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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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Advances in building data management for building performance standards using the SEED platform

Reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment is a critical step in achieving emission goals to mitigate climate change impacts. Local, federal, and international jurisdictions are deploying several methods to reduce energy and emissions such as voluntary and mandatory benchmarking and building performance standards, requiring building owners to reach energy and emission targets. Jurisdictions leveraging benchmarking and building performance standards require knowledge of the buildings covered; which is a large task due to staffing constraints, limited information on building characteristics and tax parcel data, and the need for advanced data management techniques to align datasets. This paper describes an open-source platform's recent advances to create consistent taxonomies, identify erroneous data, enable auditability, and track building performance. The paper concludes with two use cases on how the platform has been used by jurisdictions.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Coupling thermal energy storage with a thermally anisotropic building envelope for building demand-side management across various US climate conditions

Here, the thermally anisotropic building envelope (TABE) is a novel active building envelope that enhances energy efficiency and thermal comfort in buildings by transferring heat and cold between building envelopes and hydronic loops. When coupled with thermal energy storage (TES) units, the TABE + TES enables the storage of both heat and cold energy captured by the TABE roof or exterior walls. This stored energy can be later released by the TABE floor for indoor heating and cooling, benefiting both the grid and the end user. This paper evaluates the merits of TABE + TES for building demand-side management across various US climate conditions, focusing on peak load shaving, annual energy savings, and cost savings under time-of-use (TOU) electric rate schedules. Simulations were conducted by integrating time-of-day–informed, rule-based control strategies in MATLAB, TABE components and TES units in COMSOL Multiphysics, and whole-building energy analysis in EnergyPlus. A case study using the US Department of Energy’s prototype single-family detached house model in Birmingham, Alabama; Los Angeles, California; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Denver, Colorado, showed that the TABE + TES system achieved (1) 70 % peak load shaving in Los Angeles and Denver and 20 % in Birmingham and Oak Ridge; (2) significant peak electricity savings of 351–497 kWh, reducing peak energy consumption by 38 %–78 %; and (3) annual heating cost savings of 0.79 $\$$/m2–1.17 $\$$/m 2 and cooling cost savings of 0.60 $\$$/m 2 –1.17 $\$$/m 2 using a normal utility rate or low-TOU rate. The benefits of employing the TABE + TES system are even more significant under high TOU rates.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Energy innovation in the US buildings sector: Setting the stage and mapping the future

Jared Langevin is a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he leads modeling of US buildings sector innovation and its implications for energy demand, consumer costs, and the power grid. Eric Wilson is a senior research engineer in the Building Technologies and Sciences Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Much of his 15-year career at NREL has revolved around modeling and analysis of the US building stock. Jared and Eric co-led the development of a National Blueprint for buildings sector innovation while serving as advisors to the US Department of Energy’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Buildings and Industry.

Langevin, Jared↗
DOE OSTI2024

Alfalfa Virtual Building Service: Software Engineering Best Practices Applied to Runtime Interaction with Building Energy Models

Buildings are active participants in increasingly complex energy systems. Building Energy Modeling (BEM) has a key role to play in planning and de-risking an equitable energy transition, with BEM-backed "virtual buildings" critical path for diverse applications that include workforce training tools, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) experimentation to study equipment performance under a range of conditions, Control-Hardware-in-the-Loop (CHIL) experimentation to de-risk commercial control implementations at equipment through grid orchestration levels, and integration of dynamic load profiles into grid modeling tools for energy system experimentation at the urban scale. Modeling requirements vary across these applications, but many software engineering tasks do not. The Alfalfa Virtual Building Service (AVBS, see https://github.com/NREL/alfalfa/wiki) is an open-source web service that solves these common tasks robustly in one place, providing a foundational platform for power users to bootstrap their own applications. AVBS abstracts the specifics of runtime interaction with OpenStudio, Modelica, and Spawn of EnergyPlus models behind a unified REST API. Additionally, AVBS provides resources for cloud deployment and scaling to 100s of parallel simulations, a growing library of modular Operational Technology (OT) integrations for emulation of real-world interfaces, and scripts to automate the population of communities of virtual buildings from URBANopt, ResStock and ComStock.

building automation↗
DOE OSTI2026

Generalizable Web User Interface for Scalable and Streamlined Deployment of Building Energy Management Systems in Small and Medium-Sized Commercial Buildings

Small and medium-sized commercial buildings (SMCBs) comprise 94% of US commercial buildings yet face significant barriers to implementing building energy management systems despite advances in smart device technology. Existing solutions present critical limitations: cloud-based API solutions simplify deployment but create vendor lock-in constraints; commercial integrated software solutions ensure compatibility via standardized protocols but require substantial cost and technical expertise; open-source IoT platforms offer cost-effective vendor independence but provide insufficient standardized protocol support for commercial building automation. This research presents a generalizable web user interface framework that bridges the gap between evolving smart device capabilities and lagging software infrastructure for SMCBs. The proposed system integrates VOLTTRON open-source middleware with an automated configuration converter that transforms unified specifications written in YAML, a human-readable data-serialization format, into system-specific files, streamlining manual setup processes. The vendor-agnostic architecture supports industry-standard protocols (BACnet and Modbus) and semantic building models while providing adaptive web interfaces that dynamically adjust to various building configurations. Demonstrations through simulation-based testing and a field deployment show automatic interface adaptation across heterogeneous HVAC systems and multizone monitoring. The automated configuration converter also substantially reduces labor-intensive setup.

Chung, Jihoon [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000184880815)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Simulation-Based Validation of An Open-Source, Scalable Framework for Building Energy Management in Small and Medium-Sized Commercial Buildings

Abstract: Small and medium-sized commercial buildings (SMCBs) represent 94% of U.S. commercial buildings but encounter substantial obstacles in adopting Building Energy Management (BEM) systems. Current approaches exhibit fundamental limitations: vendor-specific API platforms restrict interoperability through proprietary ecosystems; commercial automation software demands extensive technical expertise and licensing costs; open-source IoT solutions lack native support for building automation protocols and semantic models. This paper introduces a configuration-driven web interface framework addressing the gap between smart device advancements and accessible BEM software infrastructure for SMCBs. The framework leverages VOLTTRON middleware integrated with an automated converter that processes unified YAML configurations into heterogeneous system files, reducing required configuration artifacts from six separate files to a single unified specification. The system architecture enables vendor-agnostic operation through BACnet and Modbus protocols while supporting semantic building model integration via automated Brick Schema parsing. Configuration-driven interfaces automatically adapt to diverse HVAC types without custom development. Simulation-based validation using BOPTEST demonstrates automatic interface generation between fan coil and hydronic systems, with the automated converter successfully generating all platform-specific outputs from the single YAML input. The result demonstrates the framework's capability to streamline BEM system deployment through reduced configuration complexity. This work bridges simulation capabilities with operational deployment, demonstrating how virtual testbeds validate generalizable software frameworks for real-world building automation.

Chung, Jihoon [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000184880815)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Updating the Building Science Advisor (BSA): A Tool to Assist in the Design of Durable Building Envelopes

Predicting the moisture durability of building envelope components remains challenging due to multiple influencing factors, including material selection, assembly positioning, local climate conditions, air tightness, interior environment, and construction quality. Building codes increasingly emphasize energy efficiency through enhanced insulation and tighter envelopes but offer limited guidance on moisture durability considerations. Consequently, builders face uncertainty, particularly as new materials and assemblies enter the market.The Building Science Advisor (BSA) is a free, web-based expert system developed to address these challenges by providing actionable insights into the moisture durability and energy efficiency of both new and retrofit wall designs. Recently updated, we are now providing version 3.0 of the tool. BSA features significant user interface improvements, enhancing navigation and user interaction through a refreshed, intuitive design. Additionally, the tool incorporates a newly developed database containing pre-simulated wall assembly cases, significantly reducing response times and improving the accuracy of moisture durability assessments. Furthermore, the updated BSA includes moisture content as a performance criterion, providing users with a more comprehensive understanding of moisture-related durability risks. These enhancements enable rapid, reliable assessments tailored to specific climate zones and local building practices. BSA continues to offer targeted guidance on wall retrofit scenarios and delivers access to an expanded library of location-specific building science resources.This paper describes these key updates, highlighting the enhanced features, expanded capabilities, and overall improvements to user experience and educational content. The paper includes a demonstration that illustrates how the revised BSA effectively supports practitioners in designing durable, energy-efficient building envelope assemblies.

Salonvaara, Mikael [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000318991554)↗
NASA NTRS1975

Building application of solar energy. Study no. 2: Representative buildings for solar energy performance analysis and market penetration

The following topics are discussed: (1) Assignment of population to microclimatic zones; (2) specifications of the mix of buildings in the SCE territory; (3) specification of four typical buildings for thermal analysis and market penetration studies; (4) identification of the materials and energy conserving characteristics of these typical buildings; (5) specifications of the HVAC functions used in each typical building, and determination of the HVAC systems used in each building; and (6) identification of the type of fuel used in each building.

Hirshberg, A. S.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding Commercial Building Energy Use in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Sioux Falls: Building Stock Segmentation for Retrofit Planning

This report is part of the second phase of a publication series focusing on approximately 100 different local geographies, or "clusters." Each report provides characteristic features and energy data for commercial buildings in a specific area to help policy makers at the city, county, and state level better understand building energy use and emissions. This report breaks down the energy consumption and emissions of the building stock in the counties shown in Figure 2 by building type, building size, end use, energy consumption, emissions, and segment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding Commercial Building Energy Use in the Greater Little Rock Area: Building Stock Segmentation for Retrofit Planning

This report is part of the second phase of a publication series focusing on approximately 100 different local geographies, or "clusters." Each report provides characteristic features and energy data for commercial buildings in a specific area to help policy makers at the city, county, and state level better understand building energy use and emissions. This report breaks down the energy consumption and emissions of the building stock in the counties shown in Figure 2 by building type, building size, end use, energy consumption, emissions, and segment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding Commercial Building Energy Use in Northwestern PA, Ashtabulam, and Chautauqua Counties: Building Stock Segmentation for Retrofit Planning

This report is part of the second phase of a publication series focusing on approximately 100 different local geographies, or "clusters." Each report provides characteristic features and energy data for commercial buildings in a specific area to help policy makers at the city, county, and state level better understand building energy use and emissions. This report breaks down the energy consumption and emissions of the building stock in the counties shown in Figure 2 by building type, building size, end use, energy consumption, emissions, and segment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding Commercial Building Energy Use in the Evansville and Shawnee National Forest Area: Building Stock Segmentation for Retrofit Planning

This report is part of the second phase of a publication series focusing on approximately 100 different local geographies, or "clusters." Each report provides characteristic features and energy data for commercial buildings in a specific area to help policy makers at the city, county, and state level better understand building energy use and emissions. This report breaks down the energy consumption and emissions of the building stock in the counties shown in Figure 2 by building type, building size, end use, energy consumption, emissions, and segment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding Commercial Building Energy Use in the Rural Eastern Climate Zone 5A Area: Building Stock Segmentation for Retrofit Planning

This report is part of the second phase of a publication series focusing on approximately 100 different local geographies, or "clusters." Each report provides characteristic features and energy data for commercial buildings in a specific area to help policy makers at the city, county, and state level better understand building energy use and emissions. This report breaks down the energy consumption and emissions of the building stock in the counties shown in Figure 2 by building type, building size, end use, energy consumption, emissions, and segment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding Commercial Building Energy Use in Las Vegas: Building Stock Segmentation for Retrofit Planning

This report is part of the second phase of a publication series focusing on approximately 100 different local geographies, or "clusters." Each report provides characteristic features and energy data for commercial buildings in a specific area to help policy makers at the city, county, and state level better understand building energy use and emissions. This report breaks down the energy consumption and emissions of the building stock in the counties shown in Figure 2 by building type, building size, end use, energy consumption, emissions, and segment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding Commercial Building Energy Use in Eau Claire, La Crosse, Rochester, and Wausau: Building Stock Segmentation for Retrofit Planning

This report is part of the second phase of a publication series focusing on approximately 100 different local geographies, or "clusters." Each report provides characteristic features and energy data for commercial buildings in a specific area to help policy makers at the city, county, and state level better understand building energy use and emissions. This report breaks down the energy consumption and emissions of the building stock in the counties shown in Figure 2 by building type, building size, end use, energy consumption, emissions, and segment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding Commercial Building Energy Use in Boise-Twin Falls: Building Stock Segmentation for Retrofit Planning

This report is part of the second phase of a publication series focusing on approximately 100 different local geographies, or "clusters." Each report provides characteristic features and energy data for commercial buildings in a specific area to help policy makers at the city, county, and state level better understand building energy use and emissions. This report breaks down the energy consumption and emissions of the building stock in the counties shown in Figure 2 by building type, building size, end use, energy consumption, emissions, and segment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Understanding Commercial Building Energy Use in the Rochester-Buffalo and Erie, PA, Area: Building Stock Segmentation for Retrofit Planning

TThis report is part of the second phase of a publication series focusing on approximately 100 different local geographies, or "clusters." Each report provides characteristic features and energy data for commercial buildings in a specific area to help policy makers at the city, county, and state level better understand building energy use and emissions. This report breaks down the energy consumption and emissions of the building stock in the counties shown in Figure 2 by building type, building size, end use, energy consumption, emissions, and segment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗