Results for “2015” — Page 7

DOE OSTI2016

Three Species of odonata Observed at TA-3 in September 2015

The spatial distribution of odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) in northern New Mexico is only partly known. Information about the occurrence of species is currently being accumulated by professional and amateur biologists. Los Alamos National Laboratory has a considerable amount of suitable habitat for odonates. With effort, it is likely that many species will be discovered in Los Alamos County that have yet to be documented, which would aid in general knowledge about odonate distribution and habitat needs. We report the occurrence of three species of odonates at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the autumn season of 2015. Foy visited the location on 2 September 2015 and discovered two Black Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum danae). The authors returned on 10 September 2015 and photographed one individual. We also photographed a Striped Meadowhawk (Sympetrum pallipes) and a Black-fronted Forktail (Ischnura denticollis), the latter being a damselfly.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

Solar Decathlon 2015 - Indigo Pine

The Solar Decathlon competition challenges students across the country to design and build a net-zero, market ready solar powered home. The bi-annual competition consists of ten contests that seek to balance the home on a scale of innovation. The ten contests were selected by to organizers to address all aspects of housing, including architecture, market appeal, engineering, communication, affordability, comfort, appliances, home life, commuting, and energy balance. Along with the criteria associated with the contests, the competition includes several design constraints that mirror those found in practical housing applications: including (but certainly not limited to) lot lines, building height, and ADA accessibility. The Solar Decathlon 2015 was held at the Orange Country Great Park in Irvine, CA. The 2015 competition was Clemson University’s first entry into the Solar Decathlon and was a notable milestone in the continued development of a home, called Indigo Pine. From the beginning, the team reconsidered the notion of sustainability as related to both the design of a home and the competition itself. The designing and building process for the home reflects a process which seamlessly moves between thinking and making to develop a comprehensive design with a method and innovations that challenge the conventions of residential construction. This report is a summary of the activities of the Clemson University team during the two-year duration of the project leading to the participation in the 2015 Solar Decathlon competition in Irvine California.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2016

2015 Site Environmental Report Fernald Preserve

The Fernald Preserve 2015 Site Environmental Report provides stakeholders with the results from the Fernald, Ohio, Site’s environmental monitoring programs for 2015; a summary of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) activities conducted onsite; and a summary of the Fernald Preserve’s compliance with the various environmental regulations, compliance agreements, and DOE policies that govern site activities. This report has been prepared in accordance with the “Integrated Environmental Monitoring Plan,” which is Attachment D of the Comprehensive Legacy Management and Institutional Controls Plan (LMICP) (DOE 2016). Remediation of the Fernald Preserve has been successfully completed with the exception of the groundwater. During 2015, activities at the Fernald Preserve included: environmental monitoring activities related to direct radiation, groundwater, and surface water; ecological restoration monitoring and maintenance as well as inspections, care, and monitoring of the site and the OSDF to ensure that provisions of the LMICP are fully implemented; OSDF leak detection monitoring and collection, monitoring, and treatment of leachate from the OSDF; extraction, monitoring, and treatment of contaminated groundwater from the Great Miami Aquifer (Operable Unit 5); ongoing operation of the Fernald Preserve Visitors Center, associated outreach, and educational activities; and monitoring as specified in the site’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Environmental monitoring programs were developed to ensure that the remedy remains protective of the environment. The requirements of these programs are described in detail in the LMICP and reported in this Site Environmental Report.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

Brief 77 Health Physics Enrollments and Degrees Survey, 2015 Data

The 2015 Health Physics Enrollments and Degrees Survey reports degrees granted between September 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015. Enrollment information refers to the fall term 2015. Twenty-two academic programs were included in the survey universe, with all 22 programs providing data. The enrollments and degrees information comprises students majoring in health physics or in an option program equivalent to a major. The report includes enrollment information on undergraduate students and graduate students and information by degree level for post-graduation plans.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2016

2015 Wind Technologies Market Report

Annual wind power capacity additions in the United States surged in 2015 and are projected to continue at a rapid clip in the coming five years. Recent and projected near-term growth is supported by the industry’s primary federal incentive—the production tax credit (PTC)—having been extended for several years (though with a phase-down schedule, described further on pages 68-69), as well as a myriad of state-level policies. Wind additions are also being driven by improvements in the cost and performance of wind power technologies, yielding low power sales prices for utility, corporate, and other purchasers. At the same time, the prospects for growth beyond the current PTC cycle remain uncertain: growth could be blunted by declining federal tax support, expectations for low natural gas prices, and modest electricity demand growth. This annual report—now in its tenth year—provides a detailed overview of developments and trends in the U.S. wind power market, with a particular focus on 2015. The report begins with an overview of key installation-related trends: trends in U.S. wind power capacity growth; how that growth compares to other countries and generation sources; the amount and percentage of wind energy in individual states; the status of offshore wind power development; and the quantity of proposed wind power capacity in various interconnection queues in the United States. Next, the report covers an array of wind power industry trends: developments in turbine manufacturer market share; manufacturing and supply-chain developments; wind turbine and component imports into and exports from the United States; project financing developments; and trends among wind power project owners and power purchasers. The report then turns to a summary of wind turbine technology trends: turbine size, hub height, rotor diameter, specific power, and IEC Class. After that, the report discusses wind power performance, cost, and pricing trends. In so doing, it describes trends in project performance, wind turbine transaction prices, installed project costs, and operations and maintenance (O&M) expenses. It also reviews the prices paid for wind power in the United States and how those prices compare to short-term wholesale electricity prices and forecasts of future natural gas prices. Next, the report examines policy and market factors impacting the domestic wind power market, including federal and state policy drivers as well as transmission and grid integration issues. The report concludes with a preview of possible near-term market developments. This edition of the annual report updates data presented in previous editions while highlighting key trends and important new developments from 2015. The report concentrates on larger, utility-scale wind turbines, defined here as individual turbines that exceed 100 kW in size.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2016

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Residential Provisions of the 2015 IECC for Idaho

The 2015 IECC provides cost-effective savings for residential buildings in Idaho. Moving to the 2015 IECC from the 2015 Idaho State Code base code is cost-effective for residential buildings in all climate zones in Idaho.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2016

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Residential Provisions of the 2015 IECC for New Jersey

The 2015 IECC provides cost-effective savings for residential buildings in New Jersey. Moving to the 2015 IECC from the 2015 New Jersey State Code base code is cost-effective for residential buildings in all climate zones in New Jersey.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2016

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Campus Radionuclide Air Emissions Report for Calendar Year 2015

This report documents radionuclide air emissions that result in the 2015 highest effective dose equivalent (EDE) to an offsite member of the public, referred to as the maximally exposed individual (MEI). The report has been prepared in compliance with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 40, Protection of the Environment, Part 61, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), Subpart H, “National Emission Standards for Emissions of Radionuclides Other than Radon from Department of Energy Facilities” and Washington Administrative Code (WAC) Chapter 246-247, “Radiation Protection–Air Emissions.” The dose to the PNNL Campus MEI from routine major and minor point source emissions in 2015 from PNNL Campus sources is 2.6E-4 mrem (2.6E-6 mSv) EDE. The dose from all fugitive sources is 1.8E-6 mrem (1.8E-8 mSv) EDE. The dose from radon emissions is 4.4E-8 mrem (4.4E-10 mSv) EDE. No nonroutine emissions occurred in 2015. The total radiological dose to the MEI from all PNNL Campus radionuclide emissions, including fugitive emissions and radon, is 2.6E-4 mrem (2.6E-6 mSv) EDE, or more than 10,000 times less than the federal and state standard of 10 mrem/yr, with which the PNNL Campus is in compliance.

40 CFR 61 Subpart H↗

DOE OSTI2016

Cost Comparison in 2015 Dollars for Radioisotope Power Systems -- Cassini and Mars Science Laboratory

Radioisotope power systems (RPSs) have enabled missions requiring reliable, long-lasting power in remote, harsh environments such as space since the early 1960s. Costs for RPSs are high, but are often misrepresented due to the complexity of space missions and inconsistent charging practices among the many and changing participant organizations over the years. This paper examines historical documentation associated with two past successful flight missions, each with a different RPS design, to provide a realistic cost basis for RPS production and deployment. The missions and their respective RPSs are Cassini, launched in 1997, that uses the general purpose heat source (GPHS) radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), and Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), launched in 2011, that uses the multi-mission RTG (MMRTG). Actual costs in their respective years are discussed for each of the two RTG designs and the missions they enabled, and then present day values to 2015 are computed to compare the costs. Costs for this analysis were categorized into two areas: development of the specific RTG technology, and production and deployment of an RTG. This latter category includes material costs for the flight components (including Pu-238 and fine weave pierced fabric (FWPF)); manufacturing of flight components; assembly, testing, and transport of the flight RTG(s); ground operations involving the RTG(s) through launch; nuclear safety analyses for the launch and for the facilities housing the RTG(s) during all phases of ground operations; DOE’s support for NEPA analyses; and radiological contingency planning. This analysis results in a fairly similar 2015 normalized cost for the production and deployment of an RTG—approximately $118M for the GPHS-RTG and $109M for the MMRTG. In addition to these two successful flight missions, the costs for development of the MMRTG are included to serve as a future reference. Note that development costs included herein for the MMRTG do not include costs from NASA staff or facilities for their development efforts—they only include the amounts costed by DOE and DOE contractors. The 2015 value for MMRTG development is $83M. Both of the RPS types analyzed herein use the general purpose heat source (GPHS) module as the “heart of the RPS.” The estimates presented herein do not include development costs for the GPHS. These estimates also do not include the RPS infrastructure cost to maintain the facilities, equipment, and personnel necessary to enable the production of RPSs, except to the extent that the infrastructure is utilized during the production campaigns to provide RPSs for missions. It was not until after the Cassini mission that an RPS infrastructure funding structure was defined and funded separately from mission-specific elements. The information presented herein could allow for more accurate budget planning estimates for space missions being considered over the next decade and beyond.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

DOE OSTI2019

LANL Meteorological Program Self-Assessment to Address Recommendations from the 2015 DOE Meteorological Coordinating Council (DMCC) Assist Visit

The DMCC conducted an Assist Visit of the LANL meteorological program in August 2006 and several observations and recommendations were recorded (DMCC 2006). On August 20-21, 2015, a follow-up meteorological program Assist Visit was conducted to determine progress in meeting observations and recommendations from the prior Assist Visit (DMCC 2015). Between these two Assist Visits, significant program improvements were made, and these were noted in the 2015 Assist Visit observations and recommendations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2015

2015 IECC: Energy Savings Analysis

Section 304(a) of the Energy Conservation and Production Act, as amended, requires the Secretary of Energy to make a determination each time a revised edition of the 1992 Model Energy Code (MEC), or any successor thereof, is published with respect to whether the revised code would improve energy efficiency in residential buildings. The International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), as administered by the International Code Council (ICC), establishes the national model code for energy efficiency requirements for residential buildings. The latest edition of the IECC, the 2015 IECC, was published on June 3, 2014 and forms the basis of this analysis. To meet these statutory requirements, as well as to assist states and adopting entities in understanding associated savings, the DOE Building Energy Codes Program and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conduct analyses to evaluate the differences between the latest edition of the IECC and its immediate predecessor. A qualitative analysis is conducted, identifying all changes made to the previous edition of the IECC, and characterizing these changes in terms of their anticipated impact on residential building energy consumption. A quantitative analysis is then modeled through building energy simulation to estimate the resulting energy impacts. This report documents the technical analysis used to evaluate whether residential buildings constructed to meet the requirements of the 2015 IECC would result in energy efficiency improvements over residential buildings constructed to meet the requirements of the previous edition, the 2012 IECC. PNNL considered all code change proposals approved for inclusion in the 2015 IECC during the ICC code development cycle, and evaluated their combined impact on a suite of prototypical residential building energy models across all U.S. climate zones.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2015

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Residential Provisions of the 2015 IECC for the State of Utah

The analysis evaluates the cost-effectiveness of the 2015 edition of the IECC published in June 2014 (ICC 2014), over the 2012 Utah State Energy Code for the state of Utah. The scope of work is limited to one- and two-family dwelling units, townhomes, and low-rise multifamily residential buildings covered by the residential provisions of the 2015 IECC. The Energy Rating Index (ERI) path included in the 2015 IECC is not in the scope of this analysis due to the large variation in building configurations it allows.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2016

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Residential Provisions of the 2015 IECC for Alabama

These analyses evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the prescriptive path of the 2015 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), relative to the 2012 and 2009 IECC for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The analysis covers one- and two-family dwelling units, townhomes, and low-rise multifamily residential buildings covered by the residential provisions of the 2015 IECC. These reports were originally published in October 2015, and revised in February 2016 to update numbers reported in certain results tables.