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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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At least 1,045 records · Page 58
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Field Demonstration of Residential DER Service-Oriented Load Participation

Amidst a concerning surge in power consumption during peak hours, coupled with heightened power grid instability, and driven by a growing demand for electricity, aggregations of Distributed Energy Resource are becoming a viable means for providing essential reliability services.Electric utility companies have proactively implemented Demand Response programs for decades. These programs employ Direct Load Control methods to enhance power grid stability, achieved by controlling customers’ Distributed Energy Resource during peak hours to reduce power consumption. However, a notable drawback of Direct Load Control has been high unenrollment rates of DR program participants due to customer discomfort.Therefore, the underlying issue of over-consumption persists. To address these concerns, this paper introduces a Service-Oriented Load Participation approach to providing grid services such as Demand Response. Leveraging a Service-Oriented Architecture, this method offers the advantage of efficient service management and provisioning within the system. The SOLP approach not only aims to reduce power consumption but also to maintain customer satisfaction by ensuring a comfortable grid service experience.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

GreenThrift: Optimizing Carbon and Cost for Flexible Residential Loads

Reducing buildings’ carbon emissions is an important sustainability challenge. While scheduling flexible building loads has been previously used for a variety of grid and energy optimizations, carbon footprint reduction using such flexible loads poses new challenges since such methods need to balance both energy and carbon costs while also reducing user inconvenience from delaying such loads. This paper highlights the potential conflict between electricity prices and carbon emissions and the resulting trade-offs in carbon-aware and cost-aware load scheduling. To address this trade-off, we propose GreenThrift, a home automation system that leverages the scheduling capabilities of smart appliances and knowledge of future carbon intensity and cost to reduce both the carbon emissions and costs of flexible energy loads. At the heart of GreenThrift is an optimization technique that automatically computes schedules based on user configurations and preferences. We evaluate the effectiveness of GreenThrift using real-world carbon intensity data, electricity prices, and load traces from multiple locations and across different scenarios and objectives. Our results show that GreenThrift can replicate the offline optimal and retains 97% of the savings when optimizing the carbon emissions. Moreover, we show how GreenThrift can balance the conflict between carbon and cost and retain 95.3% and 85.5% of the potential carbon and cost savings, respectively.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Comparing residential contamination in a Houston environmental justice neighborhood before and after Hurricane Harvey

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are complex environmental toxicants; exposure to them has been linked to adverse health outcomes including cancer, as well as diseases of the skin, liver, and immune system. Based on an ongoing community engagement partnership with stakeholder groups and residents, we conducted a small longitudinal study to assess domestic exposure to PAHs among residents of Manchester, an environmental justice neighborhood located in the East End of Houston, TX. In December, 2016, we used fiber wipes to collect samples of household dust from 25 homes in Manchester. Following Hurricane Harvey, in September 2017, we revisited 24 of the 25 homes to collect soil samples from the front yards of the same homes. Wipes and soil were analyzed for the presence of PAHs using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methods. Principle component analysis plots, heatmaps, and PAH ratios were used to compare pre- and post-Hurricane Harvey samples. While direct comparison is difficult, we present three methods for comparing PAHs found in pre-hurricane fiber wipes and post-hurricane soil samples. The methods demonstrate that the PAHs found before and after Hurricane Harvey are likely from similar sources and that those sources are most likely to be associated with combustion. We also found evidence of redistribution of PAHs due to extreme flooding associated with Hurricane Harvey. Residents of the Manchester neighborhood of Houston, TX, are exposed to a range of PAHs in household dust and outdoor soil. While difficult to compare directly, we were able to use several methods to assess detected concentrations, changes in site-specific PAH allocations, and PAH origination. Additional research is needed to identify specific sources of domestic PAH exposure in these communities and continued work involving community members and policy makers should aim to develop interventions to reduce domestic exposure to and prevent negative health outcomes from PAHs.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Residential Ground Source Heat Pumps with Integrated Domestic Hot Water Generation: Performance Results from Long-Term Monitoring

Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) show great promise as a means to substantially reduce energy consumption in houses. Laboratory test data from manufacturers of these units indicate that using the soil between 6 and 600 ft below the surface of the earth as the thermal energy source or sink gives GSHPs the potential to obtain coefficients of performance (COPs) ranging from 4 to 6 for heating and cooling.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Hygric Redistribution in Insulated Assemblies: Retrofitting Residential Envelopes Without Creating Moisture Issues

This research report was prepared by the Building Science Corporation Building America Research Team as part of the Energy Efficient Housing Research Partnerships project. The project title is Hygric Redistribution in Insulated Assemblies. The exterior retrofit of frame assemblies can be risky when impermeable insulating sheathings of relatively low thermal resistance are used. For example, basic hygrothermal analysis demonstrates that removing the existing cladding and installing a board foam insulation with low vapor permeance (such as ½-in. foil faced rigid insulation) directly over the sheathing membrane under a replacement cladding (such as vinyl siding) is likely to cause moisture problems in cold climates. One such problem is known as a “cold sided vapor barrier.” Tens of thousands of such retrofit and renovation projects have been completed, however, without apparent problems. There is also a perception that when water is intentionally drained in a drainage cavity between exterior insulation and the existing structure following an energy retrofit, moisture-related durability concerns exist for the sheathing and wood structure. This experimental program includes a literature review of previous research, laboratory testing programs, and an analysis of full-scale test wall performance in the U.S. Department of Energy’s climate zone 4C.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Energize New York -- Residential Energy Efficiency Market Transformation in New York

Energize New York (ENY) is focused on addressing known barriers to widespread energy efficiency (EE) adoption by property owners. In simple terms ENY works to; 1) increase homeowner trust by using known and trusted community leaders to communicate their own positive experiences with EE and ENY, 2) reduce friction points by integrating support staff and creative use of technology that ease a homeowner’s way forward through the EE upgrade process, 3) increase homeowner knowledge and trust of specific EE benefits through access to the ENY energy coach, 4) provide information on available financing options that show benefits (e.g. positive cash flow), and 5) provide tools and mechanisms that give homeowners greater comfort in evaluating and selecting the right contractor. These five fundamental program aspects are supported by a hyper-local communications and outreach model and a “lead by example” philosophy that requires community leaders to step forward and model energy efficiency behavior by example. In the communities where the program has successfully engaged local leadership and “trusted community sources” there has been a significant increase in the uptake of energy efficiency work. Quantitatively this growth translated into an increase of 240% in completed Home Performance projects from the two year pre-pilot period (2009-10) to the two year post-pilot period (2012-13). Additionally, the program has seen measureable increases in the output and performance of contractors who are members of the Energize Comfort Corps, a program innovation which included a subset of the NYSERDA approved and Building Performance Institute accredited home performance contractors. This innovation, launched in the later stages of the pilot, is paired with the Energize Contractor Ratings Index (CRI) and helps frame the provider market by giving homeowners a mechanism to provide and receive feedback on their contractor experience. The data incorporated into the CRI along with the ECC selection process, has measurably reduced a key decision barrier (“which contractor should I use”) for homeowners engaged in the EE decision making process.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Residential Energy Efficiency Demonstration: Hawaii and Guam Energy Improvement Technology Demonstration Project

In order to meet its energy goals, the Department of Defense (DOD) has partnered with the Department of Energy (DOE) to rapidly demonstrate and deploy cost-effective renewable energy and energy-efficiency technologies. The scope of this project was to demonstrate tools and technologies to reduce energy use in military housing, with particular emphasis on measuring and reducing loads related to consumer electronics (commonly referred to as 'plug loads'), hot water, and whole-house cooling.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Residential Energy-Efficiency Equipment Shown to be a Good Investment for U.S. Navy (Fact Sheet)

A two-year project between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the U.S. Navy's Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) to demonstrate energy efficiency technologies at bases in Hawaii and Guam resulted in the identification of several promising options for reducing energy use and costs, including whole-house energy efficiency retrofits.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Assessing National Employment Impacts of Investment in Residential and Commercial Sector Energy Efficiency: Review and Example Analysis

Energy efficiency is a key solution to concerns regarding future energy supply, energy security, and the harmful long-term effects of climate change. In addition to addressing these issues, actions motivated by governmental policies and programs, along with efforts by utilities and third parties, result in greater energy efficiency and also save consumers money. A continuing question is the degree to which energy efficiency measures spur economic growth and higher levels of employment. Research interest in this topic has recently risen in response to trends reflecting increased market adoption of energy efficiency measures, increased reliance on energy efficiency as a resource to offset new electricity generation, and the utilization of energy efficiency portfolio standards by states to spur wider adoption of energy efficiency and reduce future electricity demand.

Economic Impact Modeling↗
DOE OSTI2014

Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation in Residential Deep Energy Retrofits

Because airtightening is a significant part of Deep Energy Retrofits (DERs), concerns about ventilation and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) have emerged. To investigate this, ventilation and IAQ were assessed in 17 non-smoking California Deep Energy Retrofit homes. Inspections and surveys were used to assess household activities and ventilation systems. Pollutant sampling performed in 12 homes included six-day passive samples of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), formaldehyde and air exchange rate (AER); time-resolved data loggers were used to measure particle counts. Half of the homes provided continuous mechanical ventilation. Despite these homes being twice as airtight (3.0 and 7.6 ACH50, respectively), their median AER was indistinguishable from naturally vented homes (0.36 versus 0.37 hr -1 ). Numerous problems were found with ventilation systems; however, pollutant levels did not reach levels of concern in most homes. Ambient NO 2 standards were exceeded in some gas cooking homes that used legacy ranges with standing pilots, and in Passive House-style homes without range hoods exhausted to outside. Cooking exhaust systems were installed and used inconsistently. The majority of homes reported using low-emitting materials, and formaldehyde levels were approximately half those in conventional new CA homes (19.7 versus 36 μg/m 3 ), with emissions rates nearly 40percent less (12.3 versus 20.6 μg/m 2 /hr.). Presence of air filtration systems led to lower indoor particle number concentrations (PN >0.5 : 8.80E+06 PN/m 3 versus 2.99E+06; PN >2.5 : 5.46E+0.5 PN/m 3 versus 2.59E+05). The results indicate that DERs can provide adequate ventilation and IAQ, and that DERs should prioritize source control, particle filtration and well-designed local exhaust systems, while still providing adequate continuous ventilation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗