAFD: TA-55 PF-4 Facility Familiarization Tour, OJT 55260

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will conduct familiarization tours for Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) personnel at the Plutonium Facility (PF-4) at Technical Area (TA)-55. These familiarization tours are official LANL business; the purpose of these tours is to orient the firefighters to the facility so that they can respond efficiently and quickly to a variety of emergency situations. This orientation includes the ingress and egress of the area and buildings, layout and organization of the facility, evacuation procedures and assembly points, and areas of concern within the various buildings at the facility. LAFD firefighters have the skills and abilities to perform firefighting operations and other emergency response tasks that cannot be provided by other LANL personnel who have the required clearance level. This handout provides details of the information, along with maps and diagrams, to be presented during the familiarization tours. The handout will be distributed to the trainees at the time of the tour. A corresponding checklist will also be used as guidance during the familiarization tours to ensure that all required information is presented to LAFD personnel.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2017

LAFD: TA-55 RLUOB/CUB Facility Familiarization Tour, OJT #55265

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) conducts familiarization tours for personnel of the Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) at the RLUOB/CUB, technical area (TA)-55, 400/440, facility, Radiological Laboratory Utility Office Building (RLUOB)/Central Utility Building (CUB). These familiarization tours are official LANL business; the purpose of these tours is to orient LAFD firefighters to the facility so that they can respond efficiently and quickly to a variety of emergency situations. This orientation includes, among other topics, the ingress and egress of the area and buildings, layout and organization of the facility, evacuation procedures and assembly points, and areas of concern within the various buildings at the facility. LAFD firefighters have the skills and abilities to perform firefighting operations and other emergency response tasks that cannot be provided by other LANL personnel who have the required clearance level. This handout provides details of the information, along with maps and diagrams, to be presented during the familiarization tours. The handout is distributed to the trainees at the time of the tour; a corresponding checklist is also used as guidance during the familiarization tours to ensure that all required information is presented to LAFD personnel.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2017

LAFD: TA-3 NISC & SCC Facility Familiarization Tour, OJT #53356

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL, the Laboratory, or the Lab) conducts familiarization tours for Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) personnel at the Strategic Computing Complex (SCC), TA-03-2327, and the Nonproliferation & International Security Complex (NISC), TA-03-2322. These tours are official LANL business; their purpose is to orient the firefighters to the SCC and the NISC so that they can respond efficiently and quickly to a variety of emergency situations. The tour includes ingress and egress of the buildings, layout and organization of the buildings, evacuation procedures, and areas of concern to emergency responders within these buildings. LAFD firefighters have the training, skills, and abilities to perform these emergency responder tasks; other LANL personnel who have the required clearance level cannot perform these tasks. This handout provides details of the information, along with maps and diagrams, to be presented during the familiarization tours. The report will be distributed to the trainees at the time of the tour. A corresponding checklist will also be used as guidance during the familiarization tours to ensure that all required information is presented to the LAFD personnel.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2018

LAFD: TA-55 General Facility Familiarization Tour, Course #55261

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will conduct familiarization tours for personnel of the Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) at the TA-55 General Facility. These familiarization tours are official LANL business; the purpose of these tours is to orient LAFD firefighters to the facility so that they can respond efficiently and quickly to a variety of emergency situations. This orientation includes, among other topics, ingress and egress of the area and buildings, layout and organization of the facility, evacuation procedures and assembly points, and areas of concern within the various buildings at the facility. LAFD firefighters have the skills and abilities to perform firefighting operations and other emergency response tasks that cannot be provided by LANL personnel who have the required clearance level. This handout provides details of the information, along with maps and diagrams, to be presented during the familiarization tours. The handout will be distributed to the trainees at the time of the tour. A corresponding checklist will also be used as guidance during the familiarization tours to ensure that all required information is presented to LAFD personnel.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2018

On-Site Inspection RadioIsotopic Spectroscopy (Osiris) System-Integration and Field-Testing Report

We have designed a system for the acquisition and analysis of high-resolution gamma-ray spectra during on-site inspections under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The On-Site Inspection RadioIsotopic Spectroscopy—OSIRIS —gamma-ray spectrometer is a mechanically-cooled, battery-powered ORTEC IDM-200V, chosen to avoid the need for liquid nitrogen during on-site inspections. The spectrometer is controlled and the spectral data analyzed by a Panasonic Toughbook notebook computer. Spectral data analysis is similar to that performed by traditional gamma-ray spectrometers, except the OSIRIS gamma-ray spectral data are filtered to display only radioisotopic information relevant to CTBT on-site inspections, for example, the fission-product isotope Zr-95 and its daughter isotope Nb-95. The OSIRIS software assists the user during operation with software checklists for startup and shutdown, and menu-selected display windows during energy calibration and data acquisition. OSIRIS can be operated in either sample-counting mode or the in-situ mode. In this report, the extensive system-integration tests of the OSIRIS system carried out in 2015-2017 are described, including tests at Idaho National Laboratory, at the Nevada National Security Site (formerly, the Nevada Test Site), and at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington. We also note recent software enhancements and the steps to our successful commercialization of OSIRIS.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗