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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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In some communities, local government and non-profit entities have funds to purchase and renovate distressed, foreclosed homes for resale in the affordable housing market. Numerous opportunities to improve whole house energy efficiency are inherent in these comprehensive renovations. BA-PIRC worked together in a multiyear field study making recommendations in individual homes, meanwhile compiling improvement costs, projected energy savings, practical challenges, and labor force factors surrounding common energy-related renovation measures. The field study, Phase 1 of this research, resulted in a set of best practices appropriate to the current labor pool and market conditions in central Florida to achieve projected annual energy savings of 15%-30% and higher. This case study describes Phase 2 of the work where researchers worked with a local government partner to implement and refine the "current best practices". A simulation study was conducted to characterize savings potential under three sets of conditions representing varying replacement needs for energy-related equipment and envelope components. The three scenarios apply readily to the general remodeling industry as for renovation of foreclosed homes for the affordable housing market. The new local government partner, the City of Melbourne, implemented the best practices in a community-scale renovation program that included ten homes in 2012.
In this project, the Building Science Corporation team studied a historic brick building in Lawrence, Massachusetts, which is being renovated into 10 condominium units and adding insulation to the interior side of walls of such masonry buildings.
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Changing the air exchange rate of a home (the sum of the infiltration and mechanical ventilation airflow rates) affects the annual thermal conditioning energy. Large-scale changes to air exchange rates of the housing stock can significantly alter the residential sector's energy consumption. However, the complexity of existing residential energy models is a barrier to the accurate quantification of the impact of policy changes on a state or national level. The Incremental Ventilation Energy (IVE) model developed in this study combines the output of simple air exchange models with a limited set of housing characteristics to estimate the associated change in energy demand of homes. The IVE model was designed specifically to enable modellers to use existing databases of housing characteristics to determine the impact of ventilation policy change on a population scale. The IVE model estimates of energy change when applied to US homes with limited parameterisation are shown to be comparable to the estimates of a well-validated, complex residential energy model.
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One of the issues considered in the design and dynamic resistance of structures (as seismic or explosive) is the use of materials which cause reduction in the force applied on the structure. With regard to the fact that greater loading is on the wall of concrete structures, the use of materials that reduce explosive force on the structure wall are among explosive force reduction methods.One of the viscose and damping materials of polymers is FRP, and in this study the FLAC3D software is used to evaluate the effect of this material on reducing force implemented on the walls and hence reduction of wall movement due to explosion. The concrete wall along with the FRP layer is modeled under dynamic loading. The effect of damping coefficient, number of FRP layers and concrete wall thickness has been evaluated.
Cost is a major barrier when upgrading homes to reduce carbon emissions required to meet DOE’s climate-related goals. This report summarizes a nationwide effort to gather home energy upgrade project cost data along with household energy performance data. The goal was to develop cost benchmarks and to guide future R&D efforts aimed at cost compression and scaling of the residential upgrade market. The cost data were compiled for both total project costs and costs of individual measures. The majority of energy savings were modeled, with some models using measured site data for calibration. The database was analyzed using clustering techniques to find common energy and CO2 reduction approaches. The individual measures were combined into archetypal solutions to determine least-cost approaches to maximizing energy and carbon savings. Several financial analyses were preformed to examine other cost metrics beyond first cost. Project data was obtained for 1,739 projects, from 15 states and 12 energy programs, with a total of 10,512 individual measures. The database includes a wide-array of projects, ranging from single-measure HVAC upgrades to net-zero energy whole home remodels. Projects were predominantly single-family detached dwellings with wood frame construction. Most of the data was obtained from energy programs because they had recorded the necessary information and were willing to share with this study. This sample of convenience can provide broad guidance and national cost benchmarks, but lacks sufficient detail to draw more disaggregated conclusions, such as geographical trends. The majority of data contributions were obtained without compensation from sources where the required data was already in some sort of structured format. We compensated sources to enter data from individual projects into a structured data format for about 500 projects, with an average cost of about $40 per project. The database was highly skewed to lower cost, lower impact projects due to the nature of the sample of convenience. Less than 10% of projects had savings greater than 50%. The cost data for individual measures in the database are being used in other DOE efforts on residential energy use/decarbonization. This data collection effort should continue in order to provide the best-informed guidance for DOE and industry R&D, as well as deployment efforts (including policy and program planning).
The ARIES Collaborative, a U.S. Department of Energy Building America research team, partnered with NeighborWorks America affiliate Homeowners' Rehab Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to implement and study improvements to the central hydronic heating system in one of the nonprofit's housing developments. The heating control systems in the three-building, 42-unit Columbia Cambridge Alliance for Spanish Tenants housing development were upgraded.
In conjunction with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Proctor Engineering Group, Ltd. (PEG), the Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) has evaluated the Concept 3 (tm) replacement motors for residential furnaces. These brushless, permanent magnet (BPM) motors can use much less electricity than their PSC (permanent split capacitor) predecessors. This evaluation focuses on existing homes in the heating-dominated climate of upstate New York with the goals of characterizing field performance and cost-effectiveness. The results of this study are intended to be useful to home performance contractors, HVAC contractors, and home efficiency program stakeholders. The project includes eight homes in and near Syracuse, NY. Tests and monitoring was performed both before and after fan motors were replaced. Average fan power reductions were approximately 126 Watts during heating and 220 Watts during cooling operation. Over the course of entire heating and cooling seasons, these translated into average electric energy savings of 163 kWh. Average cost savings were $20 per year. Homes where the fan was used outside of heating and cooling mode saved an additional $42 per year on average. Results indicate that BPM replacement motors will be most cost-effective in HVAC systems with longer run times and relatively low duct static pressures. More dramatic savings are possible if occupants use the fan-only setting when there is no thermal load. There are millions of cold-climate, U.S. homes that meet these criteria, but the savings in most homes tested in this study were modest.
While single-family, detached homes account for 63% of households (EIA 2009); multi-family homes account for a very large portion of that remaining housing stock, and this fraction is growing. Through recent research efforts, CARB has been evaluating strategies and technologies that can make dramatic improvements in energy performance in multi-family buildings.
While single-family, detached homes account for 63% of households (EIA 2009); multi-family homes account for a very large portion of that remaining housing stock, and this fraction is growing. Through recent research efforts, CARB has been evaluating strategies and technologies that can make dramatic improvements in energy performance in multi-family buildings.
In conjunction with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Proctor Engineering Group, Ltd. (PEG), the Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) has evaluated the Concept 3™ replacement motors for residential furnaces. These brushless, permanent magnet (BPM) motors can use much less electricity than their PSC (permanent split capacitor) predecessors. This evaluation focuses on existing homes in the heating-dominated climate of upstate New York with the goals of characterizing field performance and cost effectiveness. The project includes eight homes in and near Syracuse, NY. Tests and monitoring was performed both before and after fan motors were replaced. Results indicate that BPM replacement motors will be most cost effective in HVAC systems with longer run times and relatively low duct static pressures. More dramatic savings are possible if occupants use the fan-only setting when there is no thermal load. There are millions of cold-climate, U.S. homes that meet these criteria, but the savings in most homes tested in this study were modest.
The ARIES Collaborative, a U.S. Department of Energy Building America research team, partnered with NeighborWorks America affiliate Homeowners' Rehab Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to implement and study improvements to the central hydronic heating system in one of the nonprofit's housing developments. The heating control systems in the three-building, 42-unit Columbia Cambridge Alliance for Spanish Tenants housing development were upgraded.
Changing the air exchange rate of a home (the sum of the infiltration and mechanical ventilation airflow rates) affects the annual thermal conditioning energy. Large-scale changes to air exchange rates of the housing stock can significantly alter the residential sector’s energy consumption. However, the complexity of existing residential energy models is a barrier to the accurate quantification of the impact of policy changes on a state or national level.
This project analyzed combined condensing water heaters or boilers and hydronic air coils to provide high efficiency domestic hot water (DHW) and forced air space heating. Called "combi" systems, they provided similar space and water heating performance less expensively than installing two condensing appliances. The system's installed costs were cheaper than installing a condensing furnace and either a condensing tankless or condensing storage water heater. However, combi costs must mature and be reduced before they are competitive with a condensing furnace and power vented water heater (energy factor of 0.60). Better insulation and tighter envelopes are reducing space heating loads for new and existing homes. For many homes, decreased space heating loads make it possible for both space and domestic water heating loads to be provided with a single heating plant. These systems can also eliminate safety issues associated with natural draft appliances through the use of one common sealed combustion vent. The combined space and water heating approach was not a new idea. Past systems have used non-condensing heating plants, which limited their usefulness in climates with high heating loads. Previous laboratory work (Schoenbauer et al. 2012a) showed that proper installation was necessary to achieve condensing with high efficiency appliances. Careful consideration was paid to proper system sizing and minimizing the water temperature returning from the air handling unit to facilitate condensing operation.
Abstract not provided.
This study investigated the energy and cost savings potential by modeling a dual fuel heat pump system with its control for a residential building in (5A) cold climate in U.S. The simulation analysis showed that the application of the DFHP system and its control to the target building can save the heating energy by 42% over a gas furnace system (baseline system). Although the HP-only system can save more heating energy (i.e.,53%) over the baseline system than DFHP system does, the DFHP with its control demonstrated the higher cost savings when a time of use electricity rate was considered.