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At least 1,099 records · Page 61
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Annual Report on Federal Government Energy Management and Conservation Programs (Fiscal Year 2013)

Annual reports on Federal energy management respond to section 548 of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA, Pub. L. No. 95-619), as amended, and provide information on energy consumption in Federal buildings, operations, and vehicles. Compiled by the Federal Energy Management Program, these reports document activities conducted by Federal agencies under the: Energy management and energy consumption requirements of section 543 of NECPA, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 8253); Energy savings performance contract authority of section 801 of NECPA, Pub. L. No. 95-619, as amended (42 U.S.C. §§ 8287-8287d); Renewable energy purchase goal of section 203 of the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-58 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 15852); Federal building performance standard requirements under Section 109 of EPAct 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-58 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 6834(a)); Requirements on the procurement and identification of energy efficient products under section 161 of EPAct 1992, Pub. L. No. 102-486 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 8262g); Sections 431, 432, and 434 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), Pub. L. No. 110-140 (42 U.S.C. § 8253) and section 527 of EISA (42 U.S.C. § 17143); Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management, 72 Fed. Reg. 3,919 (Jan. 26, 2007); Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, 74 Fed. Reg. 52,117 (Oct. 5, 2009).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Federal Government Energy Management and Conservation Programs (Fiscal Year 2009)

Annual reports on Federal energy management respond to section 548 of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA, Pub. L. No. 95-619), as amended, and provide information on energy consumption in Federal buildings, operations, and vehicles. Compiled by the Federal Energy Management Program, these reports document activities conducted by Federal agencies under the: Energy management and energy consumption requirements of section 543 of NECPA, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 8253); Energy savings performance contract authority of section 801 of NECPA, Pub. L. No. 95-619, as amended (42 U.S.C. §§ 8287-8287d); Renewable energy purchase goal of section 203 of the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-58 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 15852); Federal building performance standard requirements under Section 109 of EPAct 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-58 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 6834(a)); Requirements on the procurement and identification of energy efficient products under section 161 of EPAct 1992, Pub. L. No. 102-486 (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 8262g); Sections 431, 432, and 434 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), Pub. L. No. 110-140 (42 U.S.C. § 8253) and section 527 of EISA (42 U.S.C. § 17143); Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management, 72 Fed. Reg. 3,919 (Jan. 26, 2007); Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, 74 Fed. Reg. 52,117 (Oct. 5, 2009).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2019

Thermally Anisotropic Composites for Improving the Energy Efficiency of Building Envelopes

This article describes a novel application of thermal anisotropy for improving the energy efficiency of building envelopes. The current work was inspired by existing research on improved heat dissipation in electronics using thermal anisotropy. Past work has shown that thermally anisotropic composites (TACs) can be created by the alternate layering of two dissimilar, isotropic materials. Here, a TAC consisting of alternate layers of rigid foam insulation and thin, high-conductivity aluminum foil was investigated. The TAC was coupled with copper tubes with circulating water that acted as a heat sink and source. The TAC system was applied to a conventional wood-framed wall assembly, and the energy benefits were investigated experimentally and numerically. For experimental testing, large scale test wall specimens were built with and without the TAC system and tested in an environmental chamber under simulated diurnal hot and cold weather conditions. Component-level and whole building numerical simulations were performed to investigate the energy benefits of applying the TAC system to the external walls of a typical, single-family residential building.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Implementation Plan for Combined Heat and Power Systems VOLTTRON Controller: Performance Monitoring and Real-Time Commissioning Algorithm Verification

Building-integrated cooling, heating, and power (CHP) systems are more efficient than conventional systems at providing local power and thermal energy, and favorable fuel prices are bound to spur their increased adoption. However, to realize the full benefit of the CHP systems, we must ensure persistence of energy efficient operations. Much of the inefficiency in the current building operations can be eliminated by use of automated performance monitoring (PM), real-time commissioning verification (CxV) and automated fault detection and diagnostic (AFDD) tools. Automation can help system operators make intelligent decisions. Remote and continuous monitoring of system conditions and performance will enable better management and integration of CHP with existing building systems. Continuous PM, real-time CxV, and AFDD could alleviate burdens for operations staff, enhance operations and maintenance (O&M), and improve reliability of building and CHP systems. To address the O&M challenges and to provide a means to maximize the rate-of-return of building-integrated CHP systems, the Building Technologies Office (BTO) within the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) initiated a project to design, develop, and field test a VOLTTRON™-based supervisory controller and associated open-source algorithms. These algorithms will ensure real-time optimal operation of a building-integrated CHP system, support electric grid reliability, and lead to achieving the goal of clean, efficient, reliable, and affordable next-generation integrated energy system. Previous report listed the components for which PM, real-time CxV, and AFDD algorithms will be developed, how the algorithms will be tested, and the metrics that will be used to validate the algorithms and their ease of deployment. Deployment of these algorithms in the field will result in a reduction in energy consumption of between 10% and 20% (for both CHP and conventional building systems). This report builds upon the previous report by detailing the process by which PNNL will implement performance monitoring and real-time commissioning algorithms for CHP systems in conjunction with the use of the VOLTTRON CHP economic dispatch agent in host facilities.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Performance evaluation of automated data-driven feature extraction and selection methods for practical and scalable building energy consumption prediction models

Here, this study quantifies the impact of automated feature engineering methods (feature extraction and selection) on the quality and accuracy of machine learning models that predict building energy consumption. The case study compares model performance for three main scenarios: baseline (no feature extraction and selection), feature extraction only, and feature extraction combined with feature selection (filter and/or wrapper methods) for fully trained machine learning models for 200 metered/sub-metered energy measurements across 118 real buildings. For consistency, the same machine learning model architecture (a black box deep learning neural network with probabilistic forecast output) was used for all scenarios. Based on results, all feature engineering methods provided noticeable prediction accuracy improvements (e.g., 29%-68% median prediction improvement) compared to baseline scenarios. However, in this application, feature selection methods provide little practical value due to their limited performance gains and high computational cost. Smarter algorithm development supported by better computational environments will be needed before feature selection methods can reliably and efficiently improve predictive model performance.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Building America Case Study: Meeting DOE Challenge Home Program Certification, Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Devens, Massachusetts (Fact Sheet)

The purpose of this project was to evaluate integrated packages of advanced measures in individual test homes to assess their performance with respect to Building America Program goals, specifically compliance with the DOE Challenge Home Program. BSC consulted on the construction of five test houses by three Cold Climate production builders in three separate US cities. BSC worked with the builders to develop a design package tailored to the cost-related impacts for each builder. Therefore, the resulting design packages do vary from builder to builder. BSC provided support through this research project on the design, construction and performance testing of the five test homes. Overall, the builders have concluded that the energy related upgrades (either through the prescriptive or performance path) represent reasonable upgrades. The builders commented that while not every improvement in specification was cost effective (as in a reasonable payback period), many were improvements that could improve the marketability of the homes and serve to attract more energy efficiency discerning prospective homeowners. However, the builders did express reservations on the associated checklists and added certifications. An increase in administrative time was observed with all builders. The checklists and certifications also inherently increase cost due to: 1. Adding services to the scope of work for various trades, such as HERS Rater, HVAC contractor. 2. Increased material costs related to the checklists, especially the EPA Indoor airPLUS and EPA WaterSense Efficient Hot Water Distribution requirement.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Open Building Control

Best practice control sequences are often not implemented correctly, or are not implemented at all, in large commercial buildings. This typically leads to 10-30 percent energy waste, along with reduced occupant productivity and unnecessary equipment wear. The current process of designing and implementing such control sequences is a manual process that starts with designers who often don’t have adequate training, then requires controls programmers to interpret and program a verbose written sequence. This process has been shown to fail to deliver high performance control sequences at scale. The Open Building Control project digitizes the current control delivery process. The project is developing tools for system designers to select control sequences, assess their energy performance and load flexibility potential using whole building simulation, specify the sequence for implementation using machine-to-machine translation by a control provider and formally testing the as-installed sequences by a commissioning agent. The project developed tools for each stage of this delivery process. The key innovation of the project is the development of the Control Description Language, a language that allows such a digitized control delivery process with end-to-end verification. Libraries of control sequences have been implemented using the Control Description Language, and their performance has been demonstrated using whole building energy simulation. An automated translation of such sequences to a commercial control product line has been conducted using a prototype translator. Tools for formal verification of as-installed control sequences relative to their specification have been developed and demonstrated. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) started the process of forming a committee to make this language an ASHRAE/ANSI Standard. This new standard will complement existing and emerging ASHRAE standards for building communication and semantic modeling by providing a standard for expressing the control logic - the actual brain of the building. We expect this language and the process it enables to be an important contribution to the deployment of high performance building control sequences at scale because it allows taming the complexity of the control delivery process, which is continually increasing due to the need for higher performance and increased load flexibility to meet goals for net zero energy and increased renewable integration.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2016

Technology Solutions for Existing Homes Case Study: Accelerating the Delivery of Home-Performance Upgrades Using a Synergistic Business Model

The Building America team NorthernSTAR investigated opportunities to use the massive customer networks of the home service industry as a means to connect homeowners to home-performance solutions. Home service companies could provide a pathway to advance building-science-guided upgrades by being in close proximity to homeowners when a decision-making moment is at hand. Established trust provides an opportunity for the company to deliver sound information and influence during a remodeling decision.

building america↗
DOE OSTI2016

Quantifying the Financial Benefits of Multifamily Retrofits

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America research team Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit analyzed building, energy, and financial program data as well as other public and private data to examine the relationship between energy-efficiency retrofits and financial performance on three levels: building, city, and community.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Sustainable Building in China -- A Green Leap Forward?

China is constructing new commercial buildings at an enormous rate -- roughly 2 billion square meters per year, with considerable interest and activity in green design and construction. We review the context of commercial building design and construction in China, and look at a specific project as an example of a high performance, sustainable design, the Shenzhen Institute of Building Research (IBR). The IBR building incorporates over 40 sustainable technologies and strategies, including daylighting, natural ventilation, gray-water recycling, solar-energy generation, and highly efficient Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. We present measured data on the performance of the building, including detailed analysis by energy end use, water use, and occupant comfort and satisfaction. Total building energy consumption in 2011 was 1151 MWh, with an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 63 kWh/m 2 (20 kBtu/ft 2 ), which is 61% of the mean EUI value of 103 kWh/m 2 (33 kBtu/ft 2 ) for similar buildings in the region. We also comment on the unique design process, which incorporated passive strategies throughout the building, and has led to high occupant satisfaction with the natural ventilation, daylighting, and green patio work areas. Lastly we present thoughts on how the design philosophy of the IBR building can be a guide for low-energy design in different climate regions throughout China and elsewhere.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Assessing the Performance, Application, and Cost of Retrofit Wall Systems for Residential Buildings

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the University of Minnesota have been conducting a three-year study of residential retrofit wall systems. The researchers have identified, tested, and verified the hygrothermal performance of 16 wall assemblies in retrofit applications. The approach to this study includes a comprehensive literature review, the involvement of an advisory group of thermal enclosure experts, smallscale experimental in situ testing of the wall assemblies at the University of Minnesota’s Cloquet Residential Research Facility, and energy and hygrothermal simulation of wall assemblies using EnergyPlus, THERM, and WUFI. Simulation and experimental results are then combined with an economic analysis to produce a techno-economic study of residential wall systems for deep energy retrofits.This presentation summarizes the findings of this research project and is intended to guide architects and designers on how to retrofit existing wall assemblies without creating durability issues.

Desjarlais, Andre Omer↗
DOE OSTI2021

Opaque Envelopes: Pathway to Building Energy Efficiency and Demand Flexibility: Key to a Low-Carbon, Sustainable Future

The opaque envelope - the barrier that helps maintain comfortable indoor conditions regardless of prevailing outdoor conditions - is the single largest contributor to primary energy use in residential and commercial buildings. Residential and commercial buildings comprise 39% of total U.S. primary energy use [1]. The opaque envelope affects 25% of building energy use, or 10% of total U.S. primary energy use [2]. High-performance opaque envelope technologies, therefore, have substantial potential to reduce energy use in both new construction and existing buildings. Retrofits are particularly crucial to realizing the energy savings potential of the opaque envelope because nearly 85% of residential and 55% of commercial buildings that exist today will still exist in 2050 [1]. Building envelope performance is also important for occupant comfort, productivity, health, and well-being. Improving the energy performance of the opaque envelope in U.S. buildings is critical to achieving aggressive cli- mate goals that support a clean energy economy and an equitable energy future for all Americans. By reducing total building energy use and improving energy efficiency, envelope research and development (R&D) will have a significant impact on how low-carbon buildings can mitigate climate change.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS1975

A data storage, retrieval and analysis system for endocrine research

This retrieval system builds, updates, retrieves, and performs basic statistical analyses on blood, urine, and diet parameters for the M071 and M073 Skylab and Apollo experiments. This system permits data entry from cards to build an indexed sequential file. Programs are easily modified for specialized analyses.

Newton, L. E.↗
DOE OSTI2014

A Drop in the Bucket or a Pebble in a Pond: Commercial Building Partners’ Replication of EEMs Across Their Portfolios

This study presents findings from questionnaire and interview data investigating replication efforts of Commercial Building Partnership (CBP) partners that worked directly with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL partnered with 12 organizations on new and retrofit construction projects as part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CBP program. PNNL and other national laboratories collaborate with industry leaders that own large portfolios of buildings to develop high performance projects for new construction and renovation. This project accelerates market adoption of commercially available energy saving technologies into the design process for new and upgraded commercial buildings. The labs provide assistance to the partners’ design teams and make a business case for energy investments. From the owner’s perspective, a sound investment results in energy savings based on corporate objectives and design. Through a feedback questionnaire, along with personal interviews, PNNL gathered qualitative and quantitative information relating to replication efforts by each organization. Data through this process were analyzed to provide insight into two primary research areas: 1) CBP partners’ replication efforts of technologies and approaches used in the CBP project to the rest of the organization’s building portfolio (including replication verification), and, 2) the market potential for technology diffusion into the total U.S. commercial building stock, as a direct result of the CBP entire program.

Commercial Building Partnerships↗
DOE OSTI2015

Building America Case Study: Zero Energy Ready Home Multifamily Project: Mutual Housing at Spring Lake, Woodland, California

Building cost effective, high performance homes that provide superior comfort, health, and durability is the goal of the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Zero Energy Ready Homes (ZERH) program. Through Building America research and other innovative programs throughout the country, many of the technical challenges to building to the ZERH standard have been addressed. This case study describes the development of a 62-unit multifamily community constructed by nonprofit developer Mutual Housing at the Spring Lake subdivision in Woodland, CA. The Spring Lake project is expected to be the first ZERH-certified multifamily project nationwide. Building America team Alliance for Residential Building Innovation worked with Mutual Housing throughout the project. The case study discusses challenges encountered, lessons learned, and how obstacles were overcome. An objective of this project was to gain a highly visible foothold for residential buildings built to the DOE ZERH specification that can be used to encourage participation by other California builders.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Incorporating PCM-enabled thermal energy storage into 3D printable cementitious composites

This paper delineates the feasibility of incorporating microencapsulated phase change materials (mPCM) into 3D printable cementitious composite materials. A comprehensive experimental program was carried out to evaluate the impacts of mPCM on the printability, microstructures, mechanical and thermal properties of cementitious 3D printing ‘inks’. Results showed that the mPCM affected the printability of the cementitious ink material based on its physical properties (e.g., particle size) and volume loading – at lower volume loadings, mPCM increased the flowability of the cementitious ink material while leading to increased compressive strength and thermal conductivity for the hardened printed material. However, further increase in mPCM dosage led to a decrease in printability and, therefore, decrease in compressive strength and thermal conductivity as compared to the reference mixture. Here the results also showed that the inclusion of mPCM influence the printing parameters. In general, the inclusion of higher volume contents of mPCM necessitates a higher extrusion rate to achieve a desirable extrudability. Lastly, a thermal network model was formulated for 3D printed mPCM charged building components (e.g., wall). The study shows that microencapsulated PCM materials have good potential to be used in 3D printable cementitious mixtures for improving the thermal and energy performance of 3D printed buildings.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development of a coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical model in discontinuous media for carbon sequestration

Geomechanical alteration of porous media is generally ignored for most shallow subsurface applications, whereas CO 2 injection, migration, and trapping in deep saline aquifers will be controlled by coupled multifluid flow, energy transfer, and geomechanical processes. The accurate assessment of the risks associated with potential leakage of injected CO 2 and the design of effective injection systems requires that we represent these coupled processes within numerical simulators. The objectives of this study were to develop a coupled thermal-hydro-mechanical model into a single software, and to examine the coupling of thermal, hydrological, and geomechanical processes for simulation of CO 2 injection into the subsurface for carbon sequestration. A numerical model is developed to couple nonisothermal multiphase hydrological and geomechanical processes for prediction of multiple interconnected processes for carbon sequestration in deep saline aquifers. The geomechanics model was based on Rigid Body-Spring Model (RBSM), one of the discrete methods to model discontinuous rock system. Poisson’s effect that was often ignored by RBSM was considered in the model. The simulation of large-scale and long-term coupled processes in carbon capture and storage projects requires large memory and computational performance. Global Array Toolkit was used to build the model to permit the high performance simulations of the coupled processes. The model was used to simulate a case study with several scenarios to demonstrate the impacts of considering coupled processes and Poisson’s effect for the prediction of CO 2 sequestration.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗