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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 127 records · Page 7

Experimental Demonstration of Frequency Regulation by Commercial Buildings – Part II: Results and Performance Evaluation

This paper is the second part of a two-part series presenting the results from an experimental demonstration of frequency regulation in a commercial building test facility. We developed relevant building models and designed a hierarchical controller for reserve scheduling, building climate control and frequency regulation in Part I. In Part II, we introduce the communication architecture and experiment settings, and present extensive experimental results under frequency regulation. More specifically, we compute the day-ahead reserve capacity of the test facility under different assumptions and conditions. Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability of model predictive control to satisfy comfort constraints under frequency regulation, and show that fan speed control can track the fast-moving RegD signal of the Pennsylvania, Jersey, and Maryland Power Market (PJM) very accurately. In addition, we discuss potential effects of frequency regulation on building operation (e.g., increase in energy consumption, oscillations in supply air temperature, and effect on chiller cycling), and provide suggestions for real-world implementation projects. Lastly, our results show that hierarchical control is appropriate for frequency regulation from commercial buildings.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Certified Green Building Materials: Policy Impact Assessment

Chinese building construction is rapidly expanding, making it critical to focus on energy efficiency to curb the increase of energy consumption and emissions over a building’s lifetime. A key mechanism to do so is through building material certification systems and programs. These establish how building materials will perform and can be used to promote energy and resource efficiency, which help create a more sustainable and healthy building industry. This report begins by identifying characteristics of a strong certification system and ways to improve existing systems. To curb building energy demand, the Chinese government began developing a building material certification program to encourage energy and resource efficiency in the building sector. A timeline is provided of their program’s development and provides analysis. China’s building material database is highlighted and analyzed for their significance and opportunities for improvement. The report then continues to analyze the importance of policies such as procurement programs, and the Chinese government is developing their procurement programs for certified green building materials. To understand the potential large-scale impacts of green building material certifications, we conducted an analysis of the environmental and market impact of a nationwide green building procurement policy for all new residential and commercial construction.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Digital Engineering Sensor Architectures for Future Microreactor Builds

The development of new nuclear reactors continues to be high risk during the construction phase, with many programs exceeding their budget by 2–3×. This work entails an investigation of sensors that can be utilized during the construction of microreactors and their incorporation into a digital twin supporting the construction process. These sensors can be used to monitor construction progress, inform of variances from the expected design, and verify that the reactor is being built to the planned building information management model. This will ensure reactor equipment and components accurately interact through welding or additive manufacturing technologies. This study illustrates the importance of the digital engineering architecture for microreactor deployment.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

NASA's Professional DEVELOPment - Evaluating 10 Weeks of Capacity Building

Under NASA’s Applied Sciences, the NASA DEVELOP Program is centered on dual capacity building. Projects bring together partners and participants to learn how Earth observation data can enhance environmental decision-making practices and inform action. During their time with DEVELOP, participants build technical skills around remotely sensed data and professional skills through interactions with team members, science advisors, and partners. To further refine the participant experience, DEVELOP explores which technical and professional skills individuals report improving during the 10-week program. An analysis of self-reported assessments from 2018 to 2021 included projects that were conducted in-person and virtually. Participants consistently indicated a strong improvement in technical and professional skills yet there was clear variation between in-person and virtual opportunities. When comparing between 2019 and 2021, self-reporting showed a higher percentage of participants reporting an increase in networking in the virtual environment and an increase in building professional relationships with project partners virtually. This analysis suggests that professional opportunities available in the virtual environment may in fact bolster early career scientists’ networking abilities. This presentation will identify DEVELOP’s approach to monitoring and evaluation, highlight interesting trends introduced by the pandemic, and lessons learned.

Sarah Payne↗

Updated OpenStudio Small and Medium Office Prototype Models

The U.S. Department of Energy supports the development of commercial building energy codes and standards by participating in industry review, update processes, and providing technical analyses to support both published model codes and potential changes. In support of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1 and International Energy Conservation Code, 16 commercial prototype building models were developed that cover 80% of the commercial building floor area in the United States for new construction, including both commercial buildings and mid- to high-rise residential buildings, across all U.S. climate zones. Of these, the small, medium, and large office buildings take about 12% of total commercial building floor area.Currently, small, medium, and large office prototype building models have simplified, single space type, while other building types includes more detailed space types. As such, the office prototype could not be easily used to properly assess changes (i.e. measures applied) to difference spaces commonly found in an office. This work has added new space types to the small and medium office, with properties based on several vintages of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 in different climate zones, and compared energy use of these newly-improved models with that of the original models.

Im, Piljae↗

Multi-package development at Fermilab with Spack

The Spack package manager has been widely adopted in the supercomputing community as a means of providing consistently built on-demand software for the platform of interest. Members of the high-energy and nuclear physics (HENP) community, in turn, have recognized Spack’s strengths, used it for their own projects, and even become active Spack developers to better support HENP needs. Code development in a Spack context, however, can be challenging as the provision of external software via Spack must integrate with the developed packages’ build systems. Spack’s own development features can be used for this task, but they tend to be inefficient and cumbersome. We present a solution pursued at Fermilab called MPD (multi-package development). MPD aims to facilitate the development of multiple Spack-based packages in concert without the overhead of Spack’s own development facilities. In addition, MPD allows physicists to create multiple development projects with an interface that insulates users from the many commands required to use Spack well.

Knoepfel, Kyle James [Fermilab]↗

Multi-package development at Fermilab with Spack

The Spack package manager has been widely adopted in the supercomputing community as a means of providing consistently-built on-demand software for the platform of interest. Members of the high-energy and nuclear physics (HENP) community, in turn, have recognized Spack’s strengths, used it for their own projects, and even become active Spack developers to better support HENP needs. Code development in a Spack context, however, can be challenging as the provision of external software via Spack must integrate with the developed packages’ build systems. Spack’s own development features can be used for this task, but they tend to be inefficient and cumbersome. \medskip We present a solution pursued at Fermilab called MPD (multi-package development). MPD aims to facilitate the development of multiple Spack-based packages in concert without the overhead of Spack’s own development facilities. In addition, MPD allows physicists to create multiple development projects with an interface that insulates users from the many commands required to use Spack well.

Knoepfel, Kyle [Fermilab] (ORCID:000000031433889X)↗

Prototype Supermarket Building Energy Model

The U.S. Department of Energy supports the development of commercial building energy codes and standards by participating in industry reviews, update processes, and providing technical analyses to support both published model codes and potential changes. In support of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1 and the International Energy Conservation Code, 16 commercial prototype building models were developed that cover 80% of the commercial building floor area in the United States for new construction, including both commercial buildings and mid- to high-rise residential buildings, across all U.S. climate zones. However, the current set of commercial prototype building models does not include a supermarket building type, which is one of major building types defined in the Energy Information Administration’s Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey. As part of an ongoing effort to expand the current Commercial Building Prototype Model suite, this report presents the procedure used to develop the prototype supermarket building model based on multiple studies as well as a previously developed reference building model. The final set of prototype models includes 60 models for different vintages of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 (i.e., 2004, 2007, 2010, and 2013) and for 15 ASHRAE climate zones.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

A Cybersecurity Testbed for Smart Buildings

Smart buildings are equipped with a plethora of cyber-physical systems, such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices and building automation systems. These devices, especially in commercial buildings, use legacy communications and hardware that were not designed with cybersecurity in mind. With increasing cyber threats in recent years, smart buildings have become an increasing target for attacks, but not enough published data are available from these incidents to study or replicate the scenarios to defend buildings. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy-funded project focusing on developing the Building Intelligence with Layered Defense Using Security-Constrained Optimization and Security Risk Detection (BUILD-SOS) platform, we developed a cybersecurity test bed for smart buildings. This test bed includes a building simulation tool, virtual devices, emulated operational technology networks, and remote hardware-in-the-loop. Using this test bed, we performed different cyberattacks on the smart building model and collected both physical building data, to understand the impacts on the building, and network data, to aid in separating mechanical faults from cyberattacks during the detection. This test bed is a significant tool in protecting smart buildings from cyberattacks because it can aid in both cybersecurity analysis and the evaluation of other cyberattack detection tools by testing the tools in a secure environment without impacting the building operations.

cyber-physical systems↗

A Cybersecurity Testbed for Smart Buildings

Smart buildings are equipped with a plethora of cyber-physical systems, such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices and building automation systems. These devices, especially in commercial buildings, use legacy communications and hardware that were not designed with cybersecurity in mind. With increasing cyber threats in recent years, smart buildings have become an increasing target for attacks, but not enough published data are available from these incidents to study or replicate the scenarios to defend buildings. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy-funded project focusing on developing the Building Intelligence with Layered Defense Using Security-Constrained Optimization and Security Risk Detection (BUILD-SOS) platform, we developed a cybersecurity test bed for smart buildings. This test bed includes a building simulation tool, virtual devices, emulated operational technology networks, and remote hardware-in-the-loop. Using this test bed, we performed different cyberattacks on the smart building model and collected both physical building data, to understand the impacts on the building, and network data, to aid in separating mechanical faults from cyberattacks during the detection. This test bed is a significant tool in protecting smart buildings from cyberattacks because they can aid in both cybersecurity analysis and the evaluation of cyberattack detection tools by testing the tools in a secure environment without impacting the building operations.

alfalfa↗

LA100 Equity Strategies. Chapter 7: Housing Weatherization and Resilience

The LA100 Equity Strategies project integrates community guidance with robust research, modeling, and analysis to identify strategy options that can increase equitable outcomes in Los Angeles' clean energy transition. This chapter focuses on housing weatherization and access to cooling as means to achieve more equitable resilience to heat waves during unplanned power outages. Specifically, NREL used weather, housing, and socioeconomic data to characterize LA's residential building stock. We?developed a residential building stock model to simulate the energy use of 50,000 dwellings representing the diversity of housing types, appliances, climate zones, and household incomes across Los Angeles. We then simulated and evaluated the impacts of 10 building envelope and cooling upgrades on indoor temperature - a main cause of heat-induced health risks-over a 4-day power outage during a heat wave. We examined occupant exposure to extreme heat and how heat exposure changes with each upgrade across income, tenure (renter/owner status), building type, and disadvantaged community (DAC) status. We also examined upgrade costs and utility bills. Based on the results of our analysis and community guidance, we identified building envelope upgrades and cooling strategies that could save lives and maintain safe home temperatures for LA's low-income households in the event of a planned or unplanned power outage during a summer heat wave. Research was guided by input from the community engagement process, and associated equity strategies are presented in alignment with that guidance.

building envelope↗

Advancing Building Air Leakage Measurement and Modeling: Measurement of Interior Air Leaks, Experimental Comparison to Conventional Methods, and Building Modeling Characteristics

This report, Advancing Building Air Leakage Measurement and Modeling: Measurement of Interior Air Leaks, Experimental Comparison to Conventional Methods, and Building Modeling Characteristics, developed two new building air leakage measurement methods, experimentally evaluated the performance in comparison to conventional methods, experimentally evaluated the behavior of leaks for specific crack structures, and identified testing constraints and model implications.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Advanced Technology Development for Active Acoustic Liners

Objectives include: (1) Develop electro-mechanical/acoustic models of a Helmholtz resonator possessing a compliant diaphragm coupled to a piezoelectric device; (2) Design and fabricate the energy reclamation module and active Helmholtz resonator; (3) Develop and build appropriate energy reclamation/storage circuit; (4) Develop and fabricate appropriate piezoelectric shunt circuit to tune the compliance of the active Helmholtz resonator via a variable capacitor; (5) Quantify energy reclamation module efficiency in a grazing-flow plane wave tube possessing known acoustic energy input; and (6) Quantify actively tuned Helmholtz resonator performance in grazing-flow plane wave tube for a white-noise input

Sheplak, Mark↗

Addressing Excess Contaminated Facilities and Mercury Cleanup At the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Reservation - 18408

The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and its prime cleanup contractor, URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) are executing an aggressive program of cleanup and risk reduction in excess contaminated facilities on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR). Across the complex, DOE has designated more than 2,300 of its facilities 'excess'. Excess means 'nonoperational' and refers to a facility for which DOE no longer has a mission need. Many of these facilities pose high risk to workers and/or the environment. Delayed cleanup increases risk as well as cost. OREM and UCOR initiated a Working Group on Excess Facilities to identify and prioritize activities that are needed to enhance worker safety, minimize further degradation of the facilities, and reduce the environmental risk. Six Excess Contaminated Facilities projects on the ORR were identified as priorities. Three of the projects are located at ORNL - the Building 7500 Homogenous Reactor Experiment, the Building 3026 Radioisotope Development Laboratory and Buildings 3028/3029 Isotope Facilities. At Y-12, priority excess facilities include the Column Exchange Equipment (COLEX), the Alpha-4 Lithium Enrichment Facility and the Biology Complex Research Facilities. Work on these projects is aimed at stabilization of degraded higher risk facilities, characterization of conditions and hazards, removal of hazardous materials and placement of the facility in the lowest risk condition possible pending demolition. At the same time, DOE and UCOR are preparing to undertake a comprehensive program to remediate the presence of mercury in the water stemming from historical operations at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Over decades of operations, mercury migrated into the environment. Deteriorating conditions of large post-operation mercury-use buildings may be contributing to additional releases. Mercury cleanup is a high priority for Y-12 and the Oak Ridge Reservation. UCOR is completing the final design on a new Mercury Treatment Facility with construction expected to begin in late 2017. When constructed the treatment facility will reduce the amount of mercury in local waters, lower environmental contamination levels and serve as a guard against future releases. (author)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Development and Validation of Smart Building Technology Modules for Academic and Professional Education

Slipstream leads a team developing a semester-long smart building curriculum for college students and adapting the contents into 16 training videos for building professionals and the public. The topics cover smart building technologies related content including industry trends and benefits, building systems, sensors and IoT devices, advanced building monitoring and controls, smart building control platform, methods, and applications.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

IBPSA Project 2 BOPTEST: An update on the test cases available in the framework for testing advanced control strategies in buildings

Project 2 develops software infrastructure, test cases, and extensions for the Building Optimization Testing Framework (BOPTEST) to address the expanding needs of building and urban energy system controls through open international collaboration. This paper provides an overview of the new test cases available as of BOPTEST version 0.7.1. Each test case is developed using open-source Modelica libraries and Spawn of EnergyPlus, enabling the creation of high-fidelity building models that incorporate envelope dynamics, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, and explicit control representations. Currently, eight test cases are available, with five additional cases under development. These test cases cover a wide range of climates, building types, and HVAC systems. This paper compiles and summarizes test case descriptions, cites original manuscripts that developed them for a more detailed description, and reports baseline control performance metrics. Furthermore, two example applications are presented: one illustrating different levels of control, from supervisory to low-level, and another demonstrating how Model Predictive Control (MPC) solutions must be adapted from continuous to integer to control some building actuators.

Zanetti, Ettore↗

Multi-Variable Parametric Analysis of Prototype Building Energy Performance Using Current and Future Weather Scenarios For Data-Driven Market Transformation Support

This project aimed to develop a public building simulation data set that may be used to inform building code development and guidelines for building innovation. The data set consists of several common building types and many representative locations across the United States. A parametric design of building properties was developed to create a range of building energy models that represent common building design decisions with a particular focus on fenestration options. The US Department of Energy prototype building energy models were altered according to a parametric building design and simulated using both current weather data and future weather estimates derived from global climate models. The resulting data set allows for pertinent exploration of building design parameters, including fenestration, within different environments across the United States in the broader context of climate change.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗