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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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Optimal Energy Dispatch Controller for Fuel Cell-Integrated Multi-Zone Building

Stationary fuel cells provide potential opportunities for energy savings when integrated with buildings. Through smart dispatch of both electrical power and heat generated by the fuel cells and managing the building loads, the buildings can achieve more efficient operation. In this paper, we develop an optimal energy dispatch controller to operate a fuel cell-integrated building. The controller leverages the inherent thermal storage and the dispatchable fuel cell to reduce its operating cost and to allow the building to participate in grid services. The proposed controller is implemented on two types of commercial buildings, a large office building and a large hotel, and the effectiveness of the controller is demonstrated through simulations. The results also indicate that the potential saving varies significantly with different system parameters, including season, fuel prices, and equipment sizing, which provide helpful insights for building operators and other stake holders.

39 EE - Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies (EE-3F↗
DOE OSTI2023

Impact of Control on Availability and Cycling of Residential HVAC in a Real-World Experiment

Demand response is an important emerging part of smart grids and there is a large stream of research from theoretical and modeling perspectives. However, there is relatively little experimental evidence that could help researchers and building operators make informed decisions on best practices for modeling, developing, and deployment of control mechanisms. We contribute to the body of experimental research by providing numerical insights into the role and availability of residential HVAC systems for control. We share the findings on the duration of the cooling cycle, off cycle, and temperature settling time of HVAC systems from data collected from a smart neighborhood located in Atlanta, GA.

cycling↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Commercial Building Plug Load Management System that Uses Internet of Things Technology to Automatically Identify Plugged-In Devices and Their Locations

Plug and process loads (PPLs) account for a large portion of U.S. commercial building energy use. There is a huge potential to reduce whole building consumption by targeting PPLs for energy savings measures or implementing some form of plug load management (PLM). Despite this potential, there has yet to be a widely adopted commercial PLM technology. This paper describes the Automatic Type and Location Identification System (ATLIS), a PLM system framework with automatic and dynamic load detection (ADLD). ADLD gives PLM systems the ability to automatically identify devices as they are plugged into the outlets of a building. The ATLIS framework takes advantage of smart, connected devices to identify device locations in a building, meter and control their power, and communicate this information to a central database. ATLIS includes five primary capabilities: location identification, communication, control, energy metering, and data storage. A laboratory proof of concept (PoC) demonstrated all but the energy metering capability, and these capabilities were validated using a series of system tests. The PoC was able to identify when a device was plugged into an outlet and the location of the device in the building. When a device was moved, the PoC's dashboard and database were automatically updated with the new location. The PoC implemented controls to devices from the system dashboard so that devices maintained correct schedules regardless of where they were plugged in within the building. ATLIS's primary technology application is improved PLM, but other applications include asset management, energy audits, and interoperability for grid-interactive efficient buildings. An ATLIS-based system could also be used to direct power to critical devices, such as ventilators, during a brownout or blackout. Such a framework is an opportunity to make PLM more widespread and reduce the amount of energy consumed by PPLs in current and future commercial buildings.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Digitalization of an experimental electrochemical reactor via the smart manufacturing innovation platform

The exponential increase in data produced over the last two decades has revolutionized the way we collect, store, process, analyze, model, and interpret information to improve profitability. Manufacturing is no exception. How- ever, Smart Manufacturing, the digital practice, organization, workforce, and infrastructure transformation for collection and deployment of data and models at scale and at all levels of manufacturing, is a complex, costly, and labor-intensive journey that is still seeing slow adoption. The Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII), a national Manufacturing USA public-private partnership sponsored by the Department of Energy, is addressing this scaled use of data and modeling in manufacturing. CESMII has focused on how to col- lect and use operating data for numerous applications that improve productivity, precision, and performance of manufacturing operations from factory floor to supply chain using process simulation, predictive analytics, mon- itoring and control, and real-time optimization. Because contextualized data are key, CESMII has developed the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Platform (SMIP) to lower the barriers to the data that are needed to accelerate data-based model building, improve data visualization, and more quickly gain insights. Reusable, standards-based ways of doing data collection, ingestion, and contextualization are particularly important for scaling access and use of data. The SMIP uses a standards-based definition and construct for reusable information models called an SM Profile. When an SM Profile is used in conjunction with the SMIP, the SMIP ensures the availability of contextualized, operational data for model building. The present work demonstrates Smart Manufacturing and the application of the SMIP for building several data-centered models for the operation and control of an ex- perimental electrochemical reactor that reduces carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) gas to valuable liquid and gas chemicals, such as alcohols, olefins, and syngas. We describe how the SMIP plays a central role in more effective model building and we demonstrate how the electochemical reactor can be controlled and optimized for the desired products. Use of the SMIP involves the transmission of real-time sensor measurements to a cloud resource so that the operating data are available to all model building experts. The data collection and transmission process is fully automated to greatly reduce the need for manual manipulation of the data. Data-driven machine learning models are used for advanced real-time state estimation, real-time optimization, and model-based feedback control for the reactor. The application models are implemented as a system to monitor the data flow and control the electrochemical reactor with a single visualization interface. SM Profiles are used to demonstrate reusability of the information models for the reactor and the instrumentation. The application packages, algorithms, and user interfaces developed are cast as Docker images in a library to facilitate reusability of the application models.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Local Communication in Populations of Thermostatically Controlled Loads

Thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) have shown great potential for demand response (DR) in electric grid operations. However, it has been commonly seen that DR events using TCLs may cause load synchronization and unwanted oscillatory effects, especially in homogeneous populations. In an attempt to mitigate the negative impacts of DR events, a decentralized method is proposed that modifies each thermostat behavior based on the activity of a small number of nearby TCLs. This feedback introduces the possibility of instability in the aggregate behavior. A stability analysis is performed on a linearized model of the aggregate system and the results of that analysis compared to simulation results. The proposed modification of thermostat behavior results in fourfold reduction in the post-DR peak while suppressing ensuing oscillations at the expense of a modest increase in compressor cycling. Further, the linearized model also provides insight into the aggregate behavior of the population.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Energy in Modular (EMOD) Buildings Method: A Guide to Energy-Efficient Design for Industrialized Construction of Modular Buildings

Industrialized construction has immense potential to address the growing need globally to build and upgrade the building stock to be affordable, energy-efficient, and resilient. It can also help achieve the United States' goal of a 50% reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. Despite this potential, and the ever-increasing push for electrification and decarbonization of households in the United States, industrialized construction has not yet been leveraged specifically to help address these challenges and accelerate the pathway to meet these goals. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) aims to claim this missed opportunity by focusing on delivering affordable, grid-efficient net-zero energy (NZE) modular buildings for underserved communities to ensure an equitable transition to the future of clean energy, accelerate decarbonization of the built environment, and support the development of a high-productivity construction and energy efficiency workforce. The Energy in Modular (EMOD) method is our approach to designing, producing, and delivering affordable, net-zero energy, low-carbon, and healthier buildings at scale. The following energy efficiency strategies are part of the scope of this guide: envelope thermal control, envelope infiltration control, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, smart controls, and solar plus storage. We draw synergies between design for manufacturing and assembly, process optimization, retrofit technologies, and digitization. Our goal is to influence the improvement and production of buildings to increase performance, enhance energy efficiency, and reduce GHG emissions. This guide documents the research and development efforts initiated by a set of design objectives to "modularize" a set of energy efficiency and low-carbon strategies into a housing unit while preserving and enhancing energy efficiency benefits and decarbonization pathways. This guide is intended to serve as a framework for housing developers, housing agencies, architects, energy experts, and process engineers or factory operator personnel who are critical to today's modular builder teams. This guide focuses on specific energy efficiency strategies, decarbonization pathways, and associated processes as part of NREL's research efforts. Stakeholders may substitute other means, methods, and technologies for the ones evaluated in this study.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

High-Fidelity Building Emulator for Integrated Comfort and Energy Analysis using EnergyPlus and Radiance

The growing need for smart, energy-efficient, and occupant-centric buildings has created a demand for advanced control systems that can optimize building operations to balance energy savings, demand flexibility, and comfort. However, current building energy simulation tools, such as EnergyPlus, have limitations that hinder the development and evaluation of these complex control systems. To address this challenge, we introduce a high-fidelity building emulator that dynamically couples EnergyPlus with Radiance for enhanced daylight modeling. The introduced workflow allows researchers and practitioners to rapidly develop and evaluate innovative control solutions. An example study looking at a south-facing office zone revealed up to 67% deviation in predicted light levels, which can significantly impact building assessment.

Yu, Tammie↗
DOE OSTI2020

Smart technologies enable homes to be efficient and interactive with the grid

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers compare two different approaches to test how advanced, energy-efficient building technologies such as smart thermostats, heat pump water heaters, and advanced heat pump HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) can be optimized within a home and connected at a neighborhood-scale load to a community microgrid in the Alabama Power Smart Neighborhood located in Hoover. Working with Southern Company and Alabama Power, ORNL researchers are pioneering that future where smart homes and smart neighborhoods can benefit both homeowners and utilities, by reducing energy consumption by 44% and peak demand by 34%.This project is one of two neighborhoods in the U.S Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Connected Neighborhood project, supported by Building Technologies Office , where ORNL researchers leverages DOE investment in micro-grids and responsive, flexible building loads research to improve grid reliability – a goal of DOE’s Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (GEB) Initiative. Researchers control the neighborhood and microgrid to enable utilities achieve their desired load and cost profiles while ensuring the comfort of homeowners in the Smart Neighborhood. This transactive control approach maximizes the utilization of technical resources of the microgrid and controllable loads, while reducing costs for both the homeowners and Alabama Power. These tests partially seek to determine a more precise range of tolerance with respect to occupant comfort as researchers work to facilitate customer acceptance and perception of new building technologies that enable energy savings.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Smart Ventilation Controls Boost Energy Efficiency and Indoor Air Quality

The average American household spends more than $2,200 a year on energy, and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) costs comprise nearly half of the bill. This is one reason why home builders focus on tightening building envelopes to save energy. Yet, limiting the potential for air exchange can negatively impact indoor air quality (IAQ). When outdoor conditions are most extreme during occupied periods, there may be comfort implications from continuing high levels of ventilation during associated weather events. This is true even with heat recovery. To mitigate risks, the Florida Solar Energy Center developed and tested approaches for “smart” ventilation system controls that enable more reliable design, installation, and operation to achieve desired IAQ while also minimizing energy and comfort impacts.

Building America↗
DOE OSTI2020

Emerging Technologies for Improved Plug Load Management Systems: Learning Behavior Algorithms and Automatic and Dynamic Load Detection

Plug loads are responsible for a significant portion of the energy consumed in commercial buildings, yet their distributed and ever-changing nature makes them one of the most challenging building end uses to manage. Plug load management systems exist today that utilize smart plugs to meter and control devices at the outlet level, however, their uptake has been relatively slow in part due to the significant labor required for installation and maintenance. Learning behavior algorithms and automatic and dynamic load detection have been identified as two technology areas that could accelerate the adoption of plug load management systems by reducing these labor demands and providing additional energy efficiency and non-energy benefits. Learning behavior algorithms learn occupant behavior and adjust plug load management systems accordingly, allowing for the automatic creation of optimized control schedules. Automatic and dynamic load detection allows a plug load management system to identify devices as they are plugged in to a building and keeps the system up to date as devices are moved throughout a building. In this paper, we present our findings with respect to the current state of these two technologies based on a review of existing research and patents, as well as a series of interviews with companies working in the plug load space. We have found that, as of now, no commercialized solutions exist for these plug load technologies and that more work is needed to bring them to market. In addition, we summarize our findings related to the technology challenges, market barriers, drivers, and opportunities for these technologies moving forward.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Deep Reinforcement Learning in Buildings: Implicit Assumptions and their Impact

As deep reinforcement learning (DRL) continues to gain interest in the smart building research community, there is a transition from simulation-based evaluations to deploying DRL control strategies in actual buildings. While the efficacy of a solution could depend on a particular implementation, there are common obstacles that developers have to overcome to deliver an effective controller. Additionally, a deployment in a physical building can invalidate some of the assumptions made during the controller development. Assumptions on the sensor placement or on the equipment behavior can quickly come undone. This paper presents some of the significant assumptions made during the development of DRL based controllers that could affect their operations in a physical building. Furthermore, a preliminary evaluation revealed that controllers developed with some of these assumptions can incur twice the expected costs when they are deployed in a building.

Prakash, Anand Krishnan↗
DOE OSTI2023

Smarter building start – A distributed solution

A significant focus of research and new technologies for reducing energy use in buildings is on operating the systems more efficiently during the times when the systems are active. However, there is a large potential for energy savings in determining the periods when the systems should or should not be active. This scheduling aspect of operation is often overlooked even though relatively simple solutions can unlock substantial energy savings. In this paper we describe a smart building start (SBS) algorithm that considers multiple zones in a building to determine individual schedules for room controllers as well as the central systems based on solving a simple optimization problem. Application of the SBS algorithm to multiple interconnected systems enables a staggered start-up that minimizes peak loads and also ensures comfort is within a target range with minimal system run time. The SBS algorithm extends the capability of traditional optimal start and is designed to be simple to deploy and robust. Simulation results as well as results from tests in a real building with a VAV system are presented. The presented algorithm is applicable to any type of building with a zonal or multi-zone HVAC system. To function, it needs to be able to change setpoints in rooms and monitor room temperatures, as well as, if desired, turn the central system on or off.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Quality Control Methods for Advanced Metering Infrastructure Data

While urban-scale building energy modeling is becoming increasingly common, it currently lacks standards, guidelines, or empirical validation against measured data. Empirical validation necessary to enable best practices is becoming increasingly tractable. The growing prevalence of advanced metering infrastructure has led to significant data regarding the energy consumption within individual buildings, but is something utilities and countries are still struggling to analyze and use wisely. In partnership with the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tennessee, a crude OpenStudio/EnergyPlus model of over 178,000 buildings has been created and used to compare simulated energy against actual, 15-min, whole-building electrical consumption of each building. In this study, classifying building type is treated as a use case for quantifying performance associated with smart meter data. This article attempts to provide guidance for working with advanced metering infrastructure for buildings related to: quality control, pathological data classifications, statistical metrics on performance, a methodology for classifying building types, and assess accuracy. Advanced metering infrastructure was used to collect whole-building electricity consumption for 178,333 buildings, define equations for common data issues (missing values, zeros, and spiking), propose a new method for assigning building type, and empirically validate gaps between real buildings and existing prototypes using industry-standard accuracy metrics.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

CYDRES: CYber Defense and REsilient System for securing grid-interactive efficient buildings

Smart buildings, especially Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (GEBs), suffer from cyber-attacks and physical faults due to the integration of a large number of sensors and controls, connected devices, and associated communication networks. This study demonstrated a real-time advanced building resilient platform, called CYber Defense and REsilient System (CYDRES), which is deployable for existing and emerging Building Automation Systems (BASs). CYDRES aims to empower GEBs with cyber-attack-immune capabilities through multi-layer prevention and adaptation mechanisms to monitor, detect, and respond to cyber-attacks and physical operational faults. CYDRES is demonstrated through real-time experiments in a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testbed.

Building automation system, Cyber-attacks, Physica↗
DOE OSTI2020

Generation and representation of synthetic smart meter data

Advanced energy algorithms running at big-data scale will be necessary to identify, realize, and verify energy savings to meet government and utility goals of building energy efficiency. Any algorithm must be well characterized and validated before it is trusted to run at these scales. Smart meter data from real buildings will ultimately be required for the development, testing, and validation of these energy algorithms and processes. However, for initial development and testing, smart meter data are difficult to work with due to privacy restrictions, noise from unknown sources, data accessibility, and other concerns which can complicate algorithm development and validation. This paper describes a new methodology to generate synthetic smart meter data of electricity use in buildings using detailed building energy modeling, which aims to capture the variability and stochastics of real energy use in buildings. The methodology can create datasets tailored to represent specific scenarios with known truth and controllable amounts of synthetic noise. Knowledge of ground truth also allows the development and validation of enhanced processes which leverage building metadata, such as building type or size (floor area), in addition to smart meter data. The methodology described in this paper includes the key influencing factors of real-world building energy use including weather data, occupant-driven loads, building operation and maintenance practices, and special events. Data formats to support workflows leveraging both synthetic meter data and associated metadata are proposed and discussed. Finally, example use cases of the synthetic meter data are described to illustrate potential applications.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Accelerating Optimal Integration of Energy Efficiency Strategies with Industrialized Modular Construction: Preprint

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Industrialized Construction Innovation team first introduced the Industrialized Construction Assessment Framework to achieve affordable, net-zero energy (NZE) modular multifamily buildings in the 2020 ACEEE paper "Integrating Energy Efficiency Strategies with Industrialized Construction for our Clean Energy Future." Since then, NREL has continued to drive the ambitious plan to accelerate optimal integration of energy efficiency strategies during industrialized construction with little or no additional cost, labor, and production time. This follow-on paper introduces the Energy in Modular (EMOD) buildings method and presents NREL's research efforts over the last two years in collaboration with industry, including affordable housing partners. NREL has developed an idealized NZE modular multifamily building design that incorporates five energy efficiency strategies well suited for industrialized construction in factories: (1) envelope thermal control, (2) envelope infiltration control, (3) mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, (4) smart controls, and (5) solar plus storage. This paper highlights results from leveraging design for manufacturing and assembly principles, testing, and validation pilots with factory partners; demonstrating pod prototypes in test stand at NREL; and performing simulations. Overall, these research efforts address barriers to whole-building system integration, such as poor installation quality of thermal and air barriers; lack of unitized systems for space conditioning, energy recovery and ventilation, and water heating; problematic on-site installation, commissioning, and configuration of controls; and lack of cost-effective integration for grid-friendly design and emerging technologies. Conclusively, the paper delineates next steps for future work with NREL's partners toward developing a transformational pathway for our clean energy future.

affordable housing↗
DOE OSTI2021

Application of Site Controllers for Electrification of Commercial Fleet Vehicles

Electrification of transportation fleets presents a significant challenge for commercial customers. These challenges can be specific to region, weather, operating schedule, charging infrastructure, and other factors. This paper presents the value of integrating a site controller to monitor the health of assets and co-optimize the operation of commercial sites with multiple distributed energy resource technologies and electric vehicle fleets. The tests demonstrate smart-charging and vehicle-to-building uses compared to business-as-usual cases. The secondary objectives of power management for the customer vehicle are optimized by a planning tool (REopt) and integrated using the site controller. Any deviations from the planned dispatch are addressed by the real-time controllers offering tertiary controls, such as energy management, and limiting the reverse power flow (back into the grid). The results indicate that site controllers offer an efficient solution to manage the health of the connected assets and a scalable means to optimize the operations of a commercial customer with electrified transportation fleets.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,POWER TRANSMISSION AND↗