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This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Milwaukee, WI, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.
This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Minneapolis, MN, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.
This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Orlando, FL, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.
This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Philadelphia, PA, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.
This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Sacramento, CA, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.
This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of San Antonio, TX, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.
This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of San Jose, CA, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.
This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Boston, MA, a 2007 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.
This comprehensive report provides definitive volume, mass, and composition (chemical and radioactivity) of calcined waste stored at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center. Calcine composition data are required for regulatory compliance (such as permitting and waste disposal), future treatment of the caline, and shipping the calcine to an off-Site-facility (such as a geologic repository). This report also contains a description of the calcine storage bins. The Calcined Solids Storage Facilities (CSSFs) were designed by different architectural engineering firms and built at different times. Each CSSF has a unique design, reflecting varying design criteria and lessons learned from historical CSSF operation. The varying CSSF design will affect future calcine retrieval processes and equipment. Revision 4 of this report presents refinements and enhancements of calculations concerning the composition, volume, mass, chemical content, and radioactivity of calcined waste produced and stored within the CSSFs. The historical calcine samples are insufficient in number and scope of analysis to fully characterize the entire inventory of calcine in the CSSFs. Sample data exist for all the liquid wastes that were calcined. This report provides calcine composition data based on liquid waste sample analyses, volume of liquid waste calcined, calciner operating data, and CSSF operating data using several large Microsoft Excel (Microsoft 2003) databases and spreadsheets that are collectively called the Historical Processing Model. The calcine composition determined by this method compares favorably with historical calcine sample data.
Martin Schindewolf worked during his internship at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) under the guidance of Martin Schulz at the Computer Science Group of the Center for Applied Scientific Computing. We studied the performance of the TM subsystem of BG/Q as well as researched the possibilities for tool support for TM. To study the performance, we run CLOMP-TM. CLOMP-TM is a benchmark designed for the purpose to quantify the overhead of OpenMP and compare different synchronization primitives. To advance CLOMP-TM, we added Message Passing Interface (MPI) routines for a hybrid parallelization. This enables to run multiple MPI tasks, each running OpenMP, on one node. With these enhancements, a beneficial MPI task to OpenMP thread ratio is determined. Further, the synchronization primitives are ranked as a function of the application characteristics. To demonstrate the usefulness of these results, we investigate a real Monte Carlo simulation called Monte Carlo Benchmark (MCB). Applying the lessons learned yields the best task to thread ratio. Further, we were able to tune the synchronization by transactifying the MCB. Further, we develop tools that capture the performance of the TM run time system and present it to the application's developer. The performance of the TM run time system relies on the built-in statistics. These tools use the Blue Gene Performance Monitoring (BGPM) interface to correlate the statistics from the TM run time system with performance counter values. This combination provides detailed insights in the run time behavior of the application and enables to track down the cause of degraded performance. Further, one tool has been implemented that separates the performance counters in three categories: Successful Speculation, Unsuccessful Speculation and No Speculation . All of the tools are crafted around IBM's xlc compiler for C and C++ and have been run and tested on a Q32 early access system.
PNNL conducted a systematic optical modeling effort to study and compare retroreflector designs with respect to available optical materials. The optical Strehl ratio (SR) and cross section figures of merit were used to compare the performance of candidate optical designs. Further modeling was conducted to assess the relationships between standoff range and retroreflector diameter and cross section. Analysis showed that small diameter retroreflectors have very high optical link loss, since the net loss scales by retroreflector diameter to the 4th power. Optical retroreflection efficiency is also important, but extracting ideal performance from a complicated design must be tempered by the fact that the effective retroreflector range varies only as the fourth root of the cross section. It's therefore imperative to maintain a reasonable retroreflector diameter, but striving for perfect optical performance may be a costly effort that does not merit the modest performance gain. Several promising designs were developed for visible and mid-infrared applications, which embraced lessons learned in the standoff range study. These designs included a polymer clad glass core approach for visible wavelengths and a concentric shell design using chalcogenide glass for the mid-infrared. Injection molding feasibility studies demonstrated that it was practical to fabricate visible polymer retroreflectors using this approach. Such an approach may be a practical solution for the LLNL project. Our primary focus is to develop mid-infrared designs; therefore compression molding chalcogenide glass was adopted for fabricating mid-infrared retroreflectors. A significant effort was focused on developing practical compression molding methods that provided reasonable device yield. A custom compression molding press was developed in collaboration with a private engineering firm. Many successful molding studies were conducted during this effort, but ultimately the fragile nature of the chalcogenide glass and the unfavorable thermal expansion properties limited the feasibility of fabricating the thin shell structures needed for this design. An alternative Cat's Eye retroreflector design was therefore adopted. This design is constructed using two hemispherical structures that can be fabricated by conventional grinding and polishing methods or by molding with high yield. The cross section of this design is very good (and can be further improved by applying a highly reflective coating to the rear surface), but has reduced field of view as a design trade off as well as the isotropic nature of Luneburg-style retroreflector.
From 2007 until 2011, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) engaged in a partnership with the National Energy Technology Lab (NETL) to improve State-Federal coordination on electricity policy and energy assurance issues. This project allowed State Public Utility Commissioners and their staffs to engage on the most cutting-edge level in the arenas of energy assurance and electricity policy. Four tasks were outlined in the Statement of Performance Objectives: Task 1 - Training for Commissions on Critical Infrastructure Topics; Task 2 - Analyze and Implement Recommendations on Energy Assurance Issues; Task 3 - Ongoing liaison activities & outreach to build stronger networks between federal agencies and state regulators; and Task 4 - Additional Activities. Although four tasks were prescribed, in practice these tasks were carried out under two major activity areas: the critical infrastructure and energy assurance partnership with the US Department of Energy's Infrastructure Security and Emergency Response office, and the National Council on Electricity Policy, a collaborative which since 1994 has brought together State and Federal policymakers to address the most pressing issues facing the grid from restructuring to smart grid implementation. On Critical Infrastructure protection, this cooperative agreement helped State officials yield several important advances. The lead role on NARUC's side was played by our Committee on Critical Infrastructure Protection. Key lessons learned in this arena include the following: (1) Tabletops and exercises work - They improve the capacity of policymakers and their industry counterparts to face the most challenging energy emergencies, and thereby equip these actors with the capacity to face everything up to that point as well. (2) Information sharing is critical - Connecting people who need information with people who have information is a key success factor. However, exposure of critical infrastructure information to bad actors also creates new vulnerabilities. (3) Tensions exist between the transparency-driven basis of regulatory activity and the information-protection requirements of asset protection. (4) Coordination between states is a key success factor - Because comparatively little federal authority exists over electricity and other energy infrastructure, the interstate nature of these energy grids defy centralized command and control governance. Patchwork responses are a risk when addressed at a state-by-state level. Coordination is the key to ensuring consistent response to shared threats. In Electricity Policy, the National Council on Electricity Policy continued to make important strides forward. Coordinated electricity policy among States remains the best surrogate for an absent national electricity policy. In every area from energy efficiency to clean coal, State policies are driving the country's electricity policy, and regional responses to climate change, infrastructure planning, market operation, and new technology deployment depend on a forum for bringing the States together.
The study of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) technology at Sandia National Laboratories started in the 1970's and concluded in the 1990's. These studies concentrated on the Darrieus configurations because of their high inherent efficiency, but other configurations (e.g., the Savonius turbine) were also examined. The Sandia VAWT program culminated with the design of the 34-m 'Test Bed' Darrieus VAWT. This turbine was designed and built to test various VAWT design concepts and to provide the necessary databases to validate analytical design codes and algorithms. Using the Test Bed as their starting point, FloWind Corp. developed a commercial VAWT product line with composite blades and an extended height-to-diameter ratio. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the design process and results of the Sandia 34-m VAWT Test Bed program and the FloWind prototype development program with an eye toward future offshore designs. This paper is our retrospective of the design, analysis, testing and commercial process. Special emphasis is given to those lessons learned that will aid in the development of an off-shore VAWT.
This report summarizes research investigating the technical and economic feasibility of several pilot deep energy retrofits, or retrofits that save 30% to 50% or more on a whole-house basis while increasing comfort, durability, combustion safety, and indoor air quality. The work is being conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Program as part of the Building America Program. As part of the overall program, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) researchers are collecting and analyzing a comprehensive dataset that describes pre- and post-retrofit energy consumption, retrofit measure cost, health and comfort impacts, and other pertinent information for each home participating in the study. The research and data collection protocol includes recruitment of candidate residences, a thorough test-in audit, home energy modeling, and generation of retrofit measure recommendations, implementation of the measures, test-out, and continued evaluation. On some homes, more detailed data will be collected to disaggregate energy-consumption information. This multi-year effort began in October 2010. To date, the PNNL team has performed test-in audits on 51 homes in the marine, cold, and hot-humid climate zones, and completed 3 retrofits in Texas, 10 in Florida, and 2 in the Pacific Northwest. Two of the retrofits are anticipated to save 50% or more in energy bills and the others - savings are in the 30% to 40% range. Fourteen other retrofits are under way in the three climate zones. Metering equipment has been installed in seven of these retrofits - three in Texas, three in Florida, and one in the Pacific Northwest. This report is an interim update, providing information on the research protocol and status of the PNNL deep energy retrofit project as of December, 2011. The report also presents key findings and lessons learned, based on the body of work to date. In addition, the report summarizes the status of the PNNL Lab Homes that are new manufactured homes procured with minimal energy-efficiency specifications typical of existing homes in the region, and sited on the PNNL campus. The Lab Homes serve as a flexible test facility (the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest) to rapidly evaluate energy-efficient and grid-smart technologies that are applicable to residential construction.
This report outlines the lessons learned and sub-metered energy performance of an ultra low energy single family ranch home and duplex unit, called the Paradigm Pilot Project and presents the final design recommendations for a 153-unit net zero energy residential development called the Josephine Commons Project.
Wind Powering America shares best practices and lessons learned on the Wind Powering America website. This postcard is an outreach tool that provides a brief description of the success stories as well as the URL.
Under contract to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, HaydenTanner, LLC conducted an in-depth analysis of the potential market value of a commercial building energy asset rating program for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The market research objectives were to: (1) Evaluate market interest and need for a program and tool to offer asset rating and rapidly identify potential energy efficiency measures for the commercial building sector. (2) Identify key input variables and asset rating outputs that would facilitate increased investment in energy efficiency. (3) Assess best practices and lessons learned from existing national and international energy rating programs. (4) Identify core messaging to motivate owners, investors, financiers, and others in the real estate sector to adopt a voluntary asset rating program and, as a consequence, deploy high-performance strategies and technologies across new and existing buildings. (5) Identify leverage factors and incentives that facilitate increased investment in these buildings. To meet these objectives, work consisted of a review of the relevant literature, examination of existing and emergent asset and operational rating systems, interviews with industry stakeholders, and an evaluation of the value implication of an asset label on asset valuation. This report documents the analysis methodology and findings, conclusion, and recommendations. Its intent is to support and inform the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy on the market need and potential value impacts of an asset labeling and diagnostic tool to encourage high-performance new buildings and building efficiency retrofit projects.
This abbreviated report outlines the lessons learned and sub-metered energy performance of an ultra low energy single family ranch home and duplex unit, called the Paradigm Pilot Project and presents the final design recommendations for a 153-unit net zero energy residential development called the Josephine Commons Project.