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Results for “ENERGY STAR”

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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Modeling Savings for ENERGY STAR Smart Home Energy Management Systems

The objective of this study was to develop a repeatable and defensible methodology to analyze the energy savings for Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) that meets the minimum requirements for certification under ENERGY STAR ® Smart Home Energy Management System (SHEMS) Version 1. Mandatory connected loads include a smart thermostat, two smart lights, and one smart power strip or smart outlet. Control strategies must include feedback to occupants through an in-home display, user programming, occupancy sensor-based controls, and responsiveness to utility signals such as demand response programs. Several occupant behavior patterns were selected to quantify the range of energy savings potential for a HEMS with this basic functionality. A literature review was conducted to establish realistic room-by-room occupancy levels and usage patterns for connected devices. A series of event-driven hourly profiles were created, followed by adjustments based on application of HEMS control strategies to thermostats, interior lighting, and plug load schedules. EnergyPlus modeling was performed using these hourly schedules in three locations (Boston, Houston, and Phoenix) to examine climate dependence of energy savings. Total site energy savings ranged from 4.3 to 27.1 MBtu/year (7%-35%), and utility bill savings ranged from $\$$123 to $\$$670/year (6%-29%). The highest predicted savings was realized by occupants that were not energy conscious prior to HEMS installation, but highly engaged with the HEMS controls once the system was installed. The smart thermostat accounted for most of the savings, followed by the smart power strip. Smart lighting did not save a significant amount of energy in our analysis, based on an assumption that efficient LEDs with no standby power would normally be installed anyway.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2012

Energy star compliant voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telecommunications network including energy star compliant VoIP devices

A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications system, a method of managing a communications network in such a system and a program product therefore. The system/network includes an ENERGY STAR (E-star) aware softswitch and E-star compliant communications devices at system endpoints. The E-star aware softswitch allows E-star compliant communications devices to enter and remain in power saving mode. The E-star aware softswitch spools messages and forwards only selected messages (e.g., calls) to the devices in power saving mode. When the E-star compliant communications devices exit power saving mode, the E-star aware softswitch forwards spooled messages.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2018

High-Quality Home Performance: Arizona's Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (R) Program

Arizona Public Service (APS) has created a high-quality Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (ENERGY STAR) program. In addition to being based on the ENERGY STAR guidelines developed by the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, they have used two other national guideline/standards to improve quality and contractor satisfaction: DOE's Standard Work Specifications for Home Energy Upgrades (SWS) and the Home Performance Coalition's Home Performance Extensible Markup Language (HPXML). As the program found areas for improvement, they worked with their implementer FSL Home Energy Solutions (FSL) to develop a quality assurance (QA) program based on the SWS. They also worked with energy assessment and other software providers to implement HPXML in a program administration software platform. This gave contractors a choice in what energy assessment software they used - each tool allowed in the program exported HPXML seamlessly to the program administration platform. APS worked closely with FSL and contractors to implement the QA program and roll out the software improvements. After implementing the QA program and software, the program saw approximately 15% improvement in measure and work scope quality.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

ENERGY STAR for Tenants: An Online Energy Estimation Tool for Commercial Office Building Tenants

The commercial building sector consumes over 18% of the total energy in the United States. According to the 2012 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), office buildings comprise nearly 16 billion square feet of floor space and consume 253 billion kWh of energy annually. Office buildings represent nearly one-fifth of the energy consumed by commercial buildings, more than any other building type. Therefore, monitoring and reducing energy consumption in office buildings has become an increasingly important focus across the United States. The goal of the ENERGY STAR for Tenants program is to recognize office building tenants who demonstrate commitment to energy efficiency and environmental stewardship. Tenants seeking recognition must complete five major steps: estimate energy use, meter energy use, use efficient lighting, use efficient equipment, and share data. NREL is responsible for the underlying analysis performed for step one, estimating energy use. An online survey was developed for tenants to input information about their office space and its internal loads. NREL performed a parametric analysis across a large parameter space of office buildings. The analysis results were processed to map the user inputs to output energy ranges. The mappings enable the web tool to provide users with instant energy usage estimates based on a limited number of inputs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2012

Energy Efficiency Improvement and Cost Saving Opportunities for the Baking Industry: An ENERGY STAR ® Guide for Plant and Energy Managers

The U.S. baking industry—defined in this Energy Guide as facilities engaged in the manufacture of commercial bakery products such as breads, rolls, frozen cakes, pies, pastries, and cookies and crackers—consumes over $800 million worth of purchased fuels and electricity per year. Energy efficiency improvement is an important way to reduce these costs and to increase predictable earnings, especially in times of high energy price volatility. There are a variety of opportunities available at individual plants to reduce energy consumption in a cost-effective manner. This Energy Guide discusses energy efficiency practices and energy-efficient technologies that can be implemented at the component, process, facility, and organizational levels. Many measure descriptions include expected savings in energy and energy-related costs, based on case study data from real-world applications in food processing facilities and related industries worldwide. Typical measure payback periods and references to further information in the technical literature are also provided, when available. A summary of basic, proven measures for improving plant-level water efficiency is also provided. The information in this Energy Guide is intended to help energy and plant managers in the U.S. baking industry reduce energy and water consumption in a cost-effective manner while maintaining the quality of products manufactured. Further research on the economics of all measures—as well as on their applicability to different production practices—is needed to assess their cost effectiveness at individual plants.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2012

Possible dark energy imprints in the gravitational wave spectrum of mixed neutron-dark-energy stars

In the present paper we study the oscillation spectrum of neutron stars containing both ordinary matter and dark energy in different proportions. Within the model we consider, the equilibrium configurations are numerically constructed and the results show that the properties of the mixed neuron-dark-energy star can differ significantly when the amount of dark energy in the stars is varied. The oscillations of the mixed neuron-dark-energy stars are studied in the Cowling approximation. As a result we find that the frequencies of the fundamental mode and the higher overtones are strongly affected by the dark energy content. This can be used in the future to detect the presence of dark energy in the neutron stars and to constrain the dark-energy models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Simulating energy performance of buildings: a study using eQUEST and Energy Star ® portfolio manager

Commercial buildings consume significant energy in the United States and exhibit high potential for energy use reduction through retrofits. Benchmarking and energy simulation are well established tools in the industry to identify potential improvements and measure performance. Analysis to identify most sensitive retrofit parameters to energy performance can optimize investment and available energy savings. Presented study demonstrates methodology using a static model to determine sensitivity of building design and retrofit parameters with respect to energy performance. Calibrated simulation energy models (eQUEST) of two distribution centers (A, B) are presented. A fractional factorial analysis is conducted on retrofit parameters of efficiency measures targeting the highest energy consumers, and the results are benchmarked using Energy Star® Portfolio Manager. A custom Microsoft Excel® based simulation model is created to simulate occupancy levels, lighting, plug loads, and other equipment used in various spaces throughout the day. For Building A, efficient lighting was the most influential parameter for energy savings, carbon savings and benchmarking score; whereas, for Building B, HVAC efficiency was most influential for energy and demand controlled ventilation and economizers was most influential for benchmarking score. While retrofit projects can save energy and carbon emissions, variation in source-site ratios and state grid emissions, benchmarking scores may not always reflect equivalent improvement. State grid emissions factors, natural gas composition are difficult to model and hence not considered in this study. In conclusion, the synergistic analysis presented, emphasizes the importance of benchmarking and efficiency retrofits in promoting sustainable building practices to reduce energy consumption.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Building America Top Innovations 2012: ENERGY STAR for Homes Support

This Building America Top Innovations profile describes Building America’s technical support to ENERGY STAR for Homes, which has labeled more than 1.3 million ENERGY STAR homes that have delivered $23 billion in energy cost savings and avoided 210 million tons of green-house emissions.

Building America↗
DOE OSTI2013

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) - Better Buildings Neighborhood Program at Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance: Home Performance with Energy Star® and Better Buildings Performance

The Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance (Energy Alliance) is a nonprofit economic development agency dedicated to helping Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky communities reduce energy consumption. The Energy Alliance has launched programs to educate homeowners, commercial property owners, and nonprofit organizations about energy efficiency opportunities they can use to drive energy use reductions and financial savings, while extending significant focus to creating/retaining jobs through these programs. The mission of the Energy Alliance is based on the premise that investment in energy efficiency can lead to transformative economic development in a region. With support from seven municipalities, the Energy Alliance began operation in early 2010 and has been among the fastest growing nonprofit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. The Energy Alliance offers two programs endorsed by the Department of Energy: the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® Program for homeowners and the Better Buildings Performance Program for commercial entities. Both programs couple expert guidance, project management, and education in energy efficiency best practices with incentives and innovative energy efficiency financing to help building owners effectively invest in the energy efficiency, comfort, health, longevity, and environmental impact of their residential or commercial buildings. The Energy Alliance has raised over $23 million of public and private capital to build a robust market for energy efficiency investment. Of the $23 million, $17 million was a direct grant from the Department of Energy Better Buildings Neighborhood Program (BBNP). The organization’s investments in energy efficiency projects in the residential and commercial sector have led to well over $50 million in direct economic activity and created over 375,000 hours of labor created or retained. In addition, over 250 workers have been trained through the Building Performance Training Center, a program that was developed and funded by the Energy Alliance and housed at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. Nearly 100 residential and commercial contractors currently participate in the Energy Alliance’s two major programs, which have together served over 2,800 residential and 100 commercial customers. Additionally, the Energy Alliance established loan programs for homeowners, nonprofits and commercial businesses. The GC-HELP program was established to provide up to ten year low interest, unsecured loans to homeowners to cover the energy efficiency products they purchased through the Energy Alliance approved contractor base. To date the Energy Alliance has financed over $1 million in energy efficiency loans for homeowners, without any loans written off. The nonprofit business community is offered five year, fixed-interest rate loans through the Building Communities Loan Fund of $250,000. Additionally, the Energy Alliance has developed GC-PACE, a commercial financing tool that enables buildings owners to finance their energy upgrades through voluntary property assessments deploying low-interest extended-term capital from the bond market. The Energy Alliance and its partners are actively evaluating additional market-based financing solutions.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reducing Energy Use in Existing Homes by 30%: Learning From Home Performance with ENERGY STAR

The improvement of existing homes in the United States can have a much greater impact on overall residential energy use than the construction of highly efficient new homes. There are over 130 million existing housing units in the U.S., while annually new construction represents less than two percent of the total supply (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013). Therefore, the existing housing stock presents a clear opportunity and responsibility for Building America (BA) to guide the remodeling and retrofit market toward higher performance existing homes. There are active programs designed to improve the energy performance of existing homes. Home Performance with ENERGY STAR ® (HPwES) is a market-rate program among them. BARA's research in this project verified that the New Jersey HPwES program is achieving savings in existing homes that meet or exceed BA's goal of 30%. Among the 17 HPwES projects with utility data included in this report, 15 have actual energy savings ranging from 24% to 46%. Further, two of the homes achieved that level of energy savings without the costly replacement of heating and cooling equipment, which indicates that less costly envelope packages could be offered to consumers unable to invest in more costly mechanical packages, potentially creating broader market impact.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reducing Energy Use in Existing Homes by 30%: Learning From Home Performance with ENERGY STAR

The improvement of existing homes in the United States can have a much greater impact on overall residential energy use than the construction of highly efficient new homes. There are over 130 million existing housing units in the U.S., while annually new construction represents less than two percent of the total supply (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013). Therefore, the existing housing stock presents a clear opportunity and responsibility for Building America (BA) to guide the remodeling and retrofit market toward higher performance existing homes. There are active programs designed to improve the energy performance of existing homes. Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HPwES) is a market-rate program among them. BARA's research in this project verified that the New Jersey HPwES program is achieving savings in existing homes that meet or exceed BA's goal of 30%. Among the 17 HPwES projects with utility data included in this report, 15 have actual energy savings ranging from 24% to 46%. Further, two of the homes achieved that level of energy savings without the costly replacement of heating and cooling equipment, which indicates that less costly envelope packages could be offered to consumers unable to invest in more costly mechanical packages, potentially creating broader market impact.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2018

ENERGY STAR® Retail Products Platform (RPP): Conditions and Considerations in Evaluating Market Transformation Programs and Evaluation Guidance for RPP

The purpose of this guide is to provide a resource for state utility regulators, utilities, the evaluation community and regulatory stakeholders on methods to measure energy savings from the ENERGY STAR Retail Products Platform (link is external). The guidelines outlined in this document were developed by evaluation experts.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

ENERGY STAR Residential Water Heater Specification and Test Method for Connected Residential Water Heaters

Electric water heaters have long been used as a tool for demand response due to their inherent thermal storage and large electric load. Traditionally, electric water heaters have been controlled by external load control switches, but that type of control does not work well with more efficient heat pump water heaters and cannot ensure that consumers have adequate hot water. Water heater manufacturers are adding more sophisticated controls that allow utilities or consumers to control their water heaters in new ways that can provide demand response without impacting consumer comfort. Further, the electric utility grid has seen a rapid increase the availability of renewable energy, which, depending on the type of renewable energy, can provide large amounts of energy for a portion of the day, but reduced or no energy at other times. In response to these advances in controls, availability of periodic renewable energy, and in an effort to have a standard which can be applied at a national level, ENERGY STAR and the Department of Energy have developed a Product Specification and Test Method for Connected Residential Water Heaters. In this session, we will discuss the new specification and test method, as well as show some initial results from running the new test method with two different HPWHs at NREL.

connected water heater↗
DOE OSTI2025

Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM) Training [Slides]

This is a presentation developed by the NREL-Alaska team for the Nonprofit Retrofits for Health and Housing (NORTHH) Program. This presentation will be shared with nonprofits and community members in and around the Interior Alaska region to share information about Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM). ESPM is used to track the energy performance of buildings in the United States and was used on the NORTHH Project to understand the performance of nonprofit owned buildings in the program. This presentation will allow users to learn how to leverage the benefits of this tool.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Analysis of Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR ® Measure Packages

Through the Chicagoland Single Family Housing Characterization and Retrofit Prioritization report, the Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit characterized 15 housing types in the Chicagoland region based on assessor data, utility billing history, and available data from prior energy efficiency programs. Within these 15 groups, a subset showed the greatest opportunity for energy savings based on BEopt Version 1.1 modeling of potential energy efficiency package options and the percent of the housing stock represented by each group. In this project, collected field data from a whole-home program in Illinois are utilized to compare marketplace-installed measures to the energy saving optimal packages previously developed for the 15 housing types. Housing type, conditions, energy efficiency measures installed, and retrofit cost information were collected from 19 homes that participated in the Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program in 2012, representing eight of the characterized housing groups. Two were selected for further case study analysis to provide an illustration of the differences between optimal and actually installed measures. Taken together, these homes are representative of 34.8% of the Chicagoland residential building stock. In one instance, actual installed measures closely matched optimal recommended measures.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Analysis of Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® Measure Packages

Through the Chicagoland Single Family Housing Characterization and Retrofit Prioritization report, the Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit research team characterized 15 housing types in the Chicagoland region based on assessor data, utility billing history, and available data from prior energy efficiency programs. Within these 15 groups, a subset showed the greatest opportunity for energy savings based on BEopt Version 1.1 modeling of potential energy efficiency package options and the percent of the housing stock represented by each group. In this project, collected field data from a whole-home program in Illinois are utilized to compare marketplace-installed measures to the energy saving optimal packages previously developed for the 15 housing types. Housing type, conditions, energy efficiency measures installed, and retrofit cost information were collected from 19 homes that participated in the Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program in 2012, representing eight of the characterized housing groups. Two were selected for further case study analysis to provide an illustration of the differences between optimal and actually installed measures. Taken together, these homes are representative of 34.8% of the Chicagoland residential building stock. In one instance, actual installed measures closely matched optimal recommended measures.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2013

Home Performance with Energy Star (HPwES) Program Report

This report summarizes the Department’s review of comments received on the HPwES v2 proposal and presents a multi-year action plan to both address Department goals and incorporate industry feedback.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗