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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 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Modeled Results of Four Residential Energy Efficiency Measure Packages for Deriving Advanced Building Construction Research Targets

The Advanced Building Construction (ABC) Initiative from the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office is working to accelerate industrialized construction innovations for decarbonizing buildings. To inform performance and cost targets for research under the ABC Initiative, this analysis used the ResStock™ tool to evaluate the energy savings, utility bill impacts, and carbon emissions impacts of four simulated upgrade packages with specific target performance levels on a large sample of residential dwelling units (approximately 550,000) representative of the U.S. housing stock.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

An optimization framework for the network design of advanced district thermal energy systems

In this work, a topology optimization framework for district thermal energy systems is presented. The framework seeks to address the questions, for a given district, "What is the best subset of buildings to connect to a district thermal energy system, and by what network should they be connected, to minimize life cycle cost?" A particle swarm optimization approach is validated to address the selection of the subset of buildings, and a graph theory-based heuristic is validated for selection of the network topology for any candidate subset of buildings. The framework is applied to a prototypical urban district for illustrative purposes. Additionally, modeling of prototypical districts revealed reductions in source energy use intensity for heating and cooling of 21-25% through the use of advanced district energy systems relative to code-compliant, building level systems. The framework identifies solutions with life cycle cost values 14% to 72% lower than that of base case scenarios based on conventional design approaches, depending on the base case scenario selected. Analysis of the search space indicates that topology optimization facilitates reductions in life cycle cost, source energy use intensity, and carbon emissions.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

pnnl/openstudio-building-energy-standard-measures-gem

The OpenStudio Building Energy Standards Measure Repository is a comprehensive collection of innovative OpenStudio measures designed to facilitate energy code analysis. OpenStudio is a cutting-edge platform brings together physics-based building energy modeling (BEM), BEM process automation, and large-scale computing capabilities. Contains OpenStudio Standards Performance Rating Method Measure (IPID 32936) and OpenStudio Measure to Generate IPLV-specific Chiller Performance Curves for Chillers (IPID 32940)

Xu, Weili [PNNL]↗
DOE OSTI2022

Automatic Segmentation of Building Envelope Point Cloud Data Using Machine Learning

About 50% of buildings in the US were constructed before energy codes were introduced. Modular overclad panel retrofits, in which a new envelope is constructed over the existing building, are a promising solution given that it minimizes occupant disruption and shortens construction time at the jobsite. Current state-of-the-art retrofit panel layout and dimensioning consists of three steps: 1) 3D point cloud data generation of the building envelope using commonly available surveying equipment, 2) manual segmentation of 3D point cloud data by a trained professional to identify and dimension window openings, door openings, and other architectural features, and 3) modular panel layout optimization and dimensioning by an architect or engineer. Among these steps, the second one remains the most difficult and costly because it is very labor-intensive. We propose a methodology to automatically label 3D point cloud data to reduce the time and expense spent in manual segmentation. Machine learning methods were employed to classify the point cloud data into distinct groups, each of which corresponds to different features of the building envelope. After classification, a segmentation algorithm was developed to perform boundary detection and separate the components of the façade. Finally, the algorithm returns the relative positions and dimensions of the features in the building envelope. The measurements obtained with the proposed automated method were compared against the actual dimensions to determine the overall algorithm accuracy. The proposed algorithm can then be used to reduce manual efforts for 3D point cloud labeling before modular panel layout optimization is performed.

Maldonado Puente, Bryan↗
DOE OSTI2024

The role of above-code labeling programs in reducing CO 2 e emissions in residential buildings

Residential buildings account for 15 % of total U.S. carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. Voluntary, above-code labeling programs, such as the ENERGY STAR and Zero Energy Ready Home programs, can play a crucial role in reducing the carbon footprint of the new construction residential building sector by encouraging adoption of more energy-efficient and lower emissions building practices and technologies. It's important for the industry to understand the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e) and energy cost savings potential of these programs. Here, to estimate the potential CO 2 e emissions savings for homes built to above-code labeling program levels, it is imperative to have reliable and accurate tools for estimating emissions from buildings. The open-source OpenStudio-ERI workflow employs detailed physics-based building energy modeling (BEM) to estimate energy usage and operational CO 2 e emissions. In this study we use the OpenStudio-ERI workflow and regional, time-varying emissions factors from the Cambium database to compare the CO 2 e emissions and energy costs of homes built to performance levels required by these above-code labeling programs relative to homes built to model energy codes. We present the results of our analysis and provide a range of emissions and annual energy cost savings for the above-code labeling programs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Quantifying and Zoning Urban Heat Island Effects Using Unsupervised Machine Learning

This work explores the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects in Maricopa County, Arizona, employing a simulation-based approach that combines large-scale building energy modeling with advanced spatial analysis. Utilizing the Automatic Building Energy Modeling (AutoBEM) software suite, we simulated the energy consumption for approximately 1.35 million buildings based on the Model America version 1.0 (MAv1) dataset. Our methodology incorporated spatial analysis at multiple scales, including individual buildings, clusters of zones determined by K-means clustering, and geographical level evaluation based on Zip codes. The results revealed significant variations in energy consumption and heat emissions across different building types and urban zones. High-emission hotspots identified through clustering pointed to areas most contributing to the UHI effects. Zip code-based area analysis further contextualized these findings, offering an urban context-based perspective on emission distribution and informing potential urban energy policies for mitigating UHI effects.

Chowdhury, Shovan [ORNL]↗
DOE OSTI2026

Pennsylvania and Delaware Energy Code Field Studies (Final Technical Report (FTR)

Led by Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) in partnership with Performance Systems Development (PSD), the project aimed to conduct energy code compliance field studies for single-family residential buildings in Pennsylvania and Delaware, as well as multifamily and commercial buildings in Pennsylvania. Using U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved methodologies, trained field teams conducted on-site observations and testing to document compliance with key energy efficiency measures, including building envelope insulation, air sealing, duct leakage, windows, and mechanical systems. Data from these studies would then be analyzed to identify construction trends and compliance gaps. The goals included published baseline data for each study, and a training roadmap tailored to each state’s needs. This roadmap would have guided outreach and training for builders, code officials, and other stakeholders on the specific code requirements that offered the greatest opportunity for improvement.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

HVAC System Performance for Energy Codes (Technical Brief)

The prescriptive path is likely the most widely used approach for commercial code compliance in the United States. Though easy to implement, the prescriptive approach does not discriminate between high-performing and poorly performing heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) system configurations that are both minimally compliant. To meet aggressive energy and carbon reduction goals, energy codes will need to transition from prescriptive to performance-based approaches, a transition that is riddled with several challenges. HVAC System Performance is a discipline performance path and provides a simpler solution to HVAC system evaluation compared to whole building performance, while keeping tradeoffs limited to specific building systems. The Total System Performance Ratio (TSPR) is a metric for evaluation of overall system efficiency instead of individual component efficiency, a solution that could also eventually facilitate the transition to a 100% performance-based code structure. TSPR is a ratio that compares the annual heating and cooling load of a building to the annual energy consumed by the building’s HVAC system. A web-based calculation tool has been developed for determining a building’s TSPR. Already incorporated into the 2018 Washington State Energy Code, this approach has also been evaluated by the ASHRAE Standard 90.1 Project Committee and has the potential to provide a comprehensive performance-based approach for HVAC system evaluation and analysis

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Smart Ventilation for Advanced California Homes

This project investigated smart ventilation approaches to minimize energy use for providing indoor air quality (IAQ) in high performance new California homes. Evaluation criteria included annual ventilation-related energy, peak energy and time-of-use savings, and the indoor air quality relative to a minimally code-compliant ventilation system. The simulations used CONTAM’s air flow and contaminant transport model, combined with the EnergyPlus building loads model. House types representing the default California Energy Code compliance homes were investigated for four California climate zones, covering a wide range of climate types. Both single and multi-zone smart ventilation controls were investigated. Contaminant sources included contaminants emitted continuously and varying with time, temperature and relative humidity, episodic emissions from occupant activities and outdoor particles. Single-zone ventilation controls that varied ventilation depending on outdoor temperatures were able to consistently save half of ventilation-related energy without compromising long-term IAQ. Ventilation strategies that tracked occupancy were less successful, because this work included generic contaminants with constant background emission rates. Energy performance for occupancy controls improved with a one-hour pre-occupancy flush out strategy. The addition of zoning ventilation controls did not offer significant IAQ to energy improvements compared to non-zonal versions of the same ventilation system type. The best controls had HVAC energy savings of 10-20%, with individual cases reaching up to 40% savings. However, these savings cannot be achieved without worsening personal exposures for at least one contaminant. A metric is needed to assess the competing changes in exposure to different contaminants in order to determine the net-health impacts of a control strategy. Controls that directly sensed contaminants and controlled them to acceptable levels showed that the California OEHHA limit for formaldehyde completely dominates system performance, with homes not able to meet the limit even with continuous operation of a fan sized to twice the current code minimum.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Energy Master Planning for Resilient Public Communities—Best Practices from U.S. Military Installations

Until recently, most planners at military installations addressed energy systems for new facilities on an individual facility basis without consideration of community-wide goals relevant to energy sources, renewables, storage, or future energy generation needs. Building retrofits of public buildings typically do not address energy needs beyond the minimum code requirements making it difficult, if not impossible, to achieve community-level targets on a building-by-building basis. Planning on the basis of cost and general reliability may also fail to deliver community-level resilience. For example, many building code requirements focus on hardening to specific threats, but in a multi-building community, only a few of these buildings may be mission-critical. Over the past two decades, the frequency and duration of regional power outages and water utility disruptions from weather, man-made events, and aging infrastructure have increased. Major disruptions of electric and thermal energy have degraded critical mission capabilities and caused significant economic impacts. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense issued guidance that each Service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) complete comprehensive energy plans for the installations that consumed 75% of total building energy. Guidance was updated in 2017 to include metrics for energy resilience, and in some cases, water. This paper describes how community level quantitative and qualitative resilience analysis and metrics have been incorporated into community energy and water planning best practices for military installations in three geographically diverse locations. It is based on research performed under the International Energy Agency’s “Energy in Buildings and Communities Program Annex 73,” focusing on development of guidelines and tools that support the planning of Net Zero Energy Resilient Public Communities as well as research performed under the Department of Defense Environmental Security Technology Certification Program project EW18-D1- 5281, “Technologies Integration to Achieve Resilient, Low- Energy Military Installations.” The first case study reviews progress made on an energy and water planning study conducted at Fort Bliss, Texas. The second and third describes planning conducted at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and the Joint Region Marianas, Guam, respectively, under the updated guidance from 2017 regarding energy and water resilience. Analysis methods, key metrics, and key infrastructure and operational constraints are described, as well as technical, economic and business concepts used during the planning process.

Urban, Angela B.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Guide to Determining Climate Zone by County: Building America and IECC 2021 Updates

This report describes the climate zone designations used by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Building America Program. The report aims to help residential building stakeholders identify the appropriate climate zone designation for each county in the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. Identifying the correct climate zone is important for many activities including residential construction projects, code compliance, energy analysis and modeling, and other analytical activities where climate zones impact the energy and moisture performance of residential buildings. This report supersedes the previous Building America publication: Guide to Determining Climate Regions by County, published in 2010. This report reflects climate designations used by the International Code Council (ICC) in the 2021 versions of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), the International Residential Code (IRC), and other codes produced by ICC. The information provided here and associated data should be used for the most up-to-date information regarding climate zone designations in the United States.

2021 IECC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Proposed Energy Conservation Standards for Manufactured Housing

This draft environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzes the impacts related to DOE’s proposed energy conservation standards for manufactured homes. DOE’s proposed energy conservation standards are based on the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and relate to the building thermal envelope; air sealing; installation of insulation; duct sealing; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); service hot water systems; mechanical ventilation fan efficacy; and heating and cooling equipment sizing. The draft EIS evaluates DOE’s proposed action (energy conservation standards tiered based the manufacturers retail list price), alternatives to the proposed action (including energy conservation standards tiered based on size of the manufactured home and untiered standards), and a no action alternative. The draft EIS presents analysis of impacts related to (1) energy resources; (2) air resources (including greenhouse gases, climate change, ambient air quality and indoor air quality); (3) health and safety; (4) socioeconomics; and (5) environmental justice.

MacDonell, Margaret↗
DOE OSTI2022

Optimizing Price-Informed Operation of a Battery Storage System in an Office Building

New prescriptive efficiency requirements amended to US model energy codes historically have been evaluated using an average, blended electricity rate, which obscures demand charges. Post 2019, new measures can be evaluated using a representative time-of-use (TOU) tariff yet more sophisticated analysis methods are needed to consider a variety of TOU tariffs and assess price-informed control. To address these needs, this study couples building prototype simulation model with varying-in-sophistication battery storage operating strategies for different electricity TOU tariffs. The analysis compares the impact of operating a battery storage system following simpler rule-of-thumb methods versus a semi-optimized priced-informed heuristic approach. The investigation demonstrates that the heuristic approach results in greater electricity cost savings and is practical to implement.

Lei, Xuechen↗
DOE OSTI2025

Development of an Advanced Multiphysics Simulation Capability for Radiant's Microreactor Design

Argonne National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory, through a Department of Energy Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear Voucher, supported key analysis needs of Radiant related to (i) air jacket thermal fluid performance, (ii) evaluation of decay heat source terms defining air jacket technical requirements, and (iii) assessment of modeling methodologies employed for core analysis. All of these activities center on numerical simulation of various aspects of Kaleidos using the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework, the Cardinal multiphysics application, the OpenMC Monte Carlo code, and the Nek5000 computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. This project builds upon an earlier Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Thermal-Hydraulic (T/H) Center of Excellence (CoE) project focused on initial demonstration of Cardinal multiphysics simulation of High Temperature Gas Reactors (HTGRs) and now focuses on Radiant’s Kaleidos concept.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Expanded Energy Credits in Energy Codes (Technical Brief)

This technical brief provides additional energy efficiency measures that go beyond the current prescriptive commercial energy codes. It demonstrates relative savings for multiple measures and shows a base cost effective package by building type and climate zone. An advanced savings package is also shown. Potential building savings for the base package for different building types across climate zones range from 3.9% to 22% of building energy cost, while the advanced package building savings range from 8.4% to 44%. In addition to measure descriptions, this technical brief includes code language that can be adopted by local jurisdictions to implement these measures for new buildings.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

National Cost-Effectiveness of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1–2019

The purpose of this analysis is to examine the cost-effectiveness of the 2019 edition of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1, which is developed by the ASHRAE Standard Standing Project Committee (SSPC) 90.1, and is the model energy standard for all commercial buildings and multifamily residential buildings over three floors. PNNL analyzed the cost-effectiveness of changes in Standard 90.1-2019, compared to the previous 90.1-2016 edition, as applied in commercial buildings across the United States. In reviewing proposed changes to Standard 90.1, the SSPC considers the cost-effectiveness of individual changes (addenda). Due to the continuous nature of the development process, however, ASHRAE does not evaluate the entire package of addenda from one edition of the standard to the next, which is of particular interest to adopting state and local governments. Providing states with an analysis of cost-effectiveness facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the impacts associated with updated model energy codes, informs the state decision-making process and its authorities, and ultimately encourages greater adoption of updated of energy codes. This information also informs the development of future editions of Standard 90.1.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Measuring Impact: Evaluating Thermal Zoning Simplification on Energy Efficiency Measures Analysis

Building Energy Modeling (BEM) is a versatile tool for designing, retrofitting, ensuring code compliance, obtaining certifications, qualifying for incentives, and enabling real-time building control. However, capturing all the details of building geometry for thermal zoning can be time-consuming, costly, and sometimes computationally challenging. As a result, modelers have been applying zoning simplification based on factors such as space functions and internal loads, as well as relying on their experience and judgment while adhering to zoning rules outlined in industry standards. Despite the prevalence of this common practice, a notable gap exists in the literature regarding studies quantifying the influence of simplified thermal zoning on the evaluation of Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs). Recognizing this gap, this paper seeks to contribute to the field by enhancing the understanding of how the simplification of thermal zoning influences the evaluation of EEMs against a baseline design. The study utilized a medium office prototype model with a detailed floor plan featuring over 20 zones per floor covering diverse functional spaces with varying internal loads and occupancy schedules. A standard thermal zoning strategy outlined in ASHRAE Standard 90.1 Appendix G was employed as the simplified zoning method. This strategy condenses the zoning into a core zone and four perimeter zones per floor. It was compared with the detailed zoning approach, which involves one zone per space. Common Energy EEMs, such as enhanced envelope, high-efficiency appliances and equipment, and HVAC controls, were individually implemented and evaluated. The results indicate that the performance comparison between the two zoning methods varies depending on the type of measures considered. Basic measures, such as adding wall insulation, demonstrate similar energy impacts, while advanced HVAC control measures, such as static pressure reset, exhibit a more substantial difference that cannot be overlooked.

Xie, Jiarong↗
DOE OSTI2026

Advancing Mass Timber Buildings: Novel Methods Improve Thermal Assessment and Material Use

For nearly a century, thermal demand calculations for buildings have relied on simplified models developed to match the technical constraints of their era. The first standards, introduced in Germany and Austria in 1929, established climate zones and material conductivity coefficients that, with only incremental updates, still underpin many current assessments. Yet, methods such as Hot box testing, originally designed for lightweight insulation, continue to be applied for mass timber buildings, overlooking thermodynamic characteristics confer real-world advantages. Recent research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory incorporates updated methodologies, aligned with ASHRAE Standard 55 (ASHRAE, 2023) accounting for factors such as thermal inertia, inner surface temperatures, emissivity, solar gains, and dynamic outdoor conditions. These factors better reflect observed heating and cooling loads and highlight opportunities for efficient use of materials in mass timber construction. This work provides a framework for designing comfortable, resilient, and resource-efficient buildings while aligning with performance expectations in energy codes.

Pickett, Robert [International Mass Timber Allianc↗