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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 523 records · Page 29
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

High Performance Window Retrofit

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and Traco partnered to develop high-performance windows for commercial building that are cost-effective. The main performance requirement for these windows was that they needed to have an R-value of at least 5 ft 2 ∙ F∙h/Btu. This project seeks to quantify the potential energy savings from installing these windows in commercial buildings that are at least 20 years old. To this end, we are conducting evaluations at a two-story test facility that is representative of a commercial building from the 1980s, and are gathering measurements on the performance of its windows before and after double-pane, clear-glazed units are upgraded with R5 windows. Additionally, we will use these data to calibrate EnergyPlus models that we will allow us to extrapolate results to other climates. Findings from this project will provide empirical data on the benefits from high-performance windows, which will help promote their adoption in new and existing commercial buildings. This report describes the experimental setup, and includes some of the field and simulation results.

EnergyPlus↗
DOE OSTI2014

DOE Better Buildings Neighborhood Program, Energy Smart Colorado: Resort Communities Retrofit Program

Energy Smart Colorado is an energy efficiency program established in 2011 in the central mountain region of Colorado. The program was funded through a grant of $4.9 million, awarded in August 2010 by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Program. As primary grant recipient, Eagle County coordinated program activities, managed the budget, and reported results. Eagle County staff worked closely with local community education and outreach partner Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability (now Walking Mountains Science Center) to engage residents in the program. Sub-recipients Pitkin County and Gunnison County assigned local implementation of the program in their regions to their respective community efficiency organizations, Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE) in Pitkin County, and Office for Resource Efficiency (ORE) in Gunnison County. Utility partners contributed $166,600 to support Home Energy Assessments for their customers. Program staff opened Energy Resource Centers, engaged a network of qualified contractors, developed a work-flow, an enrollment website, a loan program, and a data management system to track results.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Retrofit Integrated Space & Water Heating: Field Assessment: Minneapolis, Minnesota (Fact Sheet)

This project analyzed combined condensing water heaters or boilers and hydronic air coils to provide high efficiency domestic hot water and forced air space heating. Called 'Combi' systems, they provided similar space and water heating performance less expensively than installing two condensing appliances. The system's installed costs were cheaper than installing a condensing furnace and either a condensing tankless or condensing storage water heater. However, combi costs must mature and be reduced before they are competitive with a condensing furnace and power vented water heater (EF of 0.60). Better insulation and tighter envelopes are reducing space heating loads for new and existing homes. For many homes, decreased space heating loads make it possible for both space and domestic water heating loads to be provided with a single heating plant. These systems can also eliminate safety issues associated with natural draft appliances through the use of one common sealed combustion vent.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Rutland Retrofit Ramp-Up

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Energy Impacts of Oversized Residential Air Conditioners -- Simulation Study of Retrofit Sequence Impacts

This research addresses the question of what are the energy consequences for oversizing of an air conditioner in a home. Conventional wisdom holds that oversizing the AC results in significant energy penalties. However, the reason for this was shown to be due to crankcase heaters and not due to cycling performance of the AC, and is only valid for a particular set of assumptions. Adding or removing individual characteristics, such as ducts or crankcase heaters, can have measurable impacts on energy use. However, with all other home characteristics held constant, oversizing the AC generally has a small effect on cooling energy use, even if the cycling performance of the unit is poor. The relevant aspects of air conditioner modeling are discussed to illustrate the effects of the cycling loss coefficient, Cd, capacity, climate, ducts and parasitic losses such as crankcase heaters. A case study of a typical 1960's vintage home demonstrates results in the context of whole building simulations using EnergyPlus.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2015

Geothermal Retrofit of Illinois National Guard's State headquarters Building

The goal of this project was to assess the feasibility of utilizing mine water as a heat sink for a geothermal heat pump system to heat and cool the 74,000 sq. ft. Illinois National Guard State Headquarters’ building in Springfield Illinois. If successful, this type of system would be less expensive to install than a traditional closed loop geothermal (ground source) heat pump system by significantly reducing the size of the well field, thus shortening or eliminate the payback period compared to a conventional system. In the end, a conventional ground loop was used for the project.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Performance Evaluation of Advanced Retrofit Roof Technologies Using Field-Test Data -- Phase Three Final Report, Volume 2

This article presents some miscellaneous data from two low-slope and two steep-slope experimental roofs. The low-slope roofs were designed to compare the performance of various roof coatings exposed to natural weatherization. The steep-slope roofs contained different combinations of phase change material, rigid insulation, low emittance surface and above-sheathing ventilation, with standing-seam metal panels on top. The steep-slope roofs were constructed on a series of adjacent attics separated at the gables using thick foam insulation. This article describes phase three (3) of a study that began in 2009 to evaluate the energy benefits of a sustainable re-roofing technology utilizing standing-seam metal roofing panels combined with energy efficient features like above-sheathing-ventilation (ASV), phase change material (PCM) and rigid insulation board. The data from phases 1 and 2 have been previously published and reported [Kosny et al., 2011; Biswas et al., 2011; Biswas and Childs, 2012; Kosny et al., 2012]. Based on previous data analyses and discussions within the research group, additional test roofs were installed in May 2012, to test new configurations and further investigate different components of the dynamic insulation systems. Some experimental data from phase 3 testing from May 2012 to December 2013 and some EnergyPlus modeling results have been reported in volumes 1 and 3, respectively, of the final report [Biswas et al., 2014; Biswas and Bhandari, 2014].

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Strategy Guideline: Application of a Construction Quality Process to Existing Home Retrofits

The Partnership for Home Innovation developed a construction quality process for new and existing high performance homes (HPH) in which high performance goals are established, specifications to meet those goals are defined, and construction monitoring points are added to the construction schedule so that critical energy efficiency details are systematically reviewed, documented, and tested in a timely manner. This report follows the evolution of the construction quality process from its development for new homes, to its application in the construction of a high performance home with enhanced specifications, and its application in a crawlspace renovation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2015

Innovative Retrofit Insulation Strategies for Concrete Masonry Foundations

Basements in climates 6 and 7 can account for a fraction of a home's total heat loss when fully conditioned. Such foundations are a source of moisture, with convection in open block cavities redistributing water from the wall base, usually when heating. Even when block cavities are capped, the cold foundation concrete can act as a moisture source for wood rim joist components that are in contact with it. Because below-grade basements are increasingly used for habitable space, cold foundation walls pose challenges for moisture contribution, energy use, and occupant comfort.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2016

Yuma Border Patrol Area Lighting Retrofit LED System Performance in a Trial Installation – Two Years Later

Documentation of the Yuma Sector Border Patrol Area lighting LED trial demonstration continues to provide a better understanding of LED technology performance in a high ambient temperature and high solar radiation environment. Measured data at the project site showed illuminances changing more rapidly than anticipated. As previously predicted, the causes for these observed changes are mostly if not completely explained by dirt accumulation. The laboratory measurements showed not only the effect of dirt on lumen output, but also on the distribution of light exiting the luminaire.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2017

Retrofitting Forced Air Combi Systems: A Cold Climate Field Assessment

This project analyzed combined condensing water heaters or boilers and hydronic air coils to provide high efficiency domestic hot water (DHW) and forced air space heating. Called 'combi' systems, they provided similar space and water heating performance less expensively than installing two condensing appliances. The system's installed costs were cheaper than installing a condensing furnace and either a condensing tankless or condensing storage water heater. However, combi costs must mature and be reduced before they are competitive with a condensing furnace and power vented water heater (energy factor of 0.60). Better insulation and tighter envelopes are reducing space heating loads for new and existing homes. For many homes, decreased space heating loads make it possible for both space and domestic water heating loads to be provided with a single heating plant. These systems can also eliminate safety issues associated with natural draft appliances through the use of one common sealed combustion vent. The combined space and water heating approach was not a new idea. Past systems have used non-condensing heating plants, which limited their usefulness in climates with high heating loads. Previous laboratory work (Schoenbauer et al. 2012a) showed that proper installation was necessary to achieve condensing with high efficiency appliances. Careful consideration was paid to proper system sizing and minimizing the water temperature returning from the air handling unit to facilitate condensing operation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2017

Kokhanok Renewable Energy Retrofit Analysis

In 2010, the community of Kokhanok, Alaska, installed two 90-kW wind turbines, battery storage, a converter, and equipment for integration. Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory performed an analysis and modeling using the HOMER and REopt software modeling packages.The analysis was designed to answer the following questions: 1) What is required to achieve a 50 percent reduction in power plant diesel fuel consumption in a diesel microgrid? 2) What is required to achieve a 50 percent reduction in 'total' (diesel and heating oil) consumption in a remote community? 3) What is the impact and role of energy efficiency? This presentation provides an introduction to the community of Kokhanok, Alaska; a summary of energy data; and an overview of analysis results and conceptual design.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Yuma Border Patrol Lighting Retrofit: Final LED System Performance Assessment of Trial and Full Installation

Along the Yuma Sector Border Patrol Area in Yuma, Arizona, the GATEWAY program conducted a trial evaluation in which the incumbent quartz metal halide area lighting was replaced with LED at three pole locations, and illuminance measurements were recorded initially and at 2500 hours, 5000 hours, 7000, and 11,000 hours of operation. Additionally, four second-generation LED luminaires installed as part of the full installation were evaluated initially and again after 4,000 hours of operation. While the initial energy, lighting quality, and maintenance benefits relative to the incumbent high-pressure sodium system were very satisfactory, the study raises important questions regarding the long-term performance of LED lighting systems in high-temperature environments.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2017

Alstom’s Chemical Looping Combustion Technology for CO 2 Capture for New and Retrofit Coal-Fired Power Plants

Cold Flow Modeling (CFM) is a critical tool to understand solid transport, corresponding process stability, and the impact on the performance of the LCL-CTM technology. As such it plays a central role in the development of the LCL-CTM process and deserves a standalone report in the final reporting on Phase II of the collaboration with DOE under award DE FE0009484. The 40-Foot Cold Flow Model (CFM) was constructed before the 3 MWth Prototype. The purpose of the CFM is to: develop design and operational information to design the Prototype help resolve solids transport problems that occur with the Prototype provide Prototype operator training. This report provides a review on the use of the CFM to achieve better understanding, design, and operation of solid transport for the LCL-CTM technology. Significant progress was made by iteratively designing, operating, and testing between the CFM and the Prototype scale. Fundamental understanding of the transport of reactive solids was acquired based on the reported effort. Unfortunately, the technical gaps identified for Phase II of the LCL-CTM technology development could not all be eliminated and the transport of solids under high fuel load remained unstable at the Prototype scale. The nature of the iterative learning going back and forth between CFM and Prototype scale became cost-prohibitive and forced the project to pivot at a relatively late date in the project. The LCL-CTM process switched from a Transport reactor design to a Bubbling Fluidized Bed (BFB) design in order to successfully achieve all process criteria but at the 100-kWth scale to accommodate the residual funding. The CFM remains a very relevant tool for future LCL-CTM process development. While the LCL-CTM technology still must be demonstrated under scale up conditions (and the success of the BFB testing would push to scale up in that configuration), the CFM will remain a preferred tool for troubleshooting and reducing the technical gaps of LCL-CTM.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2020

Building Assessment of Radon Reduction Interventions with Energy Retrofits Expansion (The BEX Study): Final Report

This report presents the findings from a study that was performed to assess whether current precautionary measures used by the US Department of Energy Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) are effective for preventing indoor radon increases following weatherization. The study results show that current practices have produced substantial benefit compared to previous practices, and that there are no statistically significant changes in indoor radon levels on the lowest living levels with these practices following weatherization.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Study for a Carbon Capture Plant Retrofit to a Natural Gas-Fired Gas Turbine Combined Cycle Power Plant

A comprehensive front-end engineering design (FEED) study has been undertaken for a post-combustion capture (PCC) unit located at Panda’s Sherman natural gas–combined cycle (NGCC) power plant in Sherman, Texas. This is described in a full and unredacted FEED study report with all supporting documents, numbering over 150, also publicly available.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Study for a Carbon Capture Plant Retrofit to a Natural Gas-Fired Gas Turbine Combined Cycle Power Plant (2x2x1 Duct-Fired 758-MWe Facility with F Class Turbines)

A comprehensive front-end engineering design (FEED) study has been undertaken by Bechtel National Inc. (Bechtel) for locating a post-combustion capture and compression (PCC) unit at Panda’s Sherman natural gas–combined cycle (NGCC) power plant in Sherman, Texas. This is described in the unredacted FEED Study report (Attachment 1) with all supporting documents, numbering over 150. The Study Report is publicly available. Sizing of the PCC plant is based on treating an amount of flue gas equivalent to that produced when generating 420 MW, which is approximately 68% of the total flue gas emitted by the NGCC power plant operating at guarantee condition with duct burners off. A reduced power plant capacity factor was used for sizing the PCC plant because the gas turbines at the site often operate at reduced load due to the high penetration of renewable power in the ERCOT region. The cost of carbon capture is primarily driven by capital cost (and therefore is highly sensitive to capacity factor). Sizing the capture unit so that when used it is nearly always operating at full capacity is critical to the economic viability of the proposed investment.

03 NATURAL GAS↗