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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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Learn how air sealing can improve your home's energy efficiency, comfort, and durability. This fact sheet from Energy Saver includes information on proper ventilation, why to air seal, how to find and seal air leaks, working with contractors to seal your home, and materials to do-it-yourself.
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is one of the major energy consumers in the residential sector. It is important to be able to monitor and control the energy consumed to provide utility services such as load shaping while satisfying the comfort and economic constraints of the homeowner. The objective of this work is to create the optimal schedule for HVAC operation to reduce the cost while satisfying the home-owner and equipment’s constraints using a model-free Reinforcement Learning (RL)-based optimization. The specific goal is to find the right balance between reducing energy cost, consumption, and customer comfort level. Our research effort addresses this optimization problem using multiple components: the development of initial learning test-bed and implementation of RL techniques on a real home. This will enable the rapid evaluation of the RL techniques and provide an early baseline to train before implementation on site. The RL algorithm is designed to learn the energy use patterns and generate the optimized schedule for HVAC within an acceptable time-interval to satisfy the homeowner’s comfort and minimize the energy usage. Our preliminary results are promising and we have observed a 17% reduction in the total cost and a 15% reduction in the power utilization using our RL-based HVAC model—RL-HEMS.
To harness the great amount of untapped resources at the demand side, smart home technology plays a vital role in solving the "last mile" problem in smart grid. Reinforcement learning (RL), which has demonstrated an outstanding performance in solving many sequential decision-making problems, can be a great candidate to be used in smart home control. For instance, many studies have started investigating the load scheduling problem under dynamic pricing scheme. Based on those, this study aims at providing an affordable solution to encourage a higher smart home adoption rate. Specifically, we investigate combining transfer learning (TL) with RL to reduce the training cost of an optimal RL control policy. Given an optimal policy for a benchmark home, TL can jump-start the RL training of a policy for a new home, which has different appliances and user preferences. Simulation results show that by leveraging TL, RL training converges faster and requires much less computing time for new homes that are similar to the benchmark home. In all, this study proposes a cost-effective approach for training RL control policies for homes at scale, which ultimately reduces the controller's implementation costs, increases the adoption rate of RL controllers, and makes more homes grid-interactive.
Learn about the types of home ventilation and how ventilation can help you avoid moisture problems. This fact sheet from Energy Saver includes information why it's important to ventilate and how you can use ventilation strategies to control moisture in your home for comfort and energy savings.
Learn how you can use passive solar home design to reduce your electricity consumption and energy bills in any climate zone. This fact sheet from Energy Saver includes information on the elements of passive solar design and information on how passive solar heats and cools.
Learn how insulation material, when properly used, can make your home more comfortable and energy-efficient, greatly reducing heating and cooling bills throughout the year. This fact sheet from Energy Saver includes information on the benefits of insulation, types of insulation, and how to determine the right R-value for your home.
Learn why a home energy assessment is the essential first step to lowering your energy bills. This fact sheet from Energy Saver includes information on why to have a home energy assessment, tips for conducting a do-it-yourself (DIY) energy assessment, and considerations for a professional energy assessment.
Learn how simple landscaping techniques, such as using trees, vines, and shrubs to create shade in the summer or to block wind in the winter, can help cut heating and cooling bills. This fact sheet from Energy Saver includes information on summer and winter landscaping for energy savings, as well as climate-based strategies to improve comfort and reduce energy costs.
Learn how a water-efficient home helps you minimize your water use, harness water for reuse, conserve energy, and save money. This fact sheet from Energy Saver includes information on ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances, why to improve water efficiency, and how to save water and energy.
In this project, we developed and tested a learning-based home thermal model that facilitates the operation of a model predictive control (MPC)-based optimization agent and an automated fault detection and diagnosis (AFDD) agent. The home thermal model was constructed using a two-node resistor-capacitor model. Moreover, two accompanying parameter identification methods were introduced, least-squares and optimization. Based on the home thermal model, the MPC-based optimization agent was developed to optimize residential HVAC operation. Using two FDD methods, the AFDD agent was constructed to detect and diagnose two prevalent residential AC faults, airflow reduction and refrigerant undercharge. The home thermal model, along with the MPC-based optimization agent and AFDD agent, were tested at the Norman Test House, Miami Test House, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Test House A, and PNNL Test House B. Finally, they were also field tested in nine demonstration homes with real occupants.
Owners and renters all over the world are being encouraged to stay home as much as possible to mitigate the spread of the SARS CoV-2 virus and the COVID-19 disease. It is prudent to take reasonable precautions at home to decrease risks during the pandemic because most COVID-19 transmission happens in the home (see “learn more”). This is particularly true for households with infected or sensitive members. Furthermore, because people infected with COVID-19 can be asymptomatic you may have an infected person in your home for several days before you know it.
Understanding the built environment is essential to the overall study of population dynamics, grid infrastructure, emergency response, among others. In the United States there are multiple classifications for buildings within the built environment such as residential, signifying family homes while commercial buildings consist of apartments or larger structures which are multi-purpose. While there is a high level of understanding of where these aforementioned structures are located, there is a third class of structures, mobile home parks (MHP) which have been under-represented in the literature despite there being an estimated 2.7 million of them within the United States. Research has shown that individuals who reside in MHP are at higher risk to extreme events due to their location and structural integrity of residence. Attention must now turn to identifying MHP at scale to help first responders and policy makers understand where these at risk populations reside. To address for this gap, we develop a novel methodology to infer MHP at scale based off morphologies derived at a building level. Here, we show that across 3 million buildings in 6 states within the United States it is possible to identify MHP with 83% accuracy. This novel approach to identify MHP from other structures within the built environment using a machine learning approach provides a new tool to leverage in relation to helping at-risk populations.
Learn about types of heating and cooling systems, system maintenance, and best practices for saving energy with your heating and cooling. This fact sheet from Energy Saver also includes information on buying a new heating or cooling system; efficiency ratings; and selecting new systems including air conditioners, heat pumps, and furnaces.
The most important strategy for the future exploration of Mars is to prepare students and educators for that exploration. 2003 is a teachable year . In 2003 NASA will send two new robotic rover explorers to Mars. 2003 also marks the Bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition. By examining the Lewis and Clark expedition as an analogue, in the context of modern-day exploration to other worlds, students can learn about their home planet as well as about issues central to all exploration. During the past five years, in cooperation with the University of Montana, a Guide for teaching exploration science using the Expedition and Journals of Lewis and Clark as an analogue for Mars, we have prepared an Educator s Guide. Although designed with K-12 students in mind, it was also designed to be adaptable to all levels of education. In this session, the newly-published Guide will be presented and described. One or two activities may also be demonstrated.
NASA operates a series of Earth-observing satellites, which help scientists learn more about our home planet. Through partnerships with universities and other government agencies, like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Space Agency helps scientists around the world capture precise movements of the Earth s crust to learn more about the underground processes related to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, create accurate assessments of wind resources for future energy use, and preserve endangered species by generating much-needed data about their environments. This work, done primarily from space with satellites using a variety of complex instruments to take readings of the surface below, generates leagues of valuable data that aid scientists on the ground - or in some cases on the water. As much of the Earth is covered in water liquid, frozen, saltwater, or fresh much of NASA s remote sensing work focuses on the oceans and their health. This valuable, mammoth (yet fragile) resource provides insight into the overall health of our planet, as water, in addition to being abundant, is a key ingredient to all known life on Earth. As part of its ocean-observing work, NASA partnered with NOAA and private industry to develop remote sensing technologies for protecting the seas of the North Pacific from a nefarious and pervasive problem: derelict fishing gear.
This report summarizes the implementation, outcomes, and key learnings of Expanding Access to Charging at Homes (EACH), a nationwide multifamily housing charging initiative focused on accelerating deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure at multifamily housing properties. The program combined education, outreach, and technical assistance to support property owners, managers, residents, and industry stakeholders in overcoming barriers to EV charging adoption. The report highlights program strategies, stakeholder engagement, resources developed, and recommendations to help scale charging access at multifamily housing nationwide.
ABSTRACT Pacific salmon are well known for their homing migrations; juvenile salmon learn odors associated with their natal streams prior to seaward migration, and then use these retained odor memories to guide them back from oceanic feeding grounds to their river of origin to spawn several years later. This memory formation, termed olfactory imprinting, involves (at least in part) sensitization of the peripheral olfactory epithelium to specific odorants. We hypothesized that this change in peripheral sensitivity is due to exposure-dependent increases in the expression of odorant receptor (OR) proteins that are activated by specific odorants experienced during imprinting. To test this hypothesis, we exposed juvenile coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, to the basic amino acid odorant l-arginine during the parr–smolt transformation (PST), when imprinting occurs, and assessed sensitivity of the olfactory epithelium to this and other odorants. We then identified the coho salmon ortholog of a basic amino acid odorant receptor (BAAR) and determined the mRNA expression levels of this receptor and other transcripts representing different classes of OR families. Exposure to l-arginine during the PST resulted in increased sensitivity to that odorant and a specific increase in BAAR mRNA expression in the olfactory epithelium relative to other ORs. These results suggest that specific increases in ORs activated during imprinting may be an important component of home stream memory formation and this phenomenon may ultimately be useful as a marker of successful imprinting to assess management strategies and hatchery practices that may influence straying in salmon.
Join this session to learn about recent and upcoming Home Energy Professional credential and resource updates from the National Renewable Laboratory (NREL) in support of the U.S. Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). NREL staff will provide an in-depth overview of improvements to the EA and QCI certification schemes. Be prepared to provide feedback and share new ideas in pursuit of continuous improvement within WAP. These certifications are critical to ensuring the highest standards of quality, safety, and efficiency within the Weatherization Assistance Program, helping to elevate the skills of professionals and drive the program's overall success.