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At least 235 records · Page 13

NASA's Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program Enables Researchers to Take Advantage of This Rapidly Evolving Industry

The growth of commercial Earth Observation (EO) satellite industry is accelerating rapidly, bringing a diverse set of products to a wide range of EO research domains. NASA’s Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program, established in 2017, identifies, evaluates, and acquires commercial data - products, including very high-resolution imagery spanning from visible to short-wave infrared wavelengths, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery, as well as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data that support, augment, and complement NASA’s extensive catalog of Earth science data. The poster demonstrates how users can learn about the CSDA Program, access the data, and find results from publications and findings of NASA researchers. NASA-acquired commercial data are governed by an end user license agreement. This poster is intended as a practical guide to what the CSDA Program is, where to discover the data and types, and how to access and use the data for scientific purposes.

Stephan Klene↗

Enhancing Future Commercial Space Stations: Applying ISS Insights to Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) Development

The expansion of space exploration to commercial space stations represents a shift from government-led endeavors to a new competitive era driven by private companies and innovative forces. The journey to actualize these celestial outposts is fraught with difficulties, including the intricate establishment of Environmental Control and Life Support systems (ECLSS) within these commercial space stations. By applying the insights gleaned from the ISS, particularly during the initial conceptual design phase of the commercial developments, there is an opportunity to circumvent some of the teething issues and optimize the development process. Furthermore, applying insights from the ISS ECLSS design, development, test, and maintenance phases has the potential to enhance system compatibility and mitigate the challenges associated with upgrading a fixed design. This approach can lead to lower costs due to fewer iterations and streamlined processes. This paper will conduct an in-depth evaluation of the ECLS system from both system and operational perspectives with the aim to provide a knowledge capture for early-stage design considerations to bolster the development of sustainable, efficient, and habitable commercial space stations.

ISS↗

Enhancing Future Commercial Space Stations: Applying ISS Insights to Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) Development

The expansion of space exploration to commercial space stations represents a shift from government-led endeavors to a new competitive era driven by private companies and innovative forces. The journey to actualize these celestial outposts is fraught with difficulties, including the intricate establishment of Environmental Control and Life Support systems (ECLSS) within these commercial space stations. By applying the insights gleaned from the ISS, particularly during the initial conceptual design phase of the commercial developments, there is an opportunity to circumvent some of the teething issues and optimize the development process. Furthermore, applying insights from the ISS ECLSS design, development, test, and maintenance phases has the potential to enhance system compatibility and mitigate the challenges associated with upgrading a fixed design. This approach can lead to lower costs due to fewer iterations and streamlined processes. This paper will conduct an in-depth evaluation of the ECLS system from both system and operational perspectives with the aim to provide a knowledge capture for early-stage design considerations to bolster the development of sustainable, efficient, and habitable commercial space stations.

ISS↗

Commercial Energy Code Compliance – Just the Facts, Ma’am

What percent of newly constructed commercial buildings comply with the energy code? How much energy and cost could be saved if the compliance increased? Which code requirements have both low compliance rates and high savings potential? These are the questions U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is trying to answer through its Commercial Energy Code Field Study. Previous commercial studies have been very limited and did not result in a widely accepted and tested methodology. DOE’s goal is to create a standardized methodology that can produce actionable results at a reasonable study cost, that can be used by state and local governments and utilities and provides valuable information to policy makers. This paper builds on the methodology presented at the 2016 Summer Study and provides a first glimpse of the results as seen in the field. The field study team has implemented the pilot methodology, compiling a data set of over 200 office and retail buildings in climate zones 2A and 5A. The approach is based on identifying lost savings on a total energy cost basis rather than simply counting the quantity of measures that do not meet code. This paper will review the findings of that analysis, discuss critical aspects of the methodology, such as sampling and recruitment strategies, and identify areas where the greatest return—bang for the buck—exists in improving compliance with codes in commercial buildings. In addition, the team will make specific recommendations for jurisdictions looking to use the methodology to maximize energy code savings achieved in the field.

Cheslak, Kimberly↗

An Energy Calculator for Simple Commercial Buildings

According to the EIA, simple commercial buildings account for 97% of total commercial building stock. However, most simple commercial buildings for example small- to mid-sized offices, retail, schools and warehouses do not benefit from the data-driven decision-making capabilities of whole-building energy modeling. The high cost of custom modeling limits the use of energy modeling of simple buildings for new construction or retrofit measures. Lack of tools providing helpful information on interactive savings estimates creates difficulties in meeting aggressive decarbonization and energy efficiency goals for simple building designers and utility program managers. This paper reviews a beta phase Simple Building Calculator with the ability to generate relatively accurate and interactive modeling results based on a limited but robust set of inputs. It can evaluate whole-building or single measure savings in new or existing buildings, compare measure package choices, or provide simplified performance modeling for energy codes and utility incentives. The tool combines physical (annual whole building prototype simulation) and statistical modeling techniques to predict annual energy performance. It supports a variety of building characteristics for envelope, HVAC, and lighting with parameters ranging from vintage to max tech configurations, as well as support for single-zone and simple multi-zone HVAC systems. The Simple Building Calculator was designed to provide immediate feedback for otherwise computationally intensive tasks like measure comparison, development of multiple measure package combinations, or verification that measures meet efficiency targets—all with the goal of providing a tool for quick annual energy simulation of simple commercial buildings.

Hart, Reid↗

Microstructural Characterization of A709 Commercial Heats with Precipitation Treatment

This report discusses work conducted at Idaho National Laboratory in fiscal year 2022 associated with the precipitates in Alloy 709 (A709). The purpose of this work is to support the development of the A709 Code Cases to qualify A709 in Section III, Division 5 of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. This would permit the use of A709 for elevated-temperature nuclear construction. This work encompassed two broad goals. The first goal was to understand the microstructure of the second commercial heat of plate A709 purchased through the Advanced Reactors Technologies Program in both the solution-annealed and precipitation-treated conditions. Transmission electron microscopy was utilized to characterize these microstructures. Direct comparisons were then made between the solution-annealed and precipitation-treated conditions as well as between the first and second commercial heats of plate A709. The second goal was to understand the impact of variations in the time and temperature of the precipitation treatment on the properties of A709. The precipitation treatment temperature was varied from 750°C to 800°C for times ranging from 3 hours to 30 hours. The hardness of each precipitation treatment variation was measured. All of the precipitation treatment variations investigated besides a specimen from the second commercial heat of plate A709 precipitation treated at 800? for 9 hours met the room-temperature hardness requirement specified in ASTM A213 and SA-213 for UNS S31025. The hardness measured for the specimen from the second commercial heat of plate A709 that was precipitation treated at 800? for 9 hours is considered an outlier. The next step is to look at the extremes of the precipitation treatment variations investigated and conduct elevated-temperature mechanical testing. The purpose of this testing would be to assess if these time and temperature variations have any impact on the mechanical performance.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Connecting Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure to Commercial Buildings

Electric vehicles (EVs) are growing in popularity and gaining meaningful market share with record sales year over year in the last decade. EV charging equipment, also known as EV chargers (EVC) or EV supply equipment (EVSE), must proportionally match the growing number of new EVs on the road for a comparable experience to gas-powered vehicles. The majority of EV charging currently happens at residential buildings. However, demand for EV charging at commercial buildings will significantly increase with wider mainstream EV adoption and as businesses return to more normal operation following COVID-19 pandemic disruptions. Charging equipment can include various sub-systems like power conditioning module, control software, safety devices, metering, communication, cooling, connectors, and its wiring. EV charging at commercial buildings could be used for public, workplace, and commercial fleet charging. This document aims to describe how EVC can be connected to commercial buildings, including considerations for facility managers, and the effects that charging will have on the buildings electrical distribution system. More specifically, this resource provides an overview of: understanding EV charging basics: how charging equipment connects to the building and to EVs; required infrastructure updates needed at the building site to connect EVC to existing distribution systems; network strategies for cost-effective operation; metering and utility considerations for billing and incentives; charging equipment ownership options; future trends in EVC connection to buildings.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,ENERGY CONSERVATION, C↗

Experimental Aging and Lifetime Prediction in Grid Applications for Large-Format Commercial Li-Ion Batteries

Due to the growth of electric vehicle and stationary energy storage markets, the production and use of lithium-ion batteries has grown exponentially in recent years. For many of these applications, large-format lithium-ion batteries are being utilized, as large cells have less inactive material relative to their energy capacity and require fewer electrical connections to assemble into packs. And especially for stationary energy storage systems, where energy delivered is the only revenue source, the economics of these battery systems is highly dependent on cell lifetime. However, testing of large-format lithium-ion batteries is time consuming and requires high current channels and large testing chambers, making information on the performance of commercial, large-format lithium-ion batteries hard to come by. Here, accelerated aging test data from four commercial large-format lithium-ion batteries is reported. These batteries span both NMC-Gr and LFP-Gr cell chemistries, pouch and prismatic formats, and a range of cell designs with varying power capabilities. Accelerated aging test results are analyzed to examine both cell performance, in terms of efficiency and thermal response under load, as well as cell lifetime. Cell thermal response is characterized by measuring temperature during cycle aging, which is used to calculated a normalized thermal resistance value that may help estimate both cell cooling needs or to help extrapolate aging test results to different thermal environments. Cell lifetime is evaluated qualitatively, considering simply the average calendar and cycle life across a range of conditions, as well as quantitatively, using statistical modeling and machine-learning methods to identify predictive aging models from the accelerated aging data. These predictive aging models are then used to investigate cell sensitivities to stressors, such as cycling temperature, voltage window, and C-rate, as well as to predict cell lifetime in various stationary storage applications. Results from this work show that cell lifetime and sensitivity to aging conditions varies substantially across commercial cells, necessitating testing for specific cell formats to make quantitative lifetime predictions. That being said, all commercial cells tested here are predicted to reach at least 10-year lifetimes for stationary storage applications. Based on the aging test results and modeling, some cells are expected to be relatively insensitive to temperature and use-case, making them suited for simple use cases with little or no thermal management and simple controls, while the lifetime of other cells could be extended to 20+ years if operated with thermal management and degradation-aware controls.

battery↗

Spatio-temporal and weather characterization of road loads of electrified heavy-duty commercial vehicles across U.S. interstate roads

Adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEV) in heavy duty (HD) commercial freight transportation is difficult due to technological and economic hurdles. Beyond safety and compliance, fleet and operational logistics necessitate both high uptime and parity with diesel system productivity/Total Cost of Ownership to support widespread deployment of electric powertrains. However, relatively high energy storage costs, along with the higher weight of BEV systems, limit the viability of HD commercial freight transport to shorter-range applications where smaller batteries will serve for mission energy requirements (single operational shift). Knowing the energy consumption and operating variations of these commercial vehicle systems is crucial for effectively sizing the energy storage systems. This paper is the first in a series of studies to understand the regional specific operating design domain variations of commercial Class 8 HD trucks and the associated impact to their energy requirements. In particular, the local weather conditions are shown to influence the total vehicle energy usage. Further, the impact of temperature, pressure, and humidity changes are shown to impact the local air density. This is needed to calculate aerodynamic drag on vehicles and has been found to play a significant role in the overall performance of a vehicle. Although the methodology of calculating air density varies only slightly throughout the literature, the application to transportation has still been limited. This study provides a means by which air density can be estimated for the contiguous U.S. using the NOAA MADIS dataset. These air density estimates were then used to determine vehicle performance in varying regions of the country to highlight the importance of consideration of weather variables when monitoring vehicle performance, but also to provide recommendations based on these locales upon fleet conversion to BEVs.

Moore, Amy↗

Spectrum Interference from Commercial devices in 6 & 7/8 GHz

FCC repurposed spectrum in the 6 GHz band allocated to DOE for commercial use of Wi-Fi 6E/7 in 2020.The 2024 National Spectrum Strategy (NSS) implementation plan is now considering 7/8 GHz band as well for co-existence of commercial devices with federal incumbents such as DOE. This poster summarizes INL’s work on a scientific study on the potential harmful interference caused by the commercial devices in real-world scenarios. It includes research in INL for the following projects funded by DOE: 1) DOE-CIO: Spectrum security for advanced wireless technologies; 2) DOE-OE: 7 GHz Spectrum interference study; 3) DOE-CESER: Harmful interference in 6 GHz from commercial Wi-Fi 6E/7 devices on utility links in the energy sector; 4) DOE/NTIA for NSS Implementation plan: Interference study in 7/8 GHz bands identified in the NSS. 5) NSF: Spectrum Innovation Initiative- National Radio Dynamic Zones (SII-NRDZ).

6 GHz↗

City and County Commercial Building Inventories

The Commercial Building Inventories provide modeled data on commercial building type, vintage, and area for each U.S. city and county. Please note this data is modeled and more precise data may be available through county assessors or other sources. Commercial building stock data is estimated using CoStar Realty Information, Inc. building stock data. This data is part of a suite of state and local energy profile data available at the "State and Local Energy Profile Data Suite" link below and builds on Cities-LEAP energy modeling, available at the "EERE Cities-LEAP Page" link below. Examples of how to use the data to inform energy planning can be found at the "Example Uses" link below.

Array↗

Progression of Space Transportation - Transitioning from Government to Commercial

Spaceflight began as the exclusive province of government, however, starting in the 1980's the United States began to promote commercial participation in space transportation. Beginning with Executive policy and extending through legislation and regulation, NASA has embarked on facilitating the commercialization of space transportation to serve NASA needs and enable a non-NASA market place. This presentation provides background on the transition to commercial space transportation and the specific role NASA is playing in that endeavor.

Commercialization↗

High-moisture pelleting of corn stover using pilot- and commercial-scale systems: Impact of moisture content, L / D ratio and hammer mill screen size on pellet quality and energy consumption

Here, high-moisture pelleting of corn stover was tested in pilot- and commercial-scale systems. For the pilot-scale study, a 6.35 mm screen size hammer mill ground corn stover was reconditioned to moisture between 14 and 29.6% (w.b.), and 5, 7 and 9 L/D ratio pellet die were used. At 29% corn stover moisture content and L/D ratios of 5 and 9, the bulk density and durability of the pellets were ≤450 kg/m 3 and <90% and >540 kg/m 3 and >90%, respectively. Increasing the feedstock moisture and L/D ratio increased the pelleting energy. Increasing the hammer mill screen size to 11.11 mm reduced the bulk density but not the durability. The response surface models adequately described the pelleting process (R 2 ≥ 0.88), and analysis of variance showed a strong interaction between the process variables and pellet properties. Commercial-scale testing of high-moisture pelleting using 6.35 mm ground corn stover bales in the moisture range 24–26% (w.b.) produced pellets with a density of >675 kg/m 3 and durability of >98%, whereas increasing the hammer mill screen size to 11.11 mm reduced the bulk density by about 100 kg/m 3 but not the durability. The energy consumption of the commercial-scale unit operations for the high-moisture pelleting process was in the range 98–124 kW h/ton, which is 64–72% less energy than conventional pelleting that requires energy about 350 kW h/ton for biomass drying from 30% (w.b.) to 10% (w.b.) moisture content before pelleting. Pellets produced using high-moisture pelleting met International Organization for Standardization and Pellets Fuel Institute international standards. Published 2023. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Empirical validation of building energy simulation model input parameter for multizone commercial building during the cooling season

This paper presents a critical advancement in Building Energy Modeling (BEM) through an empirical validation approach using a high-quality dataset from a multizone commercial office building in Oak Ridge, TN, USA. BEM is widely utilized in diverse construction applications, but its effectiveness relies on the accuracy of its predictions. The study focuses on empirical validation of input parameters in BEM, including building envelope data, infiltration modeling, and rooftop unit system performance curves. The validation of simulation input parameters leads to substantial improvements in the accuracy of simulation results. Notable both NMBE and cv (RMSE) values are reduced by 0.5 % for indoor air temperature and 17 % for indoor air relative humidity compared to the previous model. At the system level, both NMBE and cv (RMSE) values are reduced by 2 % for fan energy consumption and 4 % for cooling energy consumption, compared to the previous model. A literature review highlights a significant gap in empirical validation studies, which predominantly concentrate on either component-level or whole building validation. Furthermore, many studies employ simplified setups that may not faithfully represent the complexities of multizone commercial buildings. This paper distinguishes itself by emphasizing the critical importance of component-level input parameter validation. It underlines the need to validate data related to building envelope components and HVAC system performance curves, resulting in more accurate simulation outcomes. In conclusion, the utilization of actual multizone commercial building data enhances the study's practical relevance. In summary, this research underscores the pivotal role of input parameter validation in enhancing the accuracy and reliability of BEM.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

ENERGY STAR for Tenants: An Online Energy Estimation Tool for Commercial Office Building Tenants

The commercial building sector consumes over 18% of the total energy in the United States. According to the 2012 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), office buildings comprise nearly 16 billion square feet of floor space and consume 253 billion kWh of energy annually. Office buildings represent nearly one-fifth of the energy consumed by commercial buildings, more than any other building type. Therefore, monitoring and reducing energy consumption in office buildings has become an increasingly important focus across the United States. The goal of the ENERGY STAR for Tenants program is to recognize office building tenants who demonstrate commitment to energy efficiency and environmental stewardship. Tenants seeking recognition must complete five major steps: estimate energy use, meter energy use, use efficient lighting, use efficient equipment, and share data. NREL is responsible for the underlying analysis performed for step one, estimating energy use. An online survey was developed for tenants to input information about their office space and its internal loads. NREL performed a parametric analysis across a large parameter space of office buildings. The analysis results were processed to map the user inputs to output energy ranges. The mappings enable the web tool to provide users with instant energy usage estimates based on a limited number of inputs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

R&D Insights for Extreme Fast Charging of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles: Insights from the NREL Commercial Vehicles and Extreme Fast Charging Research Needs Workshop, August 27-28, 2019

As battery costs have declined and battery performance has improved, the applicability of vehicle electrification has expanded beyond passenger cars to the commercial vehicle sector. However, due to the larger batteries that would be needed for the medium- and heavy-duty (MDHD) sector, the electric charging capabilities to serve these larger commercial vehicles will need to be substantially more powerful than light-duty chargers. More specifically, such 'extreme fast charging' (XFC) will likely need to reach the megawatt scale to provide a full charge in less than 30 minutes in some applications. In addition, the combined cost of electrified vehicles and charging must be competitive with the costs of petroleum-based technologies and other alternatives to encourage widespread adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) among MDHD fleets. Most of these fleets have a commercial mission and demand low total cost of ownership (TCO) (which motivates minimal refueling times) and high performance from their vehicles.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Commercial Building Sensors and Controls Systems - Barriers, Drivers, and Costs

Optimized building sensors and controls systems could lead to 29% annual energy savings in commercial buildings and are integral to the growth of grid-interactive efficient buildings. However, only 8% of small commercial buildings have installed sensors and controls systems-which is largely due to cost barriers. This publication seeks to increase the transparency of system costs and identify specific barriers and drivers for increased adoption. Qualitative interview data was collected from 20 interviews with industry and qualitative cost data was collected from invoices during the interviews. The greater understanding of costs and barriers associated with commercial building sensors and controls systems lays the groundwork for future steps in increasing system adoption, reducing energy consumption, and market transformation.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

SECARB-USA: Preliminary Regional Commercialization Plan (Task 4.4.a)

The SECARB-USA region refers to the states in the southeastern portion of the United States including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, eastern Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, eastern Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. This region is a hub for economic activity and accordingly emits almost 1 Gtpa of CO 2 which is the motivation for the development of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). This preliminary commercialization plan reviews the status of commercialization of CCS within the region, outlines the infrastructure buildout to achieve CO 2 reduction goals by 2050 described by the Los Alamos National Lab in Task 4.1.b (see the Task 4.1.b “Technoeconomic Analysis of Infrastructure Buildout Scenarios” report), and provides an early estimate of the economic activity and employment creation resulting from the increase in CCS activity. Additionally, this report addresses the challenges associated with commercializing CCS within the region at a large scale.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗