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DOE OSTI2025

Reported Energy and Cost Savings from the DOE ESPC IDIQ Program: FY 2024

Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) are a contractual mechanism that allow a federal agency to procure energy savings and facility improvements without upfront capital costs to reduce costs and enhance mission resiliency. ESPCs are covered under FAR Part 23.2, and 42 USC § 8287. Section 8287(a)(2)(A) of Title 42 of the U.S. Code requires that each energy savings performance contract (ESPC) undergo an annual energy audit, resulting in a separate audit report for every project. The objective of the present report is to compile and analyze all annual ESPC audit reports issued between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024, for projects awarded under Generations 1, 2, and 3 of DOE’s ESPC IDIQ contracts. During this period, 205 measurement and verification (M&V) reports were produced for 200 projects; the total number of reports exceeds the number of projects because some projects generated more than one report (for example, a few projects measure savings twice per year and produce two audit reports annually, each covering a different six-month period). By aggregating the results from these individual audits, the report determines the portfolio-wide realization rate of energy and cost savings for all active ESPC projects awarded under DOE’s IDIQ program.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

NASA NTRS2004

The Office of Inspector General (OIG)

The NASA Office of Inspector General is the Federal Law Enforcement Agency at NASA which conducts criminal and regulatory investigations in which NASA is a victim. The OIG prevents and detects crime, fiaud, waste and abuse and assists NASA management in promoting economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in its programs and operations. Investigations (OI) and the Office of Audits (OA). The investigations side deals with criminal Investigations, administrative investigations, and civil investigations. The Audits side deals with inspections and assessments as well as the Auditing of NASA Programs and Activities. Our mission at the OIG is to conduct and supervise independent and objective audits and investigations relating to agency programs and operations; to promote economy, effectiveness and efficiency within the agency; to prevent and detect crime, fraud, waste and abuse in agency programs and operations; to review and make recommendations regarding existing and proposed legislation and regulations relating to agency programs and operations. We are also responsible for keeping the agency head and the Congress fully and currently informed of problems in agency programs and operations. deal with False Claims, False Statements, Conspiracy, Theft, Computer Crime, Mail Fraud, the Procurement Integrity Act, the Anti-Kickback Act, as well as noncompliance with NASA Management Instructions, the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), and the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Most of the casework that is dealt with in our office is generated through gum shoe work or cases that we generate on our own. These cases can come from Law Enforcement Referrals, GIDEP Reports, EPlMS (NASA Quality System), Defense Contract Audit Agency, Newspaper Articles, and Confidential Information. In many cases, confidentiality is the biggest factor to informants coming forward. We are able to maintain confidentiality because the 01 is independent of NASA Management and doesn t report to the Center Directors, therefore the informant s mangers and supervisors are unaware of the informants actions. The only time when an informant s confidentiality may be compromised is when it is needed in a Court of Law and is released through a Judicial Court Order. During my tenure here at the NASA OIG/OI at Glenn Research Center, I have been involved in many different tasks. They have ranged from updating Suspected Unapproved Parts case files to independently interviewing NASA employees to turn up general background information. The 01 has the duty of informing NASA aeronautical safety managers of potential Nonconforming products. My mission is to compile a database of Nonconformance reports for distribution. The background information that I turn up from my interviews is then used to determine NASA s susceptibility to acceptance of unapproved parts. The IG organization is divided up into two separate disciplines, the Office of 01 investigations primarily focus on violations of Federal laws. Some of these violations

Macisco, Christopher A.↗

NASA NTRS2003

The auditors are coming: a practical guide for engineering projects

This paper presents a description of the typical audit process, a list of do's and don'ts for projects undergoing an audit, how to design basic audit preparations into the project's design, and resources for further information on auditing issues.

audit auditors auditing↗

DOE OSTI2024

Pathway to Decarbonization Through Industrial Energy Efficiency: Micro and Macro Perspectives from Compressed Air Usage

Abstract Energy audits directly provided the industrial sector with reduced energy costs and avoided emissions. Still, they also lead to far-reaching indirect and induced local, regional, and national benefits. This paper aims to present the techno-economic-environmental analysis to achieve decarbonization through implementing industrial energy efficiency at micro and macro levels. An integrated techno-economic-environmental methodology is developed. Case studies of micro-level carbon reduction efforts through industrial energy efficiency technologies are presented. The broader macroeconomic and environmental effects of technology on society are analyzed using data from 206 energy audits of industrial compressed air systems conducted over 13 years. The impacts show that energy-efficient improvements lead to direct cost savings for manufacturers, boost economic activity across sectors, and affect carbon dioxide emissions both short-term and long-term in the region. Given their extensive benefits, energy audits significantly influence policymaking. We devised a methodology to link micro-level energy audit data with macroeconomic and environmental analyses to quantify these cascading benefits. The economic scenario analysis shows that $228 M has been saved from direct industrial energy savings from implementing all compressed air recommendations in the studied periods and the region. In addition, the investment made through manufacturers would create 2,025 jobs and $383 M annually, cascading regional economic impacts. The environmental analysis shows that the regional manufacturers have directly avoided about 2.8 M metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Engineering↗

DOE OSTI2026

ORCHID: Orchestrated Retrieval-Augmented Classification of High-Risk Property with Intelligent Decision-Making

High-Risk Property (HRP) classification is critical at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites, where inventories include sensitive and often dual-use equipment. Compliance must track evolving rules designated by various export control policies to make transparent and auditable decisions. Traditional expert-only workflows are time-consuming, backlog-prone, and struggle to keep pace with shifting regulatory boundaries. We propose ORCHID, a modular agentic framework for HRP classification that pairs retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) with human oversight to produce policy based outputs that can be audited. Small cooperating agents—retrieval, description refiner, classifier, validator, and feedback logger—coordinate via agent-to-agent messaging and invoke tools through the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for model-agnostic on-premise operation. The interface follows an "Item to Evidence to Decision" loop with step-by-step reasoning, on-policy citations, and append-only audit bundles (run-cards, prompts, evidence). In preliminary tests on real HRP cases, ORCHID improves accuracy and traceability over a non-agentic baseline while deferring uncertain items to Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The demonstration shows single item submission, grounded citations, SME feedback capture, and exportable audit artifacts—illustrating a practical path to trustworthy LLM assistance in sensitive DOE compliance workflows.

Das, Sanjay [ORNL] (ORCID:0009000542591915)↗

NASA NTRS2020

KSC Integration Office Documentation and Support

This report details the process of document management within the KSC Integration Office throughout my internship in the fall term of the year 2020. During this term, I was mentored by Felix A. Soto-Toro and my main objective was to support the Audit Liaison Representatives (ALR) in their documentation processes. I worked alongside the members of the KSC Integration Office to streamline the auditing process in order to facilitate the interchangement of documents and communication between auditors and our agency. My approach to this situation was to document the events of each audit in a report, which would be updated weekly every Monday following a specific format. As support I was required to gather, organize, and release data relevant to current audits in an online server for ALRs to use across the entire NASA Agency.

Ana C Arvelo Serrano↗

DOE OSTI2026

SoK: What does it Mean to Benchmark Database Forensics?

Relational Database Management Systems are the backbone of modern enterprises and public-sector services, and are thus frequent targets of security incidents, insider threats, and thorough regulatory audits. Consequently, databases have become key sources of digital evidence, requiring investigators to reconstruct past activity from audit logs, transaction logs, and backups. Although benchmarking frameworks such as those developed by the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC) are widely used to evaluate database performance, they do not capture forensic requirements such as evidentiary completeness, tamper-evidence, chain of custody, or regulatory compliance under GDPR and CCPA. This survey examines the emerging domain of forensic database benchmarking. We gathered prior research on database forensics, secure logging, and tamper-evident data structures; we analyze modern forensic-ready features in commercial and open-source systems (SQL Server Ledger, Oracle Blockchain Tables, PostgreSQL pgAudit, Db2 Audit, Aurora Database Activity Streams, Oracle Real Application Security and IBM Guardium) and assess why existing benchmarks are insufficient. We propose forensic workloads, metrics, and methodologies that incorporate adversarial stressors, deleted-record recovery, and backup analysis. We also identify open research problems and call for a community-driven forensic benchmark suite. The result is an idea for evaluating not only database performance but also forensic soundness, bridging the gap between system engineering, compliance, and digital investigations.

Lenard, Ben↗

DOE OSTI2024

Drug providers’ perspectives on antibiotic misuse practices in eastern Ethiopia: a qualitative study

Objective Antibiotic misuse includes using them to treat colds and influenza, obtaining them without a prescription, not finishing the prescribed course and sharing them with others. Although drug providers are well positioned to advise clients on proper stewardship practices, antibiotic misuse continues to rise in Ethiopia. It necessitates an understanding of why drug providers failed to limit such risky behaviours. This study aimed to explore drug providers’ perspectives on antibiotic misuse practices in eastern Ethiopia. Setting The study was conducted in rural Haramaya district and Harar town, eastern Ethiopia. Design and participants An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken between March and June 2023, among the 15 drug providers. In-depth interviews were conducted using pilot-tested, semistructured questions. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, translated into English and analysed thematically. The analyses considered the entire dataset and field notes. Results The study identified self-medication pressures, non-prescribed dispensing motives, insufficient regulatory functions and a lack of specific antibiotic use policy as the key contributors to antibiotic misuse. We found previous usage experience, a desire to avoid extra costs and a lack of essential diagnostics and antibiotics in public institutions as the key drivers of non-prescribed antibiotic access from private drug suppliers. Non-prescribed antibiotic dispensing in pharmacies was driven by client satisfaction, financial gain, business survival and market competition from informal sellers. Antibiotic misuse in the setting has also been linked to traditional and ineffective dispensing audits, inadequate regulatory oversights and policy gaps. Conclusion This study highlights profits and oversimplified access to antibiotics as the main motivations for their misuse. It also identifies the traditional antibiotic dispensing audit as an inefficient regulatory operation. Hence, enforcing specific antibiotic usage policy guidance that entails an automated practice audit, a responsible office and insurance coverage for persons with financial limitations can help optimise antibiotic use while reducing resistance consequences.

General & Internal Medicine↗

DOE OSTI2024

Data Driven Commercial Building Energy Code Compliance and Technology Inventory for New York City

Building Performance Standards (BPS) are gaining national traction. A BPS will require new processes in the design, construction, and operation of buildings that take the occupants into account and enable predictive analysis to ensure compliance with current and future GHG emissions caps. In New York City, most buildings over 25,000 square feet will be regulated by a BPS starting in 2024, regardless of whether it is new construction permitted under current energy codes or an existing building. This research is one of the first to begin the evaluation of a long-term series of building policies in the context of an open data ecosystem, in cooperation with city agencies. Existing building policies enacted in NYC have ranged from building energy benchmarking and labeling to energy audits to the regulation of GHG emission in buildings. Through the development of a dataset related to building technologies and energy consumption, this project can help to evaluate if meaningful conclusions can be drawn for the data that has been largely self-reported in compliance with city regulations. This project will also provide lessons learned from a deep dive into these types of datasets to provide best practices for municipalities or states seeking to embark on policies like those enacted in NYC. In addition, a Building Automation System (BAS) Stretch Standard of Care (SSOC) for owners, designers, and building operators will enable the measurement and predictive analysis of energy consumption and GHG emissions at the plant, system, or component level, in anticipation of regulated GHG limits on buildings based on energy use. The SSOC is expected to be suitable for use on a national level. The primary feature of an SSOC is a standardized format for a set of BAS points that can be used to control and to gather data from individual plants, systems, or components that are related to building energy consumption. This project examined how measurements compare to prescriptive or simulation-based energy code targets, finding little correlation between predictive 8760-hour energy modeling and actual energy consumption for a small sample (n=27) of buildings constructed after 2015. Other analysis found that, while large multifamily housing (MFH) buildings showed a general trend similar to predicted reductions in energy use from the implementation of model commercial energy codes, this trend was not evident in the office, K-12 school, and hotel use groups in NYC. No upward or downward trends in energy consumption were found when buildings were grouped by size. Energy audit data were analyzed and it appears that there is bias by audit company on measures recommended to clients. Further research should be performed to cross-analyze this with other attributes, such as building size, vintage, and number of stories. Analysis found that for 281 buildings that were permitted and completed after 2015 and had submitted benchmarking data in 2022, between 81% and 96% (by use group) were found to be in compliance with the 2024 to 2029 NYC BPS emission caps, and between 55% and 89% were in compliance with the 2030-2034 caps. This work is beneficial to the public in helping policymakers and building stakeholders better understand the wide-ranging implications of a BPS.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2025

A Comparison Between Industrial Energy Efficiency Measures in Guatemala and the United States

Energy auditing has been cited as a key tool in closing the gap between the actual energy consumption in industrial facilities and what should be at an environmentally sustainable level. Several factors affect the likelihood that energy audits will be effective in closing that gap, and more analysis is needed to understand these factors, especially for developing nations. This study compares three energy efficiency measures (EEMs) frequently recommended in both the United States and Guatemala, namely, installing solar panels to generate electricity, installing higher-efficiency lighting, and upgrading to premium efficiency motors. The implementation of each of these EEMs contributes to more sustainable energy consumption, and each of these EEM’s payback periods is affected by capital costs, energy costs, and other local factors analyzed in this study. Projected payback periods for each EEM based on Guatemalan and U.S. capital cost and energy cost ranges are assessed via EEM-specific payback period calculations and compared to the energy audit data from each country. While lower capital costs incentivize EEM implementation and reduce payback periods, there is an interplay between energy cost and capital cost that impacts the trends in the U.S. and Guatemala. As in the case of the solar panel installation EEM, though Guatemalan companies pay ~110% more for electricity than U.S. companies, when Guatemalan capital costs are lower, payback periods are lower than in the U.S. Conversely, in cases where Guatemalan capital costs are higher—as for higher-efficiency lighting and motor installation—Guatemalan payback periods are roughly the same as those in the U.S. because of the higher Guatemalan energy costs.

Khosla, Radhika↗

NASA NTRS2024

Applying Generative-AI to NASA Documentation and Processes

This research and development project leverages generative-AI to assist in the generation of software process documentation based on NASA standards. By utilizing fine-tuned AI models, the proposed system will analyze NASA's software guidelines, helping to translate them into well-structured, compliant process documents. This assistance can reduce the manual effort required to produce such documentation, enhance consistency, and assure alignment with NASA's stringent software development and operational requirements. In addition to assisting in the generation of software process documentation, the project explores how generative-AI can help create audit checklists as well as assess the compliance of NASA provider documentation against applicable NASA standards. This approach would support the compliance auditing process, providing real-time insights and assessments. The intended result will be a streamlined process, potentially including a Python-based tool and database, that improves audit efficiency, reduces human error, lowers manpower costs and required manhours, and assures continuous compliance with NASA and industry evolving standards for safety-critical software development. Future task might be to investigate the software industry approach and standards for potential collaboration.

NASA Standards↗

DOE OSTI2025

Analysis of US Industrial Assessment Centers (IACs) implementation

Industrial energy assessments are a fundamental action toward developing a decarbonization strategy at any level. They provide an understanding of where energy efficiency opportunities exist and help to make informed business decisions about the costs and benefits of implementing sustainable policies and practices. This paper examines the effectiveness of the Department of Energy's Industrial Assessment Centers Program at providing useful energy-efficiency audits as well as the barriers faced by the program and plans for future growth and improvement. This paper presents an analysis of the program between 1981 and 2022, covering 20,290 industrial assessments and 151,198 recommendations, with $2.6 billion of recommended savings. The analysis includes a breakdown of the IAC recommendations and implemented projects based on both the industrial subsectors according to the Standard Industrial Classification code, energy type, and systems evaluated. The results include a 47 % implementation rate, a gap analysis to understand the missed opportunities, and a discussion about reasons for recommendation rejection. A comparison of the IAC Program with other country-level energy auditing or assessment programs was conducted, and suggestions for improving implementation rates were mentioned.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2025

Traceable random numbers from a non-local quantum advantage

The unpredictability of random numbers is fundamental to both digital security and applications that fairly distribute resources. However, existing random number generators have limitations—the generation processes cannot be fully traced, audited and certified to be unpredictable. The algorithmic steps used in pseudorandom number generators are auditable, but they cannot guarantee that their outputs were a priori unpredictable given knowledge of the initial seed. Device-independent quantum random number generators can ensure that the source of randomness was unknown beforehand, but the steps used to extract the randomness are vulnerable to tampering. Here we demonstrate a fully traceable random number generation protocol based on device-independent techniques. Our protocol extracts randomness from unpredictable non-local quantum correlations, and uses distributed intertwined hash chains to cryptographically trace and verify the extraction process. This protocol forms the basis for a public traceable and certifiable quantum randomness beacon that we have launched. Over the first 40 days of operation, we completed the protocol 7,434 out of 7,454 attempts—a success rate of 99.7%. Each time the protocol succeeded, the beacon emitted a pulse of 512 bits of traceable randomness. The bits are certified to be uniform with error multiplied by actual success probability bounded by 2−64. Further, the generation of certifiable and traceable randomness represents a public service that operates with an entanglement-derived advantage over comparable classical approaches.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2024

Towards FAIR Workflows for Federated Experimental Sciences

A de-centralized, peer-to-peer AI metadata framework is demonstrated which can enable end-to-end metadata & lineage tracking for distributed Machine Learning pipelines spanning edge, High Performance Computing, and cloud environments. With a specific example of end-to-end microscopy algorithm and datasets, the proposed method shows how to enable reproducibility, audit trail, provenance of metadata artifacts. The emerging needs of automation in experimental sciences, ML-centric workflows, and FAIR metadata management across federated compute environments is addressed.

machine learning↗

DOE OSTI2024

Industrial Assessment Center for Underserved Delmarva Area

This report summarizes the work done by the Industrial and Training Assessment Center at the University of Delaware under the award number DE-EE0008796. The 38 audits performed during this period (DL0178 – DL0214) happened from October 2019 to October 2022. The facilities audited belong to a total of 27 industry types, according to the Standard Industry Classification (SIC).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2025

Analyzing the Impact of Future Weather Data on Energy Consumption in Weatherization Assistant

This study supports the mission of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which aims to increase the energy efficiency of dwellings and reduce their total residential expenditures. Specifically, we examine how projected future climate conditions may affect residential building energy performance by integrating future weather data into the National Energy Audit Tool (NEAT). Since WAP evaluates the cost-effectiveness of retrofit measures over lifespans of up to 30 years, accounting for evolving climate conditions is increasingly important. To reflect future household energy demands, this study replaces historically based Typical Meteorological Year (TMY3) weather inputs with Future Typical Meteorological Year (fTMY) datasets derived from global climate model (GCM) projections. A simulation-based framework was established to enable NEAT analysis under future weather conditions. This workflow involves converting EPW-format weather files into JSON inputs compatible with NEAT and generating degree-hour metrics needed for load calculations. The fTMY dataset used in this study was developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory through downscaling of six GCMs under different emission scenarios and covers the period from 2020 to 2100. In contrast, the TMY3 dataset is based on historical weather data from 1961 to 1990. Simulations were conducted for benchmark single-family prototype buildings across ASHRAE climate zones 1–7, which cover all regions of the U.S. except the subarctic Zone 8 in northern Alaska, evaluating both heating and cooling loads under TMY3 and fTMY conditions. Four foundation types were tested, while heating systems were standardized, as NEAT does not differentiate thermal energy load by HVAC system type in its load calculations. Results show that fTMY weather input consistently yield lower heating loads and higher cooling loads across most locations, aligning with expected climate warming trends. Notably, colder regions such as zones 6A, 6B, and 7 experience marked reductions in heating load, while warmer and transitional zones, such as 2A (Lufkin, TX) and 3C (San Francisco, CA), have substantial increases in cooling loads. Although this study does not directly assess the performance of retrofit measures under future climate conditions, it provides a critical foundation for doing so. By quantifying shifts in baseline (i.e., pre-retrofit case) energy loads between historical and future weather files, the study highlights the importance of integrating climate-responsive data into audit tools. These findings will inform future efforts to evaluate the long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of weatherization measures under changing climate conditions.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2026

Solar Photovoltaics Resilient Fasteners Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) Tool

Solar photovoltaics (PV) module fasteners are one of the most common structural failure points on PV systems, particularly in high winds and coastal areas with ocean spray. Some fastener types have been shown to survive these conditions at higher rates than others. The fastener type, material, quantity, and placement all impact performance. Fasteners that fail less often typically have a higher upfront cost, but this investment can pay off in savings from less frequent torque audits (which reduces O&M costs), reduced system damage, and decreased system downtime. We developed an Excel-based tool to evaluate different module fasteners for a PV system - either a new or retrofit project - and compare differences in upfront and outyear costs to determine the expected life cycle costs and simple payback periods of different fastener options. The tool is site-specific, with inputs including system attributes (such as system size, location, price of power) and fastener attributes (such as design, washer type, nut type, use of locking hardware, materials, installation time, and torque audit requirements). A baseline fastener scenario can be compared to up to four proposed fastener scenarios. In addition to presenting expected life cycle cost implications of the different fastener options, the tool produces results showing the reductions in outyear costs needed to offset any initial cost premiums for more reliable fasteners across four categories: preventative O&M, avoided damage, reduced downtime, and reduced insurance premiums. These numbers can serve as decision aids for users when considering fastener options on new or existing projects. This poster will present the tool, methodology, and scenarios using example sites to highlight the tool capabilities and how it can inform different fastener decisions on different projects. Future work includes incorporating lifetime expected damage costs by embedding damage function curves that the authors are developing from field data.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Revitalizing Canton City Schools: A Sustainable and Cost-Effective Energy Efficiency Plan

The primary objective of this project was to focus on conducting the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Level 2 Energy Audits of all the schools/school facilities in the portfolio, and on developing a comprehensive Strategic Plan for implementing energy improvements. The overall aim of budget period 1 (BP1) was to implement Energy Audits and the Strategic Plan to provide a clear pathway to prioritize energy improvements as well as allow the district to access private sector funding (if needed) and/or tax credits and realize high-impact health and safety benefits for Budget Period 2.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗